'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying' - Marie Kondo

[FrancesHB]

Has anyone else read this? I did a search but couldn't find any previous threads.

Marie Kondo is a Japanese expert in tidying and decluttering and her book has been translated into English and is best selling. It's wonderfully eccentric and inspiring and in some ways rather a breath of fresh air compared to other books on the subject (have read 'em all and my house is still messy...).

She asks us to ask if an item brings us joy and if it doesn't we thank it and out it goes. A bit like fly lady 'you can't organise clutter', but in a less annoying and at times quite endearing way.

I wondered if any MNers had used her technique and if it helped them 'get their house in order'.

This is so inspiring. cecy I love your idea of taking photos of the relevant parts!

I've taken 3 bags of books to charity shop, and got another 3 to go. Only keeping books I will read again. Not ones I know in my heart I'll never get round to. Or ones I'm only keeping because they look good on the shelf (I'm never going to read Long Walk to Freedom! ) or some misplaced vision of my ancestry (Teach Yourself Doric... Yes I do did have a copy of that!)

I've also done clothes, jewellery and makeup. That was harder because being Scottish thrifty I hate throwing stuff away. Knowing something was a bargain brings me joy...

Btw I haven't read the book, am relying on this thread for ideas

I will be doing oodles of laundry today and folding everything up properly I will also also tackle my underwear and accessories, and freecycle a chair.

If I have time today ( and if not, tomorrow) I will set things up to list the more valuables stuff on eBay, and list my baby slings for sale on a Facebook group because I really do need the money to buy a decent pair of winter shoes.

I ploughed my way though this thread yesterday evening and it sounds like a great method that really works. I love the clothes folding method but what's with the socks, as I can't find a video for that - do you literally lay them flat in a drawer?

I really need to get my house sorted because like loads of people, I've started decluttering many, many times but I've never finished . My spare room still has boxes of stuff that I meant to sort and clear out when I moved house five years ago but never got around to it. The spare room also has furniture, including two wardrobes and a chest of drawers, from my old house which I want to get rid of but can't because the furniture is also full of crap. Ideally I want to turn the spare room into an office type space with a desk and chair, where we keep the printer, laptop etc, and DS has quiet space to do his homework. I can't do that until the room is cleared. The worst thing is that I rent - if the landlord ever comes round and sees the tip that is my spare room, he'll freak!

The bulk of my crap is paperwork. My filing system is to read something then chuck it in a pile to file later on but 'later' never comes, so I've got piles of paperwork in several rooms, including about six carrier bags worth in the spare room. How the hell do I start sorting it out? It just seems like such an overwhelming task. Folding my socks seems a breeze by comparison .

I am also tight Scottish Aliasjoey so I completely relate to a bargain bringing you joy and a reluctance to get rid of things!

I have now managed to lure my DH and DM into the cult. They are currently reading the book!

I tackled my wardrobe yesterday, the top image is before and the bottom image after. I'm really pleased because previously I had clothes on the back of each bedroom drawer and in two drawers in the spare room as well as outdoor coats in the down stairs cupboard. Really proud as now everything is either hanging in the wardrobe or neatly rolled in the drawers. I have given 3 bags of clothes to charity.

Also did my jewellery box, I got rid of the actual box (it was a present but I've never liked it) and a fair bit of jewellery including a very expensive necklace that my ex bought me for my 21st (a while ago!) we broke up on bad terms and every time I look at that necklace I feel sad- well no more!

Shoes and bags today. Good luck everyone- hope to hear about lots of de cluttering later.

Kitty - I would just start one carrier bag at a time. Maybe while sitting in front of the TV. Go through and junk what you know can be junked. I would do that with each bag in turn. Then I would go through the pile again sorting in to categories. You will prob find more to junk. Just keep chipping away.

Or. As Marie would recommend. Do it all in one fell swoop!

I struggle with costume Jewellery and make up too. I don't use it. but I don't want to throw it away. I do wish I was a make up wearer. I wore some last night and felt nice but it doesn't feature in my morning routine.

Good idea jilted I'll have a look at our local freecycle.

Kitty, I haven't been good at having a organised system either.

A friend bought me a three sectioned organiser (post to be opened/post to file/stamps address book etc). Then I have 3 box files labeled 'This Year', 'Last Year' and 'To Keep'. The 'To Keep' file has things like tenancy agreements, passports, things that don't relate to a financial year etc.

I tend to sort the post through every two or three week, it's still a bit messy but it's contained. Switching to online billing where I can has also helped.

I've found that unless you have a system that works the mess just builds back up again.

I've been reading this thread and the minimalism one for a couple of months and trying to declutter and organise. Both me and DH have hoardery tendencies. I'm trying to get out of the 'well it might come in' mindset, getting rid of things the same day so I can't change my mind has also helped.

