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

Actually, music magpie buy second hand clothes too, if anyone doesn't have a charity shop/clothes bank to hand and doesn't want the faff of ebay.

Paperwork is so unsatisfying! 40mins of sorting and I only have about an inch of papers to chuck/shred.

Did however find my P45 - actually don't remember seeing it before, and it was sandwiched between an Elsa colouring sheet and a charity magazine, so prob would not have been able to work out that filing system that easily should the need have arisen. It's not quite in the right place yet because I haven't worked out whether I'm trying to fit papers into the millions of ring binders I currently own or whether I'll invest in box files.

Anyway, late enough, I shall be off to bed (to dream of box files no doubt).

Hi All - I'm new, although I've been lurking (and trying to keep up with the other threads) for a while.

I've done some of my clothes and have stuck with the folding for a few weeks now - I've freed up lots of space but need to move my 'main stuff' to a different drawer.

Not sure if these have already been mentioned but I've just tidied our cables into bags like these - these weirdly therapeutic!

I've just put an enquiry in on a china buying website for some china I never use, then immediately felt wobbly. It's stuff we got for our wedding, and I really like it still, but these particular bits have literally never been used despite us using the plates bowls etc daily.

How do you feel about the unused bits, holt, compared to the bits in regular use?

Can I join? Inspired by these threads I did my make up yesterday and towel shelf in the linen cupboard.

Will start on clothes tomorrow. We want to put the house on the market in a month so need to de clutter, have stuff that was just thrown into boxes when we moved 3 times in 15 months including internationally.

Two green wheelie bins on the kerbside (I'm hoping that we're going to learn how to kondo our gardens ?), 4 black bags (missed it over Xmas), and 7 boxes for oxfam in the hallway. Plus two enormous boxes of toys to sort out to decide what to do with (play mobile light house anyone?)

TheObligatory I don't have a polo shirt with trampolining badges (kudos to you! I was incredibly bad at trampolining ) but I like the idea of having a designated hanging space for worn-once/not-quite-dirty clothes so thanks for that idea

Someone upthread asked about DVDs. I decanted our DVDs into a folder. We still watch them a lot so they definitely bring us joy. However having them in a folder has had three benefits: they take up much less space; for some reason DS is much better at putting them away after watching; it's much easier to flick through a folder and find the one we want to watch rather than having to go through bags or precarious towers as we did before filing.

DH has just announced we're going to a nice hotel for the weekend - woohoo! I think he's rewarding me for all my Kondoing! Sending you all lots of joy for the weekend ahead.

How do you feel about the unused bits, holt, compared to the bits in regular use?

Beautiful but useless. There was something on another thread about not clinging onto stuff that is for some future person that you are never going to be and I think it falls into that category. It's kind of genteel tea party stuff. I don't drink tea and I don't have parties.

I think the idea of not clinging to stuff for some future person you are never going to be is really good advice and in the morning I'm going to add 2 tea pots to the charity box. I have no idea why I have two tea pots, I never make tea in a pot (although I like the idea of it!) They have been sat in the cupboard for 6 years untouched which is madness.

Is anyone else worried they might take this all a bit too far a realise one day you've discarded too much? I feel like I am being really ruthless at the moment!

I made pretty good progress today - I'm still on clothes, but have whittled right down to things I wear and like now. I may do another pass as I probably have more loungewear than I really need. Unfortunately our washing machine is on the blink so I need to do a launderette run before properly finishing, as all my favourite clothes are still in the wash.

It's amazing how much space you really have when clothes are curated and stored sensibly, my drawers are a work of art! Apart from tights, which I can't for the life of me work out. Think I'll leave them for another day.

I can definitely see how the entire process can take months - I'll be proud of myself if I'm done by July! :)

Is anyone else worried they might take this all a bit too far a realise one day you've discarded too much? I feel like I am being really ruthless at the moment!

I'm not worried, because I've been a terrible hoarder - clothes, toiletries (I was one of those people who hoarded Lush products - Lush, whose USP is that their products are fresh, yet I kept them for years!) magazines, even food! I indulged my shopaholic side to the full for a long time, and I am finally understanding how having too many belongings is damaging. It suffocates you. And it means you can't properly take care of the things that are precious - the amount of times I've found a damaged card from DS in among a pile of books is shameful. Plus I've regularly had to turn the house upside down to find a letter - and that's about to happen again!

