'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'.

I bought the book on Friday after reading this thread. Quite enjoyable.
A bit bonkers in places, but it added to the charm.
Probably one of the sweetest books written about the overall goals and how life changing a good de-clutter can be.
It's approaching five years now since I moved house. All my stuff packed in boxes awaiting the removals lorry.
I think almost 60% of those boxes have been recycled now. It was pointless to move it really.
The book has inspired me to be much stricter about what I actually let into the house.
And let's be honest - life is wonderful with a clean and tidy house!

Ahh - thanks for that, FrostNixon! Makes me realise I'm definitely not crazy for having a massive tidy before my move.

I am going to order this book today, I like what she says and how you are all being inspired.

My s has bludgeoned me a bit with Flylady. And while I really respect the effectiveness, some of it doesn't work with me for some reason.

Some advice from any other Hoarders on the verge of Unhoarding -
What do I do with the six Martini glasses which were wedding presents.....
hmmm. Maybe one day we will have Martini?

How do you declutter books when you are a Hoarding Book Lover?

What do you do with your summer clothes? In plastic in the loft?

Every time I put my seasonal clothes away I lose them!

Holmes it's the best possible time to be decluttering! We've moved once after a huge sort out, and once with piles of random crap stuffed into cupboards, and the first time was a bajillion times easier. It also puts your removals people in a much better mood!

If your new house has a different layout you can also move stuff now to the equivalent room you want it to be in, in the new house. Then it'll be even easier to sort on arrival.

MrsJavier she says not to store seasonal clothing at all.

So when I did my clothes, I went and got everything from the garage, top of the wardrobe etc and now everything is in drawers or hanging.

I have room for it all because I got rid of the things that didn't "spark joy."

I even have a few things that I will probably not wear anytime soon (cultural items that aren't appropriate where I live now) but every time I see them they make me smile - so much nicer than being tucked away.

All good points, erin! Vigorous decluttering is also a good way to take my mind off the stress of waiting to exchange contracts. I was going a bit stir-crazy, but now I can feel like I'm doing something useful and work off my stress at the same time! Right - must tear myself away from MN and get on with it!

Thanks Coughie.

All the homes owned by serious declutterers/minimalists seem to live by:

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

I spend a third of my time LOOKING FOR THINGS!!!

My stuff really drags us down as a family.

My friend photographs all her children's art work and keeps a tiny fraction.

She says she has to declutter constantly because she needs to be able to clean the house in under three hours. She says, any clutter stops that happening - so she will not tolerate clutter.
(worship emoticon)

Mrsjavier I'm by no means a non-hoarder but wondering what your thought process is. What's your reasoning for not letting go? could you re gift the martini glasses? As for books, does your local library order in books from all over the county? If so, check the catalog for your books. If available, let them go safe in the knowledge you can read them for free from library. You could also ask the library if they accept used books. If you know you will never read them again but finding it hard to let go, think of places where people might really appreciate them. Hospitals? Care homes?

Thanks Blue, yes I just need to let go, the whole family is similar, we're book lovers, we maybe had deeper relationships with books than with each other in some respects!

Just ordered the book from out library.

I'm mostly an aspirational hoarder. I have wool, cross stitch, fabric, baking supplies, photo albums ready to fill etc but in reality I just don't have time to do any of it.

The reason is partly young family the rest is having other bits of clutter that means everyday tidying and cleaning takes too long. Need to get myself onto the minimalist thread again!

I love the minimalist link from the beginning of this thread!
Thanks to whoever posted it.

javier do the glasses bring you joy? If not, thank them, charity shop them and enjoy having the extra space

Regarding the books, we love books to, but are you seriously going to reread them all? You know what I'm going to say if the answer is no

I'm mostly an aspirational hoarder.
Me too. When I stopped myself from buying stuff I realised I (and I'm sure I'm not alone here) often (usually/mostly) brought IDEAS!!! All these great ideas/things to do/make/create etc and they don't get done. And further they don't fit in with my actual lifestyle.

