'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'.

That is a lot of tops. I've finished the book but I'm going to start tomorrow on tops.

I put all the decorating rollers in one shoe box marked 'ROLLERS' and all the paint brushes in a shoe box, and marked it 'BRUSHES'.....I've started culling and tidying the shed!!

Two bags of old toys went to charity shop yesterday from the shed.

I haven't read the book, but this thread is inspiring me. The "give me joy" idea keeps me going... Going into a chaotic spider filled shed really is draining, so if I can actually get that territory organised I will be chuffed.

I'm also culling feeble screwdrivers. I seem to have hordes of them.

It's a lovely read and she is utterly bonkers - but in a very sweet and endearing way. And she has made a career out of her bonkersness which is most admirable.

BTW I am reading it on my phone as I have not put my kindle away in the kindle place and it is AWOL ATM. Just as well it is a short nook.

I've done a massive/lifestyle changing declutter/organisation 18 months ago, and several mini further declutters in the last year. So lots of what she has written about resonates with me and I have already taken on board.

Still there is work to be done and I am inspired by Marie and will give everything another go. I'm looking at my books with one eye (only 2 shelves of them left, but yes they have been sitting there unread since I sorted/cleaned and stacked them neatly after they survived the cull), and clothes with the other, and occasionally papers with both.

Clothes first of course. I'm looking forward to folding :)

I've not quite finished the book yet but she doesn't seem to deal much with incoming/changing attitudes to buying new stuff. Maybe it is still to come. It's an essential part of the process.

She also doesn't seem to mention how to get rid of stuff unless I missed it in my quick read - the implication is that it goes in the bin although of course much stuff could go to a charity shop. This in itself takes time and most shops only take 1 large bag at a time because of limited space. I suspect I know what she would say about dh's preferred method of ebaying!

I have been doing a bit of folding while looking through drawers - not sure I am quite ready for full-on clearing but will have a bit of a focus on clothes this week and see if I can take a few bags to the charity shop so I can see more clearly what I have.

She definitely does have something to say about buying new stuff. I had a peek ahead :)

I think when you do it one category at a time it's easier. I've done tops and bottoms so far and so the bags only have clothes in and can go straight to the charity shop or clothes recycling. Similarly when you sort through books, paperwork, etc. They're all related so can be passed on or disposed of together.

But I think as long as it's out of circulation and definitely not going to creep back in, it's ok. So don't leave them in a pile somewhere but actually bag them up, then you can ebay (if you can trust yourself not to think oh but....) or designate several charity shops and drive around all of them giving one to each. Or see if you can find a big drive anywhere like refugee shelters or homeless charities or women's aid sometimes accept big donations.

Even if throwing stuff away most places have limits about what rubbish you can put out so it's a problem. Perhaps they don't have limits like that in Japan.

Keeping up with it but seriously - this is wiping me out like nothing I've ever done before. I just slept for 3 hours and only woke up because DS wanted me to help him read a bedtime story.

clutterer/hoarder here (though not quite bad enough to be my own TV programme).

By category is interesting - I'm currently trying to clear by room and failing.

But what do you do if your "category" is all over the house and various piles and lurking and all number of places?

Kewcumber just make a start. Choose a category eg. books. Go into every room and collect all the books you can see. Do the decluttery bit. Then if later you find another pile of books you will already have the mindset of what is good enough to stay and what isn't. Whatever you do is making a dent in the stuff. Good luck

Just start ?!

I think I need some kind of warm up exercise first

Read the book! It's amazing. There's a particular order of categories - and the idea that they're all over the house is exactly the reason she says to do it by categories. That's perfectly normal and even the most organised people tend to store things a little here and a lot there and some over there etc.

The first category to start with is clothes, presumably because they're harder to hide than, say, books or paperwork or photos. So you clear everything off your bedroom floor, even if that means shoving it onto the bed/into piles around the edge and then you go around the house and find every single top that you own. First check the wardrobes, drawers, etc and then other places they get left - hallway, sofa, bathroom, kids' rooms, and then check all of the nooks and crannies. Her rule is that anything you don't find in this initial sweep has to go - obviously that's harder to enforce if you're self policing but I tried to bear that in mind as I looked for clothes. She makes an exception for clothes which are in the laundry but I have so many clothes waiting to be washed that I just made sure there were no tops in the actual washing machine and then dumped everything - clean, dirty, wet - into the same pile.