I am going to be very, very cautious when it comes to sentimental items. I fully intend to keep all DS's school stuff, toddler scribbles, favourite books, clothes, toys. Honestly I only really see myself weeding out things like unfocused photos and family wedding invites. But by editing down clothes, books, etc, I will have more space for the things that are important to me.

OMG - have Kodoned (?) my socks, tights and underwear draws. They are amazing.

Has anyone else decided to keep exercise socks with exercise clothes or did you decide to house them with the other socks?

Next is tops ( might do sleeveless, short & then long). Breaking it up into categories really helps.

Yes - is there a Kodoing your garden?

Fantail I think you need to decide where you'd look for them. If I put socks with exercise clothes I'd forget they were there - as when I want socks I look in the sock drawer (does that make sense?).

I'm not afraid I'll get rid of too much stuff - I don't really remember most of whats gone - and there's a reason why its gone. Most stuff is replaceable too.

I'm another one with unused wedding china - Denby teapots, little jugs, sugar bowls and small mugs etc, plus a whole load of big platter things. A combination of my mum (who helped choose china for wedding list) saying I should get what DH had stated a preference for (so its all boring plain white - he later couldn't even remember saying he preferred it! Grrr!) and her helping me buy for a lifestyle I don't have - 'you need to have nice things for guests' - we use pint sized mugs, not dainty small ones, never use a teapot/milk jug etc, sugar is in a cool Alessi container... what do I do with it all. I guess Ebay is as good a place as any, but I really don't want to post crockery as I don't think it'd survive the journey! :(

What about gum tree for crockery? Local buyers. Once you've sold it, use the money to get some crockery you will use and love.

That's a great idea to keep sports socks with sports clothes. I usually keep them in my sock drawer but end up wearing them day to day and pairing them wrongly after the wash

I think there's only been one thing I've regretted getting rid of so far

There are a few companies which buy old china and you can ask what price they will give you. Some of them only do discontinued patterns, which mine isn't. I asked at chinasearch. They get back to you with a price in a week if they want it. If it's pennies I think I would struggle too much so I'll end up keeping it, but if it's a nice amount I think it would be OK. I could throw away my cupboard full of tatty mugs and buy half a dozen lovely new ones.

Richard - I think that is a good idea. What I like about this method is sentimentality is allowed.

Another thing to think of is that these letters may bring joy to future generations when you are gone. Letters & journals are such important sources of history that I think it is sad that this aspect of historical resource is being lost. Can you imagine if Samuel Pepys actually had a blog which was deleted...

(play mobile light house anyone?)
see, playmobil is ne thing I can't 'kondo', think I love it more than DD, will keep collecting it but hopefully will be able to store it better in a 'Kondoed' house .
With the wedding china, could you sell it through a wedding forum/FB page ? Maybe the idea of it being used for someone s 'big day' would make it easier to part with . I had difficulty letting go of some of DD's stuff and it's in excellent condition and all NEXT brand so could have sold it too. Then I thought of the womens refugee and suddenly there was no issue, I was delighted to send the bag off .

Like the idea of giving the Denby back to mother. Just say you're not keen on it and you've never used it

The only thing I regret throwing out was before I had discovered KonMari. I had some v old saucepans, that had either been my parents or grandad's. They weren't great quality and they were all mismatched but they worked.

My MIL gave DH a full set of new pans, and I agreed that mine could go to charity shop. But I HATE the new pans. They don't have long handles so you can't carry them with one hand, the handles they do have burn if you accidentally turn the gas too high, and they are ugly and the screws fall out.

I gave mine away because the new ones were new and a set, but if I'd konmaried it I would have realised the old ones gave me joy and after a couple of goes with the new ones I think I would have been fine passing most of them on instead.

Captain the 'future' person thing is such a good point. Same goes for stuff that reflects the person that you no longer are. Although I definitely agree with keeping momentos that bring you joy, the skill lies in streamlining and prioritising them.