You must not only assess and declutter what you already have but absolutely stop yourself from buying anything new. It will still be in the shop when you are ready to do it. Or you will forget about this "must have" and be wanting something else soon enough.

Use up/do the existing projects before you move onto another one.

Mrs j u can give your books to a cancer research shop who just sell books or there are children's charities that have book shops. The other thing you can do is put them on free cycle. I gave away lots of books in the summer to a charity who was sending them to schools in Africa. I have packed my summer clothes away as I don't want my summer dresses with my winter stuff. I have done the same with shoes . It works for me.

I'm still not following her principles about doing one area at a time, mostly I'm just doing whatever is in my line of sight at the moment.

Jewellery I don't wear - gone. Loads of books - gone. Unwanted ornaments - gone. I never liked the Alan Titchmarsh book anyway, and have several other books on greenhouse gardening and we don't even have a greenhouse - so that's gone...

I found a gorgeous hairclip not worn for 20 years - and am wearing it right now! Also altered a top which had been sitting in the 'mending' pile for months.

Maybe once I've done the obvious stuff, I will go back and really concentrate on each area. At the moment its like 3 jars of honey?! A friend keeps bees, and the honey is delicious, but do we need another jar EVERY time we visit?

What about these Declutterer's Hesitations?

1] "we should save that to sell on ebay, people make lots of money doing that"

2] "I could upcycle that into retro fabric homemade peg bags for Xmas presents to satisfy me unsatisfied inner craftsperson

3] "dd might be a tomboy when she grows up so we could save some of ds's t shirts

4] "If we saved these 40 pairs of old jeans we could up cycle them into interesting things....... ( don't even have sewing machine... and am challenged by sewing on buttons.....)

I've been rereading parts of the book and I wanted to share this bit as I found it inspiring and moving.

If you think that tidying is something that must be done every day, if you think it is something that you will need to do all your life, it is time to wake up. I swear to you that tidying can be done thoroughly and quickly, all in one shot. The only tasks that you will need to continue for the rest of your life are those of choosing what to keep and what to discard and of caring for the things you decide to keep. You can put your house in order now, once and forever. The only ones who need to spend their lives, year in and year out, thinking about tidying are people like me who find joy in it and who are passionate about using tidying to make the world a better place. As for you, pour your time and passion into what brings you the most joy, your mission in life. I am convinced that putting your house in order will help you find the mission that speaks to your heart. Life truly begins after you have put your house in order.

No the glasses are vile, they have wavy stems
(boak)
But what if we need to have Martini one day?

Mrsjavier, throw a cocktail party for a few good mates, then thanks your martini glasses and let them go!

Or if your reaction to that is "no, I can't be bothered thanks", just skip the first step. (For future martini glass emergencies, you can get quite decent disposable martini 'glasses' at £5 for 12. They are nicer than they sound and they do not have wavy stems).

My winter clothes are in a box under my bed. It's about 3 pairs of nice fluffy PJs, about 3 jumpers and my fluffy dressing gown.

if you want a martini in the future, then go to a bar and buy one. Or drink it out of a wine glass/jam jar/mug it will taste the same. Charity shop with the martini glasses!

Denim stuff - charity shop/clothes recycling. If you were going to do crafty things with it, you'd be doing it already. And you're not, so it's clutter. Get rid.

(am enjoying this bossiness )

I love it too Leaping! I love to be bossed particularly in my clutter paralysis

Is it not better to donate the denim to somebody who would really benefit rather than ebay? The key is to get rid of the stuff immediately or it will take up permanent residence again. :)

mrsJ those vile glasses will ruin, I say RUIN, any martini that comes close to them.

Have your lovely martini in a bar, or drink it out of a jam jar. It really doesn't matter - just get rid of your ugly, cluttering, space stealing, unused glasses. ASAP!

(It is weird the items that we get fixated on/find so hard to part with don't you think?)

Throw the glasses away! Firstly, nobody is ever going to actually NEED a martini and I'm not allowed them as they turn me into a dangerous lunatic .
Secondly, if you MUST have a martini (and I don't recommend it) then drink it out of whatever comes to hand!