in a lot of different ways, such as in place of plates on my plate rack, or in the kitchen where they make great counter protectors for hot pots or scratchy-bottomed dishes.. Summer home staples that I love.

I use my kitchen sink for almost all of my big cleaning jobs, just like it’s a big bucket of hot soapy water, but more convenient!So if I’m wiping down walls and cabinets, or doing any Spring (or Summer, Fall, or Winter) scrubbing, I use that sink.

It actually doesn’t get used for dishes all that often since we got our new dishwasher about a year and half ago, because I just love that dishwasher!The sink does get used daily though and I actually clean it out and wipe it down several times a day.If it gets really in need of a good deep-cleaning itself or if I’ve done something like mopping the floors with it, here’s how I clean it afterwards!.

So here’s my sink!.After being used for cleaning, rinsing off plates and dumping that last little bit of coffee out of the mugs for a few days, it can start to look pretty dingy..

I like to start out by filling it up with hot water and a few cups of vinegar.. Really hot water from your tap is often enough for cleaning, but if you really want to give it a good sanitizing, boil a big pot of water and dump that in there.

If you’re using the hot water method of sanitizing, then your surfaces need to be in contact with water that’s 180 degrees for at least 30 seconds to kill off any unpleasant microorganisms.If your house has an old deck that’s making the idea of getting outside less than exciting, consider recycling the wood and reworking it into something new that you love!

You may just have a new favorite “room”!.This post contains affiliate links.I’m so terrible at sharing where and how and why I find some of the things I use in the rooms and projects that I share around here and you all are so good at keeping me on my toes with that!

I seem to always be answering all of these individual questions about where to find certain things and what paint colors I’ve used, but I never actually get my act together and include them in my actual blog posts for everyone to access.I’m trying to get better at it!.