Become a Konvert in 2015 - Kondo thread 5. All welcome!

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

Thought I better set this up when I realised I had inadvertently posted the 999th post on thread 4!

Join us in purging our lives of things which do not bring joy and discover the wonder and magic of folding your knickers!

Kondo-ed my clothes today. It was dull, but I'm glad it's done. I'm seeing the wisdom of the category, not location rule. There were a few (ok, loads) of bits and bobs in my drawers, wardrobe I had to clear to make space and it was more time consuming then the actual, just clothes bit.

I've watched the videos lots, but my t-shirt folding skills are still a bit sub-par.

My sock drawer looks great though, I was showing it off to the easily impressed dd1.

Books next! I'm going to book a BHF pick up on Wednesday, so I don't have to lug them all over to get rid of them.

Yesterday, while I was supposed to be cooking, I kondo'd the fridge. Dinner was late, but the fridge looks pretty! Also took the opportunity of having to get up at 5 (thanks DD2 ) to have a crack at the chest freezer. I ended up emptying it, de-icing, cleaning it out, dividing it up, and kondoing all the food. I found 2 good sized beef joints I didn't even know we had! Hoping this weekend I'll manage to turn some of the food into meals to dump in the slow cooker, but if not, at least I know exactly what's in there now.

GrouchyKiwi I'm afraid your concerns are well founded. I keep opening cupboards in the kitchen to just look in them.

I did my first KonMarie today! I have a bin bag of clothes to go. There is a full load in the drier to go through too, I was so excited to get started that I didn't want to wait. Amazing how many of my clothes were stained, torn, wrong shape or colour for me, elastic gone. Absolutely true that I was keeping many as I had happy memories of wearing them long ago, rather than because I actually enjoyed wearing them.

Also lots of pants went- for some reason I have been wearing the scruffy Primark post delivery pants which are now too big for me. Sure they are comfy, but wearing big sloppy knickers makes me feel like a slob, so better they are gone. Also a snug waist band is a reminder to not overeat!

I did keep one maybe ... a pair of too small trousers that really suited me. I planned to bin them, but when I tried them on they weren't as small as I feared, and I am losing weight at the moment, so I should be able to wear them again.

Disaster.

Kondoed all my clothes, from about 140 in total to 70! Very pleased

However, this was last week, we ran out of bin bags so all clothes for charity are on the floor... since then we've been a way from the house all week, going back today and already thinking of the clothes I might rescue from the pile! help!!

Just don't look at them weasel go and buy new bin bags!
We were discussing bras yesterday. I'm in bravissimo looking for one that brings joy. They have a bra bank for recycling.

Bringmejoy Links would be amazing, thanks. I was going to do some research too as I'd like to send clothes to a homeless charity or refuge.

Mango I think you're right. I stroked the clothes hanging in my wardrobe when getting ready for bed last night.

I am with you on the opening drawers just to see how nice they look!
Dh and eldest dc just gone off with 4 carrier bags of books and a few toys to charity shop. Did look up a few prices on "we buy books", but decided for the amount they were offering it wasn't worth the hassle. Not quite following the categories as there are loft dwelling books to deal with - A collection of 80's Enid Blyton included! We moved two years ago and had hoped to not store books in the loft, with the thought that if we liked them enough they should be accessible. That didn't work then, so maybe now it will!

Thanks for all the links. There was a good programme about this on BBC last year, probably still on iPlayer.
I've just been shopping to buy some much needed clothes and make up with all my Xmas and birthday money. I was very selective so I still have £15 left! Going for quality and joy over quantity.

Oh yeah, and the least joy giving book that I actually got rid of, which has been annoying me for years was a parenting book called " how to say no and mean it"!! Given to me a few years ago by dm! Felt insulted at the time, but have held onto it thinking I might read it. So now I am free of the stupid book!

I have just been reading the The KonMarie method thread.

Is there a starting point to kickstarting a whirlwind of activity for this procrastinator?

I really don't want to buy the book but so what is the basic checklist that she talks about? I have tried to look in the thread without reading the whole thing or the book -no time.

I really don't want to get into folding stuff creating more work!

I have been tidying all my stuff into categories but this means going the round the house picking as many things as I can that are out of place and putting them in their rightful home. So going round and round like a hamster all week. This whole idea of never having to tidying again doesn't work for me because it's the maintenance that is continual work!

