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Original poster

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

999 replies

FrancesHB · 07/09/2014 15:46

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'.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
20
CiderwithBuda · 27/09/2014 17:52

Evening all!

I finally got to the bottom of the ironing basket this afternoon. Helped by just putting a lot of the summer stuff away. A couple if items for the charity bag. And I am left with two large table cloths. One of which is the Xmas one so is there from last Xmas! I'm going to do them next week.

Tidied and sortd one side of utility room yesterday. Other side to do and then I want to tackle the cupboards.

Still have chest of drawers in my bedroom to do. And I have decided to go through everything again to figure out actual outfits from everything rather than just keep stuff. No point in keeping things that don't go with anything.

MrsCurrent · 27/09/2014 18:09

stuffofawesome that is, well, awesome!
I've apologised to my socks and freed them from potato ball hell. Now, how the heck to I fold thongs??

Stuffofawesome · 27/09/2014 18:54

Why thank you for your support. I lost momentum a bit this week so good to do something today. Though dd not impressed as she liked finding surprises while rummaging apparently.

CoolCadbury · 27/09/2014 20:03

now, how the heck do I fold thongs Grin

CoolCadbury · 27/09/2014 20:10

housemum I too am aiming for the empty drawers look. Welcome btw. And it's great that you are only buying things that you need.

awesome a whole bag of pens etc that are not working - I bet you never thought you had that many. That drawer does look pretty with all those colours.

MrsC bet the socks are relaxing. Smile

Woodenheart · 27/09/2014 20:17

I picked my book up from the library today Smile

Tidied two drawers yesterday of paperwork, Im getting addicted loving it!

New Year - New Home.

CecyHall · 27/09/2014 20:23

Today I bought a super cute jar to keep my hair bits in and have just ordered 2 le creuset utensil holders which I'm hoping are definitely going to be more joyful than my ikea standard metal one that I've had for about 10 years!

I've got to do some cleaning tomorrow- I've been so busy decluttering the actual cleaning has fallen a bit behind so need to catch up!

Coughle · 27/09/2014 21:11

MrsC there is a YouTube video on KonMari folding that includes how to fold thongsSmile

I'd link to it but I don't remember which one it is. I think it was an American lady and she goes through how to fold all sorts of things.

Coffeeinthepark · 27/09/2014 22:06

I love to join too. Loving the book. Almost finished it in 2 days. I'm well into the project (well, a bit started) and am loving the results. I feel so ready to let go of clothes that were once favourites but now old. I know where the problems are for me including 'maybe I'll need them' tights, socks, bras etcLooking forward to a fresh day of tidying tomorrow.

MrsCurrent · 27/09/2014 22:16

Thank you coughle, I'll look for that one. I've followed the videos on tshirts successfully. Ds2 inspected my drawers and was so excited by it he called his brother in to see how awesome it was! I've done 2 charity/rags bags out of my tops and socks and made £35 already selling on some unworn labelled stuff, excited about tomorrow!

CoolCadbury · 27/09/2014 23:08

Aw@mrsc's DS2. This is the video, I think.

Kewcumber · 27/09/2014 23:58

I having been sorting and binning much - not been well and struggled with DS and work at the same time. Waving goodbye and thanking threadbare knickers may have finished me off completely.

But I am becoming strangely addicted to folding Blush - it's getting a bit of a hold on me.

Kewcumber · 28/09/2014 00:03

I used to video of the fast folding technique posted above and "KonMari"d it by folding in half or thirds again.

Any advice on what I do with endless presents from the Kazakh embassy which really belong to DS so I don;t feel I can bin them - one is a huge tome (imagine 4 big coffee table books stacked on top of each other) of 1000 Kazakh songs and poetry Hmm

To be honest after the first 10 you've heard all you will ever need to. (Have nothing against kazakh music, wouldn't be keen on 1000 waltz's or rap music etc either). I mean you've got to be pretty hard core to listen to 1000 of anything haven't you.

I also have several glossy coffee table books of various shots of kazakhstan w=from every conceivable angle.Would anyone like one?

Stuffofawesome · 28/09/2014 08:15

Thanks for the offer Kewcumber, would love to but I am decluttering.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 28/09/2014 12:53

Just posting to let everyone know that I'm still around. Have has a bit of a rough week but have still managed to get some bags ready for the charity shop tomorrow. Will try and catch up in the thread later Smile

OneSkinnyChip · 28/09/2014 14:19

Really need to catch up sneaking on while visitors are out shopping. Kewcumber re your Kazakh collection it would be worth listing them on Amazon as a seller. I was amazed how much unusual books will sell for on there as there are avid collectors and academics who are always looking out for niche interest books. Really worth listing them even for a couple of weeks it is dead easy!

