Should I throw out all my ornaments? (Marie Kondo related)

[wondering7777]

I’m expecting my first child next spring and would like to give the house a thorough decluttering before he/she arrives. I have quite a few ornaments/knick knacks that I like because they either look pretty and/or bring back nice memories. My question is, for Marie Kondo devotees - does this constitute “sparking joy” or should I chuck some/all of them out? They do take up quite a bit of space and make cleaning more time consuming. Help!

Put them away in a glass fronted cabinet - otherwise your dc will smash them anyway.

High shelves won’t protect them, children can’t reach them but can still throw small metal cars with astonishing strength and accuracy to smash them.

Voice of bitter experience here.

I keep a lot of vintage China and the answer for me has been to have several large China cabinets.I wouldn't consider not keeping this China as a lot of it belonged to grandparents, great grandparents etc .

Put them away in a glass fronted cabinet - otherwise your dc will smash them anyway.

I don’t think I can justify buying a glass cabinet to house an Oxo tin and some vintage bowls I think my OP made it sound like I have a collection of Royal Doulton or something - sorry, I should’ve been more clear...

We have lots of ornaments from travelling and they spark joy for us as it brings back places we loved.

We moved when DS was 6m so they were boxed up and put in the loft for safety. It's only in the last year that we've finally got display furniture (less dusting ) and the DCs are old enough not to be too much of a threat, and they were unpacked.

It was like going to a reunion and finding lots of old friends. So much joy, even from items I hadn't thought about in years.

I don't get joy from sterile, bland, vacuous show homes.

If they’re precious to you then they’re worth protecting :)

You can almost certainly get a glass fronted cabinet really cheaply secondhand, there’s loads in my local charity furniture shop, on eBay etc.

No one can tell you what sparks joy for you.

I don’t like Marie Kondo’s philosophy though.

I personally think MK is rubbish. 99% of your stuff wouldnt really spark joy.

sad way to live your life! I thought MK was just common sense.

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

William Morris

If you're having a hard time why not put them together and choose the one you like the least and get rid of that as a start?

I don't really know enough about it, but isn't there a risk that too much decluttering will lead to additional buying/consumption, particularly with clothing, as we discover that the things that didn't make us feel in a certain way were actually quite useful? If I don't like the colour of my tights, how likely is it really that somebody else would buy them and use them?

Thinking of my mother who is still determinedly wearing the blouses she wore 30 years ago: her priority is not whether a certain colour gives her joy, but the more oldfashioned attitude of "waste not, want not". She has a collection of buttons and cloth for mending and still mends and makes do. Shouldn't that be a bit more of a priority these days, given recent concerns about pollution and carbon footprint?

Admittedly ornaments aren't needed and you probably wouldn't be replacing them, so that's neither here nor there from an environemntal pov. Perfectly possibly to have children and ornaments in the same hous, though, as long as you have upper shelves. It doesn't hurt children to be taught to be careful, or to have parts of the house where you are not allowed e.g. to play with things that might cause damage.

particularly with clothing, as we discover that the things that didn't make us feel in a certain way were actually quite useful

I feel this comes down to recognising what sparks joy in oneself and what forms that joy might take, though.

For example, for me personally, joy is sparked from having neutral colour boring vests that I can throw on under a cardi if I'm just popping out as it simplifies my process of getting ready and means I don't have to think too much about choosing clothes. Having boring clothes like this is something I value although I can see that there is nothing aesthetically pleasing about a plain peach vest.

I agree you'll probably need to go shopping again if you're throwing away all the clothes that don't make you feel positively orgasmic!

I love 70% in my house as I have intentionally choose them. The 30% Ieft is actually for sale as I'm frugal so wouldn't just part with it and is packed away. Takes time but worth selling to me.

My peeler is a thing of beauty as was my old kitchen sink. I had a dining table for 2 years which I hated but it was cheap and then I couldn't find one I really liked. The dining table I found I love and will never part with.

Marie kondo helps with what sparks joy and I've always liked the William Morris quote. So I try to apply it to everything not just what should be decorative. Ie my microwave broke last month, it was functional but this time I choose a functional one and it is pretty. My kettles and toasters have always been pleasing to me, as have my cookers. Some household things are so pretty and I have a thing for taps, handles, light switches and light fittings. Anything can spark joy.