Kitty - I'm just going to throw a cheeky question out there If the boxes have been sat there unopened for 5 years, do you need to sort them or can you not just bin it all straightaway? Like I say, cheeky question (that I need to answer about stuff in my loft...)

Kitty- I recommend reading the book (if you haven't already) and them doing the sorting in the recommended order (clothes first, then books, then paperwork...).

Ime things can either be easy to put away or easy to find and that is especially true of paperwork. When you get to that stage, use the simplest method you possibly can.

I have an issue with the folding (I've read the book now and it hasn't answered my question) - I sorted through the drawer which had knickers (folded in half then half again) in two piles, bras folded in half, a swimsuit folded up and a pair of pyjamas folded up. It all fitted in neatly, and everything had place.

Now I've rolled the knickers and put them in a box, but as soon as you start taking some out, they all flop over which makes it difficult to put clean ones in without taking the whole lot out and starting again. And the pyjamas need a lot more folding in order to get them to be the size of rectangle which will roll into the right size to be the height of the drawer. So they are more creased that they were when they were just folded.

Am I folding wrong, or do I have the wrong size of drawers?

(I also agree with a PP downthread who said that it would work well for a single person in a small flat, but not really so well for those of us with families and general Stuff which needs to be kept)

Good point Everton but I just couldn't do that. It would feel wrong. I kind of need to sort them to see what's in there, iyswim. However I'm hoping that as I haven't needed the stuff in five years, it'll be easy to get rid of the majority of it.

I also have a 'keep it just in case' mentality that's led to slight hoarding of things like leads, pens, leaflets, batteries and other random items that might, erm, come in handy one day . Think I need to be much more ruthless.

I'm planning to download the book but just know that the minute I do it I'll start reading it, which will make me procrastinate on the actual decluttering.

I am finding the folding a bit annoying as I can't do it straight out of the tumble dryer. I will probably get the hang of it in a week or two though.

The folding takes a bit of getting used to. It works best with t-shirts and thin jumpers but you just have to experiment and find the best way for different things.
I don't roll knickers and stand them on end. I fold them like a mini version of t-shirts, ending up with a small, thickish rectangle and then stand them in rows like the t-shirts - then they pack closer together than rolled ones would, so less prone to fall over when you take one out.

I'm finding the folding quite fun and therapeutic. This weekend I've completed my clothes/accessories/shoes.

Books next.

For those with small children, are you finishing your own/joint family things first, then moving on to children's clothes, toys etc?

I am planning to help my older children do their own things.

I'm doing purely my own stuff at the moment. Will then move onto joint things and then tackle the DC and their mountains of books and plastic shit

Am going to do DDs clothes, then books. I'm quite looking forward to putting them on the floor and seeing her reaction at how much of each she has.

I've done my books! That was relatively easy tbh but at least it's a start. The ones I don't want are going to the charity shop tomorrow.

Not much done today- my earache has turned into a full blown infection which is hurting so badly, annoyingly it'll mess up my decluttering tomorrow too as I need to see the doctor with it.

I have however had a little skim over shelves as I've passed them by and just chucked a few things as I see them and don't want them so I haven't done nothing. I also did DH's pants and socks drawers so that's good.

Well done. kitty. I was surprised at how quickly I did mine yesterday too.

Cecy poor you. Have you got a walk in centre near by? You should be able to get some antibiotics this evening

Did my jewellery, as it was something achievable and also small scale enough to not freak DP out. But, having watched me for the weekend, he's just said he's going to cull his books. Result!

Love the name half and what a great result with your DP

I've just done my shoes. I only got rid of one pair, as it's not been that long since I decluttered them. But they were all over the house and I've gathered them in one place (shoe rack by the door).

Doing this has actually cleared an entire bookshelf that I was using to store "less frequently worn shoes" - so I can now use that bookshelf for some other exciting purpose! Hurrah!

Going to do books today and then moving on to papers and komono. Books won't take long as I've done serious culls in the past but I'm dreading papers.

I know you lot are all sleeping but I've just done blankets and sheets!!

I keep going to the door to admire my little shoe rack. Previously I was sharing one with dh and it was supposed to be only shoes in use but gradually got more and more crowded.

Now I have one rack for me and one rack for him. And because every shoe I own is on the rack I don't need to worry about it getting more crowded, it will always look just as it does now.

I have now done clothes, and also folded all the children's clothes properly. DD's school uniform drawer is a thing of beauty.

Pics or it didn't happen Molly

I still haven't got further than clothes, shoes, jewellery and make-up but I have set aside the whole day today for tidying .

It seems sort of funny to be reorganising cupboards etc when we will be moving in a few weeks, but I figure it will be so much easier to move things straight to theur new locations if I know where everything is to start with! Plus I guess the removers load some units with the stuff still inside them.