Kondoing this and kondoing that - thread 4 for Marie Kondo's lifechanging magic with tidying. All welcome!

[TheSporkforeatingkyriarchy]

Here's thread 4 for all the KonMario converts, wannabes, and guests to the magic!

Thread 3

Have been reading the thread and the book over the last few days so today I've bitten the bullet and started on my clothes. I have no floor space big enough to spread all my clothes out so just did them in batches as they came out of the wardrobe.
It's been a successful morning but I now have dozens of cost hangers lying around.
Overall I'm really excited about kondoing my whole lifestyle. I'm itching to take each room apart but I'm sticking to the advice of Konmari and following the structure.
Today's efforts have already yielded 4 black bags for charity and 1 bag of rubbish. Plus another full of hangers.
Happy decluttering everyone!

I also have dozens of coat hangers to dispense with... What do you do with them? do charity shops want them?

just sorted out a cupboard in dd1's room - it housed a mixture of stuff, not just hers. It's now half-empty, with one bag for the charity shop and two for the tip. I haven't started with clothes as I'm starting a diet, and so I hope will be better placed to do so in a few months when I'm back to a more normal weight for me. I have decided that if I'm not getting rid of clothes for this reason, then neither should I buy any new ones, which should give me a kick up the bum.

Hermione, I eventually found a charity shop that took hangers after asking in several that use branded ones only. My MIL got rid of a load on Freecycle but I didn't have any luck with that. She said a market trader wanted them if that helps?!

Hello - really positive day today. For decades years I have helplessly begged other people to do any non-flat pack DiY for me because I felt I couldn't do it.

Today I Kondo-ed the toolbox, and got rid of about two-thirds of it as either broken, or I had no idea what it was and it hadn't been touched since DH passed away. I had identified about four things missing from the kit, and bought them last week, so today have put a new hinge on the broken hall cupboard door, and drilled holes in the wall to put in strong fixings for a mirror DD had for Christmas! All hanging, and straight too!

Frankly, I feel like a bit of a superhero. Who knew this was so easy when not mystified by a box full of random bits, AND when properly kitted out with the small number of correct tools? Life-changing magic indeed.

Tanukisan if you could share some of what she says in the other book, it would be much appreciated!

It has been difficult, but sorting by category is really great. Then you can see what you really have - usually way too much of the same thing - or don't have!

Result - Adventuring - well done!

I've got rid of a load more stuff down the charity shop and listed a couple of bigger items on eBay. The biggest step forward is that DH seems to be willing to part with more of his unused belongings...

I got these, they are slim so take up even less room in the wardrobe, you can get different colours too. Plus you can buy packs of clips to make the hanger suitable for hanging up skirts etc too .www.amazon.co.uk/JVL-velvet-saving-non-slip-hangers/dp/B0074KEB2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420212452&sr=8-1&keywords=velvet+hangers

Entire estate car now full to bursting with stuff from shed, kids playhouse (they helped daughter is total hoarder) and another small outside storage area. Amaaaazing. Will take to tip tomorrow.

Adventuring, you are a bit of a superhero!

Thanks for the coat hanger tips, everyone.

hi.....im pretty new, but loving it so far!
All the tips on here on great!
The thing I'm struggling with is the kitchen. .....how do you store your plates, bowls etc. and also your mugs?
Thanks!

Hermione Have you considered donating your father's books to his old university? Depending on his subject/s some may still be acceptable. Usually, things like Accounting, Computing, Law are out of date before they are published, but others, like Literature (English or foreign), Art history etc are welcome.

The letter-writing has been kondoed and is now re-homed with the Royal Mail!

Apart from that, today's number is (appropriately!) TWO.

2 more pairs of shoes bagged for charity.

2 bin bags full of personalised paper stuff to the shed for later burning.

2 Christmas chocolate boxes kondoed, for when I get to make-up etc.

Still working on tops.

My kitchen cupboards were surprisingly easy, lots went, rusting tins etc., along with plastic bowls. I kept a lovely china mixing one and a few stacking bowls, as I had far too many.

I buy the plastic bowls from IKEA with lids. That fit in each other. I also have some stands that go into the cupboard to use the space at the top. I have these for mugs, so mugs go on top and below. I will post a photo of the cupboard when back from my stay away, which illustrates this.

