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

Good technique homeaway

Hello! I've started the book. :)

I started with my kid's toys though so I've done it wrong. :( But I'm almost done on that front and will begin clothes.

Reading these threads is worrying me. DD is only 9 months so she has relatively few toys at the moment. Tell me the truth, is my house eventually going to be full of Play Mobil and Lego? When can I expect the invasion to start?!

Hi folks, sorry haven't read the whole thread so far as it would have been a massive long distraction from cleaning !

I have a LO due in April and will need to move house before then, plus my mum died three years ago and I still have so so much of her stuff stored in my tiny flat, I desperately need to get rid of things but it's hard throwing out things of my mum's.

Have just started reading the book, and have also started my own personal method which is going well so far. Been starting off a stopwatch on my computer and leaving it running so long as I am Doing Something Productive. Any time I stop for anything - a break, texting, mumsnetting, food etc - I stop the stopwatch until I start cleaning or tidying again.

So far it's working well to keep me moving and stop me getting distracted for too long into other things, and it's surprising how long I go for once I've started. I have done my toiletries and all the stuff I've bought for my baby due in April, just this evening. Clocked up four hours of work yesterday and can really see results in my wardrobe, washing pile, bathroom and bin!

Ha ha Pointlessfan my baby's not born yet but I can't wait until my house is full of Lego, I love Lego...

lego in my socks after being washed and tumble dried - need I say more?

you can start off with duplo around 1 year, switch to Lego when child is 3 (earlier with older siblings). take it on the chin and be happy about it, once Lego takes over you will never get rid of it. when your kids grow up grandkids will come and play with it.

KonMarie may be and expert in joyous tidying up but as she has no kids, trust me on this.

I quite like Lego so that's ok! Amazed it can survive the tumble dryer though. I will read the storage ideas on here carefully I think...

Pointless - we've managed to avoid a huge invasion until now - DD turns 4 in March. We have made good use of toy libraries, and DD goes to daycare and has done since she was 11 months - so less toys needed at home.

We inherited Lego, and the first small Sylvanian Families stuff arrived this Christmas. DD is more in to arts and crafts, and pretend play rather than construction.

She has plenty of toys, but does seem to have less than a lot of others I know.

Pointlessfan My five children only had good engaging toys (nothing with batteries, maintenance-wise!) and plastic tat, (from OP) disappeared, damned quick! I've still got the nappy pail full of Lego, a big Roses tin of Corgi/Matchbox cars, some Playmobil people, the beechwood blocks and a tin of marbles!

catsofa I only finished the whole series of threads recently - they really are worth reading... masses of useful tips from PPs.

Save your Mum's things that really bring a smile to your face, re-home the one's that make you feel sad. We are aiming for joy-filled lives.

Housework will be a relative doddle, when you finish kondo-ing... no real tidying, because almost everything will be in its home!

ZingTheGreat Living (just) proof here!

Just Kondoed towels and put 3 in my chazza bag along with a flannel. I only sorted them a few months ago but they had started to get messy in the cupboard so I decided they weren't being stored correctly. The ones I use most often are now stored on end in a plastic crate on the shelf so I can a) see what's there easily and b) slide crate out to get what I need so hopefully they won't get in a mess. I've kept 2 sets for guests also. I really don't need more than that!

I was hoping it would inspire me to clean the bathroom, but now I feel hot and in need of a cup of tea!

Oh, my 'kids' are 30-46, plus 1 GS, aged just 1!

Busy day for me - and DD!
We have Kondo'd her underwear draw, other drawers and wardrobe!
She loves it!

Cleared out 150 books to the oxfam book shop today. It really rang true what Kondo says about if you're holding onto a book to read it then you would have read it by now. I prefer my kindle and have only about 50 books left.

Also meant to say before if anyone is on clearing out bras or make up, there's an organisation called Give and Make Up (If you google it) who will pass it onto domestic violence shelters/organisations. Although I have to post my bits as it's based in London. I've found about eight bras to send them as breastfeeding has changed my size.

Thanks for the Lego reassurance, I'm now wondering if mt mum kept mine!

