"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

I sorted out a couple of drawers today. I did throw some stuff away and tried to relocate things to the correct places in the house.

One thing i have loads of is buttons from clothing. I cut them all out of the little envelopes so at least I can see them.

Dipping a tiny toe into the water and just using the "joy" question rapidly filled 4 bags for the charity shop today. It also helped to say thank you to them and wish them a safe journey to new homes - especially the toddler clothes.

I burst out laughing when this www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/garden/home-organization-advice-from-marie-kondo.html?src=me&_r=0 from the Huff Post appeared on my FB feed today. She's flippin'stalking me !
Trying to get organised for my stall at Thrift Fair on Sunday .Really hope I sell some things, very broke at the minute - hope there are lots of size 8 people around !

Have been stalking this page for past few weeks but wanted to post (my first post ever) to say think ye are all doing brill. I got the book on the strength of the first thread and have been trying to do a few bits every evening when dd is in bed.

Have done my wardrobe, but could probably do more... Did the medicine cabinet last night even though was v tired and just when I was finished and about to have a cup of tea I spilt a tin of green paint that had asked dh to move into the shed all over the tiles in the utility... Cue two hours scrubbing to clean it up. Interestingly enough baby wipes rock at cleaning up paint, slightly concerned for dd's poor skin now...
Am really hoping I can see this through as a few people in my family have serious hoarding tendencies, the likes of which are normally only shown on channel 4 documentaries, and it is my absolute nightmare to go down that path!
So if ye don't mind me lurking here, hopefully can konmarie my way to a happier house!

Nice to see another MK fanatic disciple fifilal! Good start!

And to everyone, you're all doing amazingly and I'm loving hearing progress! I'm obsessed with this thread!

Fifilal I've often wondered about the amazing powers of baby wipes to clean stuff up too . They're good at getting stuff off clothes and carpets too!

Ah I just read in the book- we are not deciding what to throw away, we are deciding what to keep.

A subtle difference, but quite a big one when you are actually going though stuff.

I too love this thread. Found myself wittering about it to my friends - stonewalled! Memo to self : keep it for the thread,

agree the more you do, the more stands out. just glancing around I want to move several things. washing gets on my nut too, waiting for it to dry on the rack / rads

actually I moved the lounge rug to clean it, and I haven't put it back ... dunno if I prefer it elsewhere will have to have a play round with it

will look at gumtree as got a few bits to flog

keep going all, everyone is doing marvellously

I've been itching to get back to the folding but just been too busy. The stuff I have done though I love getting out of my drawers :)

Urgh, still doing paperwork. More and more is being chucked and it should fit in half of the spacewhen when I'm finished. Just as importantly we're going to file everything more sensibly, so the mortgage stuff (for example) will all be in one place rather than three different places...

MrNC is delighted by the idea that he owns 'komono' rather than 'random crap'. Suspect this is not the intention. Still, he agrees all our bedding needs to be rationalised, especially now dd is no longer in grobags. Overnight my grobag collection, beloved by both children for 6 years, has become junk. Sniff!

I'm finding that I'm enjoying tidying now that i know where everything goes. I had no idea that my procrastination about tidying over the years had so much to do with not knowing where everything goes!

I nearly fell off the decluttering bandwagon when a friend took me to the Sainsburys toy sale yesterday. Soooo many bargains, but I was happy that I was able to be more critical than usual! Lots of things which I'd previously have bought (little wooden cupcakes, wooden puzzles & car/space sets etc etc) I could just see would become more clutter.

There were also lots of the Vtech 'shiny and passing' toys which dd was drawn to pressing the buttons on & previously I'd have got a couple for Xmas presents for her, but now I happily passed them by as I could tell they'd be a 5 minute wonder.

Sadly dd(1) was less discriminating and she ended up with a half-price Dr Mcstuffins (I think its called) doll & one with woollen hair both of which clearly filled her with joy! (So hard to resist her when she hugs the dollies - clearly its karma as I was the same as a little girl). I also bought a wooden rainbow puzzle for £3, which I've liked the idea of for ages. I love rainbows & I'm going to photograph then recycle the birthday cards & display it on the top of the toy unit. If it doesn't bring me joy when its there or becomes clutter then it can go again!

I hope being more discriminating lasts, as long term thats probably what'll make a difference to the house! :)

What do you do if none of clothes give you joy? I'm not that into clothes, can really only afford clothes from charity shops, s they tend to be functional and what I can get in my size, not necessarily what I would choose in a shop. Just emptied all my clothes onto th bed and feel very meh about pretty much everything. Need to wear something though. Do I just keep the least meh stuff that fits best? [Confused]

That probably doesn't make sense - the birthday cards are currently covering the top of the toy unit thingy, so by getting rid of them I'm making space for the rainbow. :)

NoraRoberts I'm the same with clothes but once I'd started it did work. Can you start by picking the ones that you'd want to wear? Thats what I did, as 'joy' was too strong a feeling for me with clothes.

Any tops I liked I hung back in the wardrobe quickly & moved on to the next one. When I'd finished it was clear that there was a pattern to what I'd kept - navy, blues, teals and dusky pink tops had stayed, other colours had gone).

I also tried on a couple of things that I thought I 'should' keep but then made me feel bleugh, which made it easy to let them go.

When you've kept what you like (or like most) then decide is that enough for you to wear, wash/ recycle & wear again. If not, pick a couple of 'next best' things - but first look at the things that you chose first & it may help you see what you should be buying/looking for/gaps that need filling.

I went from about 20 short sleeved t-shirts to 3, but in actuality they were the 3 I was wearing & washing anyway - the others just filled space in the wardrobe & I haven't missed their being there.

Hope that helps & good luck. :)

Leeloo thanks, that is helpful. I'm not goin to be left with much though!

Nora I was the same as you last year. Knew I didn't like my clothes but couldn't figure out how to change what I was buying.
Found on Pinterest the 'colours' thing- your eye & hair & skin colour and so what looks good on you. Well I was surprised that bright colours look good on me. I've stopped buying muddy brown and black.
Have a wee look at that, it could help your buying/ chosing decisions in the future?
(I had literally 3 tops & a pair of jeans when I'd gone through my wardrobe)

nora I am in the same situation - if I get rid of eg all the jumpers and cardigans that I'm meh about I'll have none left at all (well maybe 1!) and so I am getting rid of 80% and making a note of what I am keeping as a stop gap! then re placing things slowly with items that fill me with joy. So I have 1 jumper I really like, 1 that's pretty good and the rest will go. I'm keeping a Christmas jumper which I only wear a few times a year cos it's awesome.

I only have 3 pairs of jeans anyway, I need more but find it really hard as I'm short and very petite so nothing fits.

I'm struggling with things like walking boots, down filled coat etc that only get brought out once in a blue moon but are very useful when it snows or is v cold.

Just checking in to say how much I'm loving this thread. I have bought the book took and love how delightfully bonkers she is. I'm finding though that there is often method in her madness.

DH is indulging me. But has voluntarily reviewed some bits of his own. So I think it is catching. I now have bags stacked up but not sure where to take them too.

Half term begins! I have been waiting so I can have several full days to find every item of clothing and cup, cull, cull. I have removed everything from my wardrobe and drawers and piled them by category on the bed in the spare room. Next is to get the boxes and bags from the loft... I am going to count the totals of each category and may post if they are not too embarrassing...

Cup?! I meant cull, obv.