'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'.

Peonies - I kept six pairs of good sports socks - had lots of cheap ones so they have gone. Lots of my socks were very old and not bringing any joy (!) so kept five new ones and I will buy a few more to have 8 or so.

Underwear - chucked all the older stuff. Kept some matching sets (had forgotten I owned any matching undies) and need to buy a couple of new nude bras to make another couple of sets.

Pjs - kept last years purchases of winter ones, stored very summery ones and witteled down the ones I'm currently wearing. Got rid of 6 or 7 pairs.

Gym kit - sorted stuff I can wear now and stuff that is too small - it's mostly new as I bought stuff in New York in May and have put a stone on since.

Still more to do tomorrow.

Hey MissA (waves) Can I come to live with you in your future home? Sounds lovely.

BeCool I always feel I should eBay my stuff but I have never done it. I always give it to charity but then I feel a little guilty that I did not even try to get some money for stuff. How did you stop feeling guilty about not ebaying?

OK. Tonight I am tackling the coats. Will report back. Here I go.

I stopped feeling guilty about not Ebaying after a few times ending up feeling grumpy about the effort of selling stuff for only a couple quid (though when I was on maternity leave, it was well worth it - just not once back at work). If an item is larger than a letter and won't make at least 10 quid, then I may stick it on Gumtree/Facebook selling groups which don't cost, then give the things away. I conclude the warm fuzzy feeling of giving items to charity is about £2.49 each. :)

My main problem is working in the environmental field so feeling guilty about chucking anything in the bin, plus ds getting sentimental over all sorts of tat...

Help! I've sorted my bottoms but I cannot find how I am meant to fold them! I'll be hanging skirts but it would be good to store the jeans in a drawer.

I don't feel guilt about not ebaying - because I get a gift aid letter from Barnardos every few months and I love being a 'generous donor' to a charity I think is wonderful - without actually parting with any cash.

I fold trousers and jeans like I do tights. Fold them longways so one leg is on top of the other. Then half and half again. Then bend over in an upside down v to vertically line them up.

Well I haven't even read the book yet but today I cleared out the sock/underwear drawer :o good grief it was a mess, and so much in there that hasn't been used for a really long time, and some that I just don't like as much. I guess I'm light years behind most of you (haven't caught up with thread yet since I've not read the book!) but pleased nonetheless :)

queenceleste climb your mountain one clothing category at a time :) Once it's done don't let it build up again!

Where do I buy socks that will bring me joy ? I would happily throw out (=pass on) all my currents socks as none of them being me joy. But then I'd be sock-less. And wearing my wellies would hurt. Which wouldn't bring me joy. So then even a joy-less pair of socks would bring me joy.

I'm not ready to do this yet, am I ?

Yay Fuzzpig - first step completed! Are your socks happy?

I don't feel guilty by not ebaying, because I enjoy making a charitable donation, and I enjoy giving myself permission to just let stuff go. For me the excess stuff was always such a burden, it feels incongruous to place a further burden on myself as to how I must get rid of it.

I agree with the other poster - on maternity leave I was more inclined to sell, but then I had the time and needed the money. Now I am time poor, I'd rather a charity uses their time to get any value out of stuff I don't want.

Marie makes a great point re waste - the money was spent when you paid for the item.

I've thrown very little away - it gets either donated, given purposefully (nice ex baby stuff for example) or recycled.

Ive been doing random clearing on my day off today, with the 'help' of DD toddling walking on bloody everything around,

1 bag for charity
2 boxes for a baby event
1 black bag for dustman
Cleared 1 drawer & 1 cupboard out.

I'll ask them, Holmes :o

I've almost finished my clothes. As I have more shelf space than drawer space I've just bought lots of Ikea Skubb boxes so I can arrange the folded clothes vertically.

I have thinned out my clothes enough to have everything I own in there and now even have my shoes on shelves. Very very pleasing

Just done Husband's tshirts (folding not thinning out). He has 30 which seems mad but they look fantastic now. He thinks it looks too high maintenance though and doesn't think I'll be able to maintain it in the long run. Time will tell

Hello can I join? I've done my clothes, the baby clothes, the toddler gear and one cupboard of doom. I've started on paperwork ( massive pile of randomness gone and I'm eyeing up my filing next) but can't bear to touch the books. I have shelves and shelves of them in every room and don't want to do it. I have enormous emotional attachment to books, yes, even the ones I've had for years but have never read.

I'm stuck. I haven't read the book though (don't have a kindle and I'm miles from the shops and on an amazon boycot.. What to do?). Help!

I fold jeans and trousers in thirds and then in half because they fit best in my drawer that way.

Socks I fold in half as a pair and lay on top of each other in a small box inside my underwear drawer.I only need one pair at a time. It's not pure KonMari but it works for me and brings me joy

My post has vanished :(

I wrote a big post about my 4 bags for the charity shop tomorrow. Too tired to retype it!

(Contain your disappointment people!)

Shockingundercrackers - re books: she isn't prescriptive about number of clothes or books and if I recall said the right number to keep is very individual. What you want is to shift the stuff that doesn't bring you joy. If looking at them makes you happy I think she would at keep them. I have always arranged my books quite carefully and so they look okay to me and not very cluttered at all. Books are not actually my thing as much as DH's and he won't let me touch his

I've just read the bit about how throwing out the clothes results in you losing weight.... Does that mean i should open my black sacks and retrieve the clothes I threw out for being too tight?

Hey coolcadbury sure, I bet you'd be a hell of a lot tidier than DH
Can't wait to get started, have guests staying ATM so will start tonight

Sadly I don't think the losing weight is guaranteed, Asheth . I can see how it might happen though - the positive attitude you get from living in a lovely clutter-free environment, plus the boost from unloading some emotional baggage along with your stuff - I guess that can make you treat yourself better, not comfort-eat etc.

Oneskinnychip four bags is impressive

Thanks Coughle :)

Not getting much done today. Have a banging headache (thanks hormones) so taking it easy and going to try and get some stuff done later.