Read a bit of a thread on here about Kondoing and got hooked enough to buy the book (on Kindle so no extra books to clear away!) and read the whole thing one morning - dying to start now (but we just got back from a Christmas trip and I can't until Monday at least) but just a few q's for anyone that I couldn't see any answers to if no-one minds;

1. I get the starting with your own belongings and trusting that the effect will move on to the family (will ignore the likelihood of that happening with dd just yet) but DH and I have tonnes of 'joint' stuff, far more than the stuff that's just mine - how do you sort that? Especially when much of it doesn't particularly bring me joy but I'm not sure how to get across to DH that it should bring at least one of us joy - he sees stuff as just stuff and as long as we have a place to store it (however crammed in that may be) he doesn't see why we should get rid of it or replace it.

Eg, we have ornaments that bring me no joy and I'm 99% certain DH doesn't even notice them let alone get any joy from them but he'd think it was wasteful to get rid of them. Or the plates/utensils/towels/etc that we buy because they're the cheapest available of 'ok' quality but bring me no joy (again, am sure DH doesn't care at all about them) - how do I explain we need to spend just a bit more on joyous things? And then what if our choice of things that bring us joy varies? Eg, we need to get a new saucepan at some point - DH will invariably desperately want the plainest grey pan possible as long as it comes with lots of 'magic' words (such as teflon, forged in the fires of Mordor etc) whereas I want a Muurla enamel one, preferably with Moomins on, which will cause me such joy that I'll look after it with more care than I currently give my own face. Do we have to have long debates about it or have unnecessary doubles?

2. What do you do about chucking anything 'non joyous' when you're on a reasonably limited budget and know deep down most of the stuff you own is a bit shit? Ie, clothes - I know when I go through my clothes that if I chuck out anything that doesn't bring me joy I will very literally be left with 2 outfits and absolutely no shoes, I need to replace almost everything but don't have the money to all at once, should I keep the 'to chuck' stuff in a holding pen and keep wearing until I can replace it or just leave the clothes for now?

3. I get the advice about getting rid of old presents you don't like, thanking the giver etc but what about NEW presents you don't like, especially as it's just been Christmas, and if you can't return them or even can't get rid for a while? Eg, MIL bought me a necklace that's not my taste at all, I'm very grateful she bought me anything but I'm not realistically going to wear it and it brings me no joy but I can't return it (no receipt and from an independent shop by the looks of it so couldn't anyway as we live a long way from IL's), and I can't even get rid asap as she'll expect to see me wearing it a few times before she forgets about it - again, should I have some sort of holding pen for stuff I can't chuck (or regift) yet?

Sorry for the massive post!

Christmas tree gone... Advise on another thread to remove branches in situ was genius. Hours hoovering needles saved. Had 2 big storage boxes full of old shoes, mainly dh's. Most into bin, some to chazza and rest down to our wardrobes. Boxes now neatly packed with decorations and up in attic. Delira with myself!

Welcome Vet. As far as clothes that don't actually bring you joy but you still need them at the moment. I would definitely still Kondo your clothes (and start with this as MK advises). You will get joy from just having them all sorted and folded, you will get rid of some stuff ( the least useful and most joyless) you will invariably have more stuff than you think. So - for example - say you have 10 tee shirts, none of which bring you joy particularly, you may decide you only really wear 5 of them so can chazza the rest. The positive of doing this is you will find you get more joy anyway from your remaining stuff and will see more easiliy your priorities for replacements and additions as time and money allow.

My example is socks, I had loads of socks but many did not really bring me joy. Having sorted, rolled and stacked on end as well as having got rid of the worst holey/too small/never worn/elastic gone types, I could see exactly what was there and still wearable. I managed with these until my birthday when I spent some money on 8 pairs of socks that really give me joy and then was able to kondo socks some more! - In fact, thinking about it I've probably got some more rationalisation I can do there, not I know exactly what I wear having got the new ones!

*mrsvetinari" welcome

1. Joint stuff - can you persuade DH that there is no point keeping stuff for stuff's sake? What's the point of ornaments s if it's not adding anything of value eg nice memories, beautiful to look at or it makes you smile? It's just background noise otherwise.

