Practical MAGIC

Michèle's day-to-day life has been enriched by two simple household additions

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Small things can change your life.

Case in point: the step-stool I bought for 10 bucks after seeing one at a friend’s house in August. Hers was chic, grey and black, in keeping with the tranquil colour scheme of her home. I intended to buy one just like it, but at the hardware store, I was distracted by another in turquoise with white polka dots. It clashes brilliantly with my orange laundry, where it now lives beside the washing machine.

It provides the exact 22cm leg up I need to find lost socks in the bottom of my wall-mounted dryer. Not just socks — whole garments are invisible to me there, and I’m too short to reach in with my hand and blindly feel around.

Prior to this, I could have used the three-step ladder tucked away in a cupboard. But that hulking metal thing is unwieldy and only brought out for major events, like changing light bulbs or a proper clear-out of a top kitchen cupboard.