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!

MrsMook, I have a mug from the boots global collection that I've given to charity after keeping it many years.
I have realised I have 3 or 4 books on Decluttering...incl that clear your clutter one.

In kondoing the freezer I have found 3 loaves of bread that I 'forgot' were in there. must stop hoarding food.

So much progress being made on this thread! I have gone back to the beginning, having skipped ahead to books and make up (2 big carriers and one small bag chucked respectively).

I think on the previous thread I was debating whether or not to get summer clothes out of the loft and do them now. Having decided to leave them until they came out in spring, they were nagging away at the back of my mind. I didn't feel as though clothes were "done". So I've got the bag down as well as one of work clothes, and sure enough 70% of it is going out.

Still got a few bits to sort, but when I have, I will know that ALL the clothes I own fit into the available storage and bring me joy.

For me, this has shown the wisdom of following MK to the letter. She knows of what she speaks! She's right when she says that you have to gather everything in a category together and discard first, otherwise any subsequent organisation will feel incomplete. I had the nagging feeling of "how much space will I need for summer stuff" which immediately focussed me on the wrong thing, rather than thinking about whether the items in front of me bring me joy.

10 days and a couple of laundry cycles after folding my drawers are still looking good. I was worried I wouldn't keep up with the folding but it only takes a couple of seconds longer that just dumping stuff in a drawer, and the benefits make it well worth it.

Morning!

Miss - I need to work out a way to sit down earlier in the evenings too. I think that means getting the kids lunchboxes ready and other jobs done during the day. Id quite like to get to bed earlier too (nothing to do with handcuffs )

You've really inspired me, ladies. I have started . Kondoed the kids' clothes over the weekend. All of DS1's have been put away, labelled, for DS2. All of DS2's gave been given to a friend of a friend who really needs them. Hurrah. Now to do mine.

Does anyone else only have time to Kondo at weekends? Without taking annual leave so early in the year, I genuinely do. But I don't want to lose momentum.

Well, I didn't do the komono corner of doom in the living room yesterday after all but I did do the cupboard under the sink and as well as 3 torches and millions of rags as dh likes to keep them I found out-of-date bottles of Baileys Throwing them away did not give me joy but the cupboard is now much tidier so that made me happy.

Annoyingly our rented flat has lots of excess furniture and knick knacks that are on the inventory, so we can't chuck them (unless we want to buy replacements when we move!).

We have dismantled/ boxed everything excess and put it in the attic. Not ideal, but it is as close to gone as we can manage.

DH got on board and we did a big tidy of our storage drawers. We didn't get everything out- DH doesn't understand that and was very irritated at all the stuff coming out- but nevertheless we did throw lots away. I will go round again this week and throw out more.

With some things it is hard to follow the 'inspires joy' rule e.g. some joyless baby stuff I would like to keep for our next.

I seem to have missed quite a bit yesterday, giggling at the erm..special items!
I'm not very well today so still in my pjs but you lot mentioning make up bags reminded me I haven't done mine yet. That shouldn't be too strenuous so I might do it later just so I feel like I've done something.
I think one of the best things we've done is plastic bags, they were driving me mad falling out of the cupboard all the time and now they are all in neat triangles in an old quality street tin.

Also went through my huge collection of lotions and potions that I've been gifted over the years. Hard to know what inspires joy as I have barely used them! I smelt them all and chucked half, will try the others over the next two weeks and Chuck the joyless. I always regret not using any moisturiser, and I am hoping that having a smaller collection will make me more likely to use them.

Hi all, I'm delurking...

I got the book last week, having already had loads of info/good advice from these threads. I had already sort of done my clothes, but it's very difficult as I have been poor (not emotionally, but financially utterly skint!) for so many years, very few things I have actually really