With things like pots, pans, utensils and anything else: keep the ones you have until you have money to replace them and go for the best ones you can afford. With regards to the pan: who does most of the cooking? I think that person should have the final say really. No need to have long debates or duplicates.

2. I was in exactly the same position as you in terms of clothes. Most of my clothes were a bit meh and I kept the bare minimum when I kondoed my clothes - what fashionistas would call a capsule wardrobe but without the flair to pull it altogether - and I have been slowly replacing items as and when I can. It's a slow process. I had a pair of jeans and 2 leggings left when I kondoed and maybe half a dozen tops and 2 jumpers and a couple of dresses.

3. I was feeling all smug that I got everything I wanted for Christmas and nothing more and then a couple of presents arrived a few days ago. I thanked the giver (brother) but it's gone straight into the charity bag - I dont even feel guilty. Can you wear it once in front of her or wear it then take photograph and email the photo to her to say thank you and then charity shop it?

BTW, I am further down the road in this process than you mrsvetinari so I am probably a bit more ruthless.

Hello MrsVet, don't have a magic answer but for the ornaments/general clutter could you just remove the worst offenders and store somewhere for a couple of weeks? If noone notices, or dh agrees it looks better without then charity shop them and then remove the next worst offenders?

And I agree with Cool - the person using the pans the most gets final say. Or the person that cares the most in the case of towels and things that you'll both use.

One of my biggest problems is my pile of stuff I need to sell on ebay. Anyone got any advice on how to tackle that?

I really need as much cash as I can get at the moment as I'm having a baby soon and already don't have as much coming in as is going out, unavoidably for the time being. I'm donating stuff that's not worth much to charity shops, but I have a huge pile of clothes etc that I know would add up to a significant amount if I sold it. But it's so tedious listing things that I don't get around to it, so the clutter remains. Any advice?

Catsofa try local facebook selling pages instead of ebay, shift stuff much quicker, no fees and local people just come and collect

mrsvetinari Lots of good advice there from OPs!

Having read through all the posts and threads up to here, I have noticed that many of the women on here have joined the The MK Cult, initially, for their own sanity!

However, as they have whirled round kondoing their stuff and communal stuff, a lot of DPs have seen the light - to a greater (sheds, garages and DVDs cleared!) or lesser extent (cack-handed folding, or books and komono gradually disappearing) and have sneaked into the project. It is infectious!

Children have, generally, been enthusiastic, but maybe that was in the expectation of topping-up again over Christmas!

If you do most of the housework, your best argument about the ornaments, could be that they interfere with cleaning and are (as CoolCadbury said) unnecessary clutter.

Involve your DP in deciding the best way to dispose of unwanted stuff - selling, donating, recycling or the tip. Perhaps he would take on the job of selling stuff on eBay or Gumtree?

Once he starts to see how much tidier and happier the household is, with less stuff and more clear space, you may well find him more supportive - even motivated!

The photo idea is good. Wear the bleh necklace and catch an apparently unposed snap of the family, for the ILs. Then send it to the charity shop.

Best wishes.

Clocked up 5 hours of tidying today and I don't really want to stop, but I am absolutely knackered! Sent a box of CDs and DVDs off to Music Magpie, and filled lots of boxes which a friend is going to carry down to storage in the garage on Monday for me (can't carry stuff myself as I'm pregnant).

Storage might seem a cop out, but I can't try on any clothes to see if they still fit me or how they look because I'm 5 months pregnant (and god knows what size and shape I'll be after the baby!) so storing things away seems a good way to remove them from my life and house until I'm in a position to see which clothes bring me joy. In the meantime I will have got used to wearing only a capsule wardrobe and will be much more inclined to get rid of stuff when I open those boxes again!

I'm also going to be moving house sometime soon, so don't want to throw away things like curtains which don't fit my windows, and other random house things I still have. But at least I can pack it and get it ready for moving. Loads of stuff will be got rid of as I open each box and see if we need it in the new house or not.

I'll have a look for FB selling pages, thanks. How do I find them without already knowing what they're called? Will all my friends be able to see all the crap I'm selling?