Then once it's done, your tops are done. You can put the "keep" ones back into circulation - in your drawers, in your washing basket, on a chair, whatever. You're supposed to declutter everything before you start finding storage places for anything so just put them back where you found them or where they're supposed to go at the moment, although I did do the folding thing she suggests. But the great thing about this method is that even if your clothes get messy again, which they probably will, before you've finished decluttering everything, you know that you've already decided which to keep so you don't have extraneous things getting in the way and you also don't have to think "Have I done this one already?" when you get to the next room/area/category.

I've bought the book. Bedtime reading tonight

BeCool, I don't know where my kindle charger is. Yet!

All will be revealed, eventually, I'm sure...

Question.. Have you all got loads of mystery cables/ leads/plugs? Like..maybe from phones, MP3 players, or cameras from idk when? I seem to be awash with mystery wires, tangling up lots of drawers.

Clever wire /recharger labelling ideas? Need to identify such things clearly as they come in.

And remember to throw out old chargers, when phones etc die.

I have successfully used a silver sharpie pen to label black plugs and cords. It's an essential task. I need to replace silver sharpie. Yesterday I labelled a cord using a sticker folded around the plug end of the cord with the name on.

I have a huge box of wires cords etc. Been untouched for 12 months. I will throw/recycle them tomorruw inspired by Marie.

I did clothes that live in drawers today. Not too much discarding but some awesome folding and arranging.

Yesterday I gathered all my clothes together, made piles on my bed, filled a whole laundry hamper with clothes to discard!... then had to chuck everything else helter skelter back into the drawers at bedtime because the baby was already asleep. It's a start!

I'm struggling because I usually can only grab 5 or 10 minutes at the most when the kids are around, and they pick things up and carry them off or hide them or want to be picked up. So I will have to wait until I have done child free time to make a proper go of it.

I've been decluttering for years and I realize now that I've never done a complete job of it. Could I, could I really... Even in a house with children?!?!

This all sounds really great. I might just get this book. No kindle though :(
I am wondering how I might apply this to DS' clothes. I just folded his t shirts and he has a good amount, enough to fill 2 layers in the drawer.

He does need all of them and some are at that stage where I think we might only get a few more months out of...but still do fit.
Its tricky with kids clothes, I reckon.

The DC are with XP and I have a gentle hangover from lovely meal out last night. So I am going to have a day of gentle MK inspired tidying.

Children's stuff Is really hard. I struggle. I did their clothes fairly recently. Today I'm going to address toys and books.

But first I need lots of coffee and poached eggs on toast

Ahhh... the box of unidentifiable wires.

Read loads of the book last night. That woman is as mad as a box of frogs but some interesting ideas that might be do-able (slightly sceptical expression) Will start on clothes later today.

One thing I absolutely can't do is have all of DS's stuff in one room, but reckon I can probably rethink and have more in his room and put it all back there.

I thought the idea that you keep all stuff together so its easier to tidy away rather than have it in the more instinctive place where you use it is really interesting. And that storage is not your solution - discarding is your solution. I spend my life looking at storage which will somehow miraculously solve by untidiness.

I also need to get inspired to fold after washing as part of my problem is not putting washing away and it takes over the house.

Silver sharpie ordered!

Poached eggs on toast! Yum!

I have a stash of fabric tote bags cluttering up my under stairs cupboard. They do get used, periodically, but they take up a lot of space, constantly. I think foldable tote bags are the way forward.

I have envirosax for grocery shopping, they are fantastic.
Has anyone seen sturdier foldable totes?

I Keep reusable grocery bags in boot of car.

Ive just downloaded it.

ive already been converted to decluttering, books, toys etc and have been quite ruthless at times. I love that I onky have one tub of brio (gave rest away as that was enough to fill lounge) one tub of lego, just the one corkscrew, tin opener etc.... (cleared the drawers out and had 2 pastry brushes, passed one on. 5 clingfilm tolls. Only kept one!)

I think its not just decluttering but changing a mindset so v interested to read it now! It is certainly less stressful having less things as you can find the bits you want. I culled the girls clothes - it all fitted and didnt have holes, but where we have handmedowns I just had too many. Its much easier for them to choose from 6 dresses than a drawer stuffed full of them.

intrigued about magic folding...

Don't forget to do the "visualising your destination" thing first. She says the rest of it won't work without that. I did it and actually it's quite surprising how motivating it is. Works better than anything I've tried before motivation wise, and when I feel uninspired about doing the next step reading through it helps.

I've just read it, and really like the idea, although once I've done my stuff, I bloody well hope DP will join in. I've been doing standard decluttering in the kitchen today, but will start on clothes tomorrow. I've already decluttered them lots, so it shouldn't be too hard, I'm hoping.