I have one snow drift of ebaying items which I will start using up my free allowance of listings on ebay then if not gone by Easter will do a carboot and still not gone will go to charity.

Some useful starting links.

Folding videos

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

Good starting point

psychologies.co.uk/self/10-tips-to-make-you-more-tidy-and-organised-now.html

Folding clothes guide

www.duitang.com/people/mblog/24230934/detail/

kafkesque I thought that the folding / rolling for everything I could, including boths DDs clothes, would make laundry a bit of a nightmare. It really hasn't. I took a while figuring out how best to fold each group of things, but the maintenance is much faster. Folding clean clothes to put away maybe takes a minute or two more per basket, but putting stuff away is super fast. I know where it all goes (so does DH now! ), I don't have to move things about to get things to fit. Also, it all looks so nice when it's done, it feels far less of a chore.

I tried starting without the book, but didn't get very far. I'm sure others have done well without actually reading the book, but I'm afraid I'm not one of them.

Gnome, I have the same experience with parenting books from my mum! I just felt they were staring at me from my book shelf. I am sure she means well, but it just made me feel guilty, like I wasn't doing a good job as a parent. So out the books went. I mean, it's not she has read them herself anyway, so why should I?

Great links Bringme! We never donate through the charity bags that come through our door, with the exception of Marie Curie as donations go to the shops, as I don't like the thought of only £100 per tonne going to charity. If I think something's unsellable it will go in a clothing bin for recycling though.

Reading this thread has given me lots of inspiration to MK my house ethically and I've already got bras and cosmetics put to one side for Give and make up.

Feels great to know that I'm getting rid of clutter and helping others at the same time

kaskesque all I would say is it's difficult to get the ethos of the method without reading the book! Do you have a local library? Lots of people have found it there.

MK suggests starting with clothes because there's less emotional attachment to them. Also she says to get all clothing items together and put them on the floor (I used the bed!) and sort them, rather than looking at them in the wardrobe. I think starting with clothes is good because it really impacts on you. Every day I rejoice because I love the clothes I have and can find things quickly.

I was sad this week because a top that brings my joy (gift from my sister) developed a hole! However I got a replacement in the sale :) Also DH has put together a bookcase for shoe storage. The hall looks bigger and I'm hoping shoes will go in it (rather than stuffed under the box we had!) and the box can be used up store toys.

kafkesque You need the book to 'get' the philosophy - it really is mind-changing, and not only about our homes.

It will shock you, just how much extra space you end up with, and how much TIME you save! Along with how much money you have wasted!

Currently, you are a hamster in a wheel, with tidying: you won't be if you follow this method. Tidying will virtually be a thing of the past. The way you are attempting to de-clutter, putting odds and sods away as you find them, is time-consuming and never-ending, and you will lose the will to live before you make any real impression.

Just kondo your undies, as an experiment (INCLUDING the proper folding and filing!) and you will be amazed by the result on your smalls, and yourself! It will take you MINUTES!

misscph1973 and Gnome Those parenting books. As you will find out, on the very long journey of parenting, there is a helluva lot to learn! Time and time again, you will be saying "If only I had known that earlier!"

Your Mums bought you those lovingly-chosen books to save you from learning some things the hard way! I swear by Dr Spock's Baby and Childcare, from the 1960s, but I didn't just follow it blindly, anymore than your Mums expected you to follow the ones you have.

A lot of parenting is instinctive, but relating that to modern life is certainly not. And your Mums know that!

Hello all, I hope you've had a good week discarding and finding joy in your newly organised drawers! Today I went into school and blitzed my classroom. My job share teacher partner got the book for Christmas so she was fully on board with the discarding method. In fact, we filled about 5 bin bags of old toys, resources and random komono.

Ohhelpohnoitsa I'm adopting you as a surrogate daughter!

Raising 5 children over the past 48 years has taught me many lessons. Mums try to pass these lessons on, without choking their children - we want life to be easier for them.

To be fair, if you don't have time to read the book, you'll never have time to do the method - it's turning into a full-time job for me! (On top of my actual full-time job).

Finding it hard to follow the order at the moment as I'd love just to have one room "done". But it slows me down so much if I start looking at the crap in drawers rather than just the clothes! Have quite a few spare drawers now, have just filled one with beautifully organised (not folded!) necklaces and earrings.