"The Life Changing Magic of Tidying" continues to magically change lives (PT 2)

[BeCool]

Come fold your loved clothes, and feel the spark of joy in every object you own (or thereabouts).

Continuing our journey on from the Original thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/good_housekeeping/2178442-The-Life-Changing-Magic-of-Tidying-Marie-Kondo?msgid=50091328#50091328

Hmmm sorting out the clothes I came across some of ex's clothes. I had a sniff of one and it's kinda upset me thinking of handing them back to him. I was tempted to leave in a crumpled pile but I folded them with care.

Oh help, pass those pillow slips to zing to go with her duvets..

Thanks Planet, good idea, I'll look into it. :)

Zing & Shocking - sorry to hear about your losses. I debated about posting this but... I had a mc 3 years ago (after 1.5 years trying to get pregnant) & it is so hard not to grieve over the family you should have had - however lovely the one you have is. It ended up being on my birthday & it was grim that year (why didn't I cancel it?) & now each year my birthday is just a reminder of it. It would have been tragic enough anyway without that.

I wonder if things like that are partly why we hold onto 'stuff' to make us feel better/protect/cocoon ourselves about the losses that we can't control. It does make me feel mired in the past though & I want to move forward & show the dc that we don't have to hold onto everything we've ever owned.

Sorry, I sound like a crap amateur psychologist now, I just want to understand this so I can move on...

... anyway... I've spotted a tabletop sale for babies/children's stuff on the 8th Nov & I'm wondering if it'd be a good way to motivate me to get rid of some of the toys & baby bits? In a way its annoying as I've charity shopped about 10 bags of outgrown baby clothes & toys which I could've sold, but at least they went to a good cause. :)

Leeloo and that makes sense to me too. I see Decluttering as a way of clearing my mind too. It's cathartic in a way once I get going. I had a miscarriage a few years ago and even though I have 2 beautiful dc's, part of me wonders. It made me have anxiety issues and part of that was hoarding. I see it as a protection against the outside world and a great way of not letting anything or anyone new in.
Now I'm going through divorc e and this feels like a natural point to let go of stuff and pain. I hope I can find the strength to do so. Reading about all your successes does seem to motivate me, thank you thread!

There's a video on how to fold stuff ? Get me over there now - I really need pictures !

Tidied the kids playroom today - not part of the master plan but still a good feeling. And gave MIL knitting needles - joy from that !

I may do another drawer of clothes before heading to bed... It is a little addictive !

Folding video
www.redonline.co.uk/health-self/self/declutter-your-wardrobe-with-marie-kondo-how-to-fold-videos

Hello everyone

Sorry to everyone who has suffered losses zing, leeloo, shocking

I've been slowly ploughing through our crap precious belongings and have sorted out our stationery, craft stuff, and started on paperwork. I've chucked everything from my first degree (15 years ago ) but have struggled to throw much from my masters as I still like to think I may go back and study more on the same area. For other paperwork I've chucked everything more than six years old and lots of random junk which I don't know why I'd kept - covering letters sent with bank cards and so on.

I definitely think we hoard stuff because it gives a feeling of being in control of our environment. In my case, I think I have inherited from my mum the idea that it is wasteful to throw things away, that they might come in useful one day. But I am also able and willing to go and buy three new items from primark for a tenner. These two things combined result in a lot of clutter

I'm addicted to the hoarder programmes. Used to love watching that stelios guy on hoarder next door I think it was called. No obsessive compulsive cleaners too. I'll then feel shame and go declutter in the ad break!

I love the hoarders programmes too, sadly I tend to think "well I'm not that bad"!!

Not made much leave the house this weekend but at least it's bagged and labelled to go to friends and family (not clutter, honest! DVDs and kids wear to people who want them). Our bedroom is still tidy, it's a miracle as this is the dumping ground for all the homeless crap komono usually as no visitors would see in here!

Rummukib thank you !

I decluttered a whole bottle of red this evening, all in the interest of reducing my possessions you understand. It brought me great joy. Tomorrow it will bring me a great headache. I fear folding might have to wait. I can't find the set of drawers at the moment.. I think I'll just lie in a dark room and watch the video...

I LOVE the idea of decluttering wine .