These are the Stands

For plates I have a large rack in the kitchen, but for small plates and bowls I have a corner stand in the cupboard they fit on, that saves space too.

Photo attached for the plate rack for tea plates and bowls.

Have given up trying today, two wild DCs meaning mummy has a mega head ache and the house looks like a poo tip! Dinner bath then bed for me to sleep bad head off so I can go kondo mad tomorrow!!

Hi all. So impressed with how much everyone has done since I last checked in. I kind of stopped for New Year. Back today though and I've done shoes. I didn't get rid of many, but I do wear all the ones I kept and at least they are tidy now. Also bribed the kids to tidy up all the shoes in our miniscule hallway. There are two wicker boxes there but I think I'm going to remove them so that shoes cannot re-accumulate there.

Is it books next? To be honest, clothes were relatively easy. Now its onto all the random crap which is spread across the whole house, I'm afraid I'm going to lose the will.

I've done my first lot of folding this evening - it's a bit sloppy, (it's hard to fold jersey dresses so they stand up) but I like that I can see everything as soon as I open the drawer. I also like the fact that I am clearly going to have some empty drawers at the end of this. Before starting I had so many clothes they were piled up on chairs in my bedroom!

Nice to see so many new names, I'm glad my consolidation post at the start of this thread has been helpful to so many. I love to see all the inspiring stories and so many being inspired by them.

I'm hoping to clear out in my bedroom the baskets of old paperwork and stuffs as well as my old shelves in there this evening after my DP heads to work. I find myself feeling all itchy to get back to it after a few days off .

And having sent loads of donations out before the holidays (thanks to Air Ambulance pickup service!), I'm now considering where to put a permanent joyful box or bag for donations.

Thank you for the inspiration.

I have gone through the linen cupboard and thrown away about 2/3 of what was in there (worn out sheets, dusty pillows, indelible stains, stuff for beds we no longer own...). House feels so much better.

Also I threw away the Christmas tree today, which was looking very sad. This is a first - in the past, it's sat outside well into February. Or November.

Well done Adventuring - brillian re the DIY!
Hermione and I queen -thanks for hte advice/support re clothes. I think I will do as you suggest Hermione.Not sure if it is the Kondoing or maybe a mid-life crisis but I feel inspired to experiment with different clothing styles and with wearing the clothes I have in different ways/combinations!

I took a box and another bag of books to the chazza today and also came back with 2 items of clothing - but they were good makes and will go wit hstuff I already have and I liked them and...

Spork - I have permanent bags for chazza nad fabric recycling on the go. I keep them in my spare doom room!

I can't believe how fast this thread is going, lots of impressive sorting!
Well done on the DIY, adventuring! You have given me hope that I could do some, I'm normally too scared of getting it wrong!
Started photos today. There are other things I should do first but sorting photos is a nice quiet activity I can do while DD is napping. I'm sort of enjoying looking at old photos but also feeling sad about people I've lost touch with or who are no longer with us.

Pointlessfan DIY - We can do it!

A couple of years ago, my 14 year-old washing machine stopped spinning.

I went ont Internet and diagnosed the problem. It was going to cost about £80 to get a mechanic out... plus parts.

I paid £9.99 for new pair of carbon brushes online and did it myself... with help from YouTube. Tah dah!

Told you we can do it!

Well, I continued with my clothes today. It's the category where I've wobbled most tbh. I can clearly see the clothes from the different stages of my life: smart office suits (pre-DS); more casual office wear (for working from home: post-DS); tunics and dresses (last few years for mix of office and home working). I'm not entirely sure where I'm going career-wise and my clothes reflect that uncertainty. It made me a bit about what to keep and what to discard. I just used the 'joy-giving' philosophy and managed to discard an entire rail of clothes.

This is going to sound a bit mad but the problem I now have is that the remaining clothes aren't hanging properly. I tried hanging by category and then length eg tunic tops; jumpers; but it doesn't flow properly. I know. I know. I'm starting to sound like MK Prior to the book, I hung clothes together according to colour which looked better but I guess wasn't as practical. Does anyone have any tips to help the order of my hanging give me joy? (I've folded all the clothes that can be folded.)