OneSkinnyChip · 28/09/2014 14:22

Not totally there yet with Marikon - bought a new pan yesterday and 2 books. But I will chuck out the old pan I never use and will read the books asap!

LottaMarten · 28/09/2014 14:42

I'm quietly lurking... Only have occasional snatches of time to do this but have tackled my clothes and oh my the difference is incredible. And it has been a week and still looks as good!

Thank you OP for starting this thread:)

NotCitrus · 28/09/2014 14:48

Hello, this thread has inspired me to continue on my mission to declutter! I'd already done clothes thanks to friends who have regular clothes swap events, so after 2 babies I finally have only clothes that fit.

So I've gone through my jewellery box and embarked on drawers full of make-up and bits. The cancer shop will benefit quite a bit. Shoes nearly done - each pair needs a day of testing with my orthotics...

Kitchen is mostly down to what I use (it was all knocked down last year, which helped).

What category should I do next? I'm trying to do "weird electric things of MrNC's covered in dust" but as some are really valuable and others need testing, that will take a while - at least I'm getting space in the front room...

Everstrong · 28/09/2014 15:18

Kew the Kazakh collection sounds very interesting though I don't need anymore stuff so you can keep it

Hope your week gets better Jilted

Welcome to Coffee

My day didn't go to plan yesterday as DD started with a vomiting bug so I spent all day clearing up sick.

Today however I have tackled her clothes, books and toys. That's another 3 black bags for the charity shop!

CecyHall · 28/09/2014 15:43

Yay I made DH clear out his junk drawer in his bedside table and now he has artfully rolled all his ties and put them in there.

Other parts not going so well- DH is trying and failing so far to fix our loo so the bathroom is in disarray which is driving me crazy as I want to get on. I seem to be so fixated on that, I'm losing sight of what I've achieved and feel a bit pissed off about it all at this moment in time.

I've made a list for this coming week though so will plough on- the ultimate aim is to have a home (not a house) that I'd be proud of and ready for visitors whenever they turned up. Long way to go but its better than it was 2 weeks ago!

(Just remembered I also cleared out all the fiddly kitchen bit ie. Garlic crusher I don't use, old calpol spoons etc)

Housemum · 28/09/2014 16:10

OK, so I'm not doing it in the right order but am going for what I feel like- have corralled all the bathroom/make up bits together. I can't quite bring myself to throw things away (seems wasteful of both money and the products) so have put all shower gels etc in one box in bathroom and given everyone strict instructions to use the smallest ones up first and chuck them. Hoping it works.

Make up was easier as that's mine - have now got one medium sized make up bag containing everything, little make up bag tucked inside for taking the bare essentials if I go away for a weekend.

Konmaried DD3's drawers which was perfect timing as have just gone through the "to grow into" hand-me-downs from DD2 so had more to put away. From having thought the drawers were full, I now have some space in them! Am going to ask DD3 later if there are any tops that she doesn't like. I'd rather give them away and have the space, she doesn't need that much as she is at school anyway (she has more than she needs as DD2 was exceptionally tall and DD3 is quite short, so she has the clothes DD2 was wearing before she started school yet she's in year 2 so in uniform most of the time!)

Have just had to re-order a power cable for my window vac as I threw it away when I decluttered the electrical-stuff box in the garage a couple of weeks ago Blush

CoolCadbury · 28/09/2014 16:34

I think Marie's order for de-cluttering are:

Clothes (de-clutter and organise by sub categories)
Books
Papers
Komono (stuff) de-clutter and organise by sub categories such as CDs/DVDs/toiletries/valuables/electrical items/stationery/medicines/ sewing/hobbies/kitchen/loose coins/other stuff
Photographs and sentimental items last.

With photos, she says that if you want to keep them, put them in an album.

MrsCurrent · 28/09/2014 17:48

CoolCadbury thanks for the vid, I'm not convinced some underwear will fold for more than a couple of mins but it's all in a box in the drawer so not the end of the world.

For the £4 something I spent downloading the book I have made £55 selling my stuff on fb so far with another £50ish worth to be collected in the next couple of days, well worth the investment! my clutter lovely stuff has been thanked and sent to bring someone else joy!

Coffeeinthepark · 28/09/2014 19:31

So, in around an hour of concentrated work I turned 4 small boxes and two drawers of (balled) socks and underwear into 2 perfectly sorted drawers divided by the boxes I had and shoe boxes as she suggests of folded socks and sorted underwear. The cull was ruthless and enjoyable. And so so long overdue. The end result is amazing and I've just freed up a whole shelf in my wardrobe for shoes