I'll ask charity shops if they want them and will find out if there's a better use for them than being cut up for rags. they are really nice.
in fact I'll ask MIL & SILs first if they want them.

today I have done most of what I had planned, apart from DS5's trousers and a pile of other trousers & shorts.
turns out DS4 has only one pair of school trousers so I need to order more. lucky he likes the cold & prefers wearing shorts, he 6 of them!

I have folded 158 pairs of socks today. and that is not all the socks we own, most of DH & my socks were already put away plus quite a few must be in various stages of laundering.

including in-between sizes stored we probably have in excess of 250 pairs of socks. is that too many for 9 people?
plus at least 30 odd socks. I have a sock box where all the socks go once washed. I aim to pair them once a week with kids help, but inevitability it doesn't get done so we rummage for a pair to wear every morning
it's like a weird version of lucky dip

Anyway they are done now - I buy sets of the same colour so pairing them is easy.
Again colour coding is key and luckily the schools require different colours anyway - DS1 & DS2 need black (same size!), DS3 & DS4 use blue (we get away with same size) and DS5 wears grey.
They are all from Next and the logo is printed on the soles - makes it easy to tell apart from DH's socks.

give away pile is growing - I decided my next job is to unpick old name tags so I can actually bag the clothes up. I like that job & looking forward to it.
I still have to label boxers and last few clothrs for 4 oldest then I'm done.

sorry my posts are ginormous, but it helps me think through what I've done, what's next.

And a tip - I always cut up t-shirts that are stained or have holes into cleaning cloths. I keep a big box under the sink full of these squares. we use them all the time. I normally wash them with rest of washing, but
if I have to clean out grease from baking tray or clean up poo or whatever I just throw them in the bin after use. better than wasting paper or extra water/cleaning liquids to get rid of most of the mess

Thanks for the new thread becool!
So far I have decluttered:
Clothing
Tights
Shoes
Scarves
Skincare in bedroom
Skincare in bathroom
Makeup
Jewellery
Wool!

I still have to do cd/dvd's, paperwork, kitchen drawers/cupboards, books and photos/sentimental jazz.

However, my wardrobe and drawers are all still organised, I am wearing the nice underwear I discovered, I am folding clothes automatically as a reflex action, and my bedroom is filling me joy every night when I get to bed and look at the book shelves nicely organised. I am feeling really content and happy on a daily basis too.

Decided to sort games and puzzles today. I've taken every box off the shelf plus the two boxes of odd pieces and now have to sort into three piles - keeping, binning due to lost pieces and charity shop/table top sale. It's going to be a long job!

Got rid of the clothes and shoes for the recycling centre on Saturday so feeling a bit lighter now. Didn't make it to charity shop with the rest so hoping to add more to that pile and get them out of here next Saturday.

Don't know what to start on next. Have to get DS2's room sorted, he is a real hoarder. Need to do it while he's at school because he will want to keep everything but just looking at it makes me want to shut the door and ignore it!

Oh dear, I don't feel like doing it at the moment. Have a cold and I just cannot be bothered. I think it is the fallout of all the stuff I cannot face,better to stuff it in and shut the drawer.

I'd already gone through the kids soft toys privately, but I did it again with DS1 and he chose one doll to give away! He is at an age where he's quite protective of his possessions, so I'm not going to force the issue at all, but I want to get in the habit of inviting him to look at his things properly.

He definitely appreciated the ones he decided to keep, and I was really proud of him for choosing one to give away. Forgot to thank it though!

Oh and... I have three empty shelves in my house right now... Not doing anything, just sitting there empty. I love that.

Oh My Lord.

just did photos. and it was thrilling! so enjoyable. decided to have 1 album filled with all of my faves, spanning over 50 yrs
binned 3 other albums
1 A4 box for charity
ripped up 1000s, and it was ACE. all of the memories are safe in my head I don't need blurry mis framed rubbish
free & light!

msdolittle How are you going to organise your paper work? I keep asking on here but no one's replied yet -I'm desperate for the definitive filing system! I don't think KonMarie's 3 file method will be enough for us, sorry to say. We use box files at the moment, but have LOADS of them. Would really like to get the number down.

Just did kitchen. So great and easier now I've done a few categories! I got rid of loads of jam jars andlastic cable ties (this is a proper obsession for me!), plastic yogurt pots (empty) and baby feeding spoons, weaning bibs and bottles. My baby is 3 years old and never even had a bottle!
So nice to have completely clear work top [halo emoticon]

Still dreading toys....