Are there any household gadgets you found unexpectedly useful after you'd gotten them?
I was thinking about how I missed having an indoor thermometer that measures humidity. It's such a small specific thing, one I'd never think of getting unless pushed to it (which I was by one particularly dry winter). But I like having one now.
What are your small, "random" or "junk drawer" type of gadgets that you actually use or like having around?
Battery powered handheld vacuum cleaner. Though I'd only use it for bits and bobs and still use the big Dyson for most of the cleaning, but the hand vac gets used a lot more.
Also, a spot cleaner for carpets/upholstery. I did expect it to be useful, and it means we no longer periodically hire a rug doctor, but i hadn't appreciated how useful a wet vac is for spills, not to mention the time the dishwasher drain pump failed and I didn't have to mess around bailing it out.
My power tools in the garage are Hitachi, and they make a stick vac that takes the same batteries. We call it the electric broom, and it's a game-changer for cleaning up the kitchen.
Same, but Makita. My parents had a handheld Dyson, and it was a pain at times because they had to charge it when it died, or you found no one had charged it at the worst times. Because I always have a spare Makita battery it's just a case of swapping them over and sticking the dead on on the charger while you continue vacing