Taste is subjective but i try to choose everything that's pleasing to my eyes.

Never have put ornaments away from children and I used to have a lot of glass bowls and vases. When things are normal in a kids environment they don't touch them. And shelves and window sills are usually out of reach of a toddler anyway. So I've never understood the packing things away for children thing.

Clothes is the start as if it's functional like wellies or a jumper or rain jacket then choose the one that is also beautiful to you and fits your aesthetic. Your clothes should spark joy.

Also I love tights, pp upthread mentioned about who could love them? Well me, over 50 pairs and I've been collecting them since I was 13, I have some beautiful pairs, I love unusual colours and designs.

Work the Marie kondo categories before ornaments then go through them all. And if they all spark joy then keep them all.

If you haven’t even addressed your socks yet, the ornaments should not be on your radar yet if you follow Kondo.

I've been working on clearing my wardrobe of clothes that don't spark joy and it's been great. It's surprising but there's definitely joy in simple clothes that fit well.

Maybe I personally think its nonsense because I'm a minimalist already. Why would you keep stuff that doesnt serve a purpose. I've tried and just cant fathom this joy thing over a piece of clothing. some items are just practical and a necessity, I dont need to think about whether i get joy out of it.

Why would you keep stuff that doesnt serve a purpose.

My ornaments don’t serve any purpose other than brightening up the kitchen windowsill - does that count?

We have a glass cabinet, inside are lots of items other people may look at and cannot see anything but clutter. But for us we can say for each item where it comes from and which occasion it represents.

That cabinet survived 3 moves and also DD who is now 12, we had a child secure lock on it for several years.

Clutter is only pointless if you do it for the sake of filling up space.

I for example can’t understand the need to have tons of photo frames on display, that’s clutter for me. we have exactly 2 but prefer large frames in the hallway.

Why would you keep stuff that doesnt serve a purpose.

How boring!
My ornaments are nice to look at and some remind me of the people they belonged to or who bought them as gifts for me.
Real life is crap sometimes and things that make you smile serve an important purpose in my opinion.

I prefer William Morris to Marie Kondo. Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful . If you like them, keep them. I love clutter.

@marvellousnightforamooncup - love your username.

If you like them keep them!

My bits and pieces sound like yours and they give me joy some got put away when babies were small, but then came out again a few didn't make the cut second time round but I have different ones now - vintage green glass is my latest fave.

And horror of horrors I have a couple if willow tree figured that remi d me of my boys when young. MIL was rude about them recently but I dont care, I dont tend to do popular stuff or decor trends but I like them sticks tongue at mil and snobs!

I'm with Minioooons on this. I have the Marie Kondo book, to see what all the fuss was about and all I saw was an obsessive and unhappy woman trying to make a lot of money out of people who follow a trend.

We don't need a book to tell us if we are emotionally attached to something or not, we only need to look at it and know it means something to us.

We also don't need someone else to tell us if we need our clothes, shoes, kitchen utensils because we can think for ourselves.

Unless we are hoarders that really need help, and in that case need more than a book.

I have things in my house that I know I love, I also have stuff that I really don't want any more. Much of it is packed away since moving house but I still get pleasure from knowing I have the special items and that I will find them one day when I unpack. The rest of the stuff I know I don't want is gradually being removed from the house and rehomed to someone that will use or enjoy it. I have been doing this for a long time, without help from MK, and before MK came along. I have a mind of my own.

They’re more like vintage jugs/bowls and retro Oxo tins If you're thinking of chucking them, see if you can actually use them. I've got various tins holding stuff around the house, eg a tin of sweets my father brought me back from Paris when I was 5 holds my sewing pins. OK, things that are used get broken or damaged eventually, but in the meantime you have the daily joy of handling them because they're doing something useful, not just sitting on a shelf.

And a retro Oxo tin holds my Oxo cubes

An awful lot of stuff in my house falls into Morris' "useful" category rather than Kondo's "sparks joy". This includes large parts of my rather substantial library: individual authors may be far from joy-sparking, but it is useful to know that I can lay hands on a Balzac should I need it or can find something to practise my Italian should I have a few moments to spare. Ditto saucers to put flowerpots on, old sheets that can be torn up for rags, extra spoons that are not at all special so can be used for dibbling in the garden or push things through a metal sieve without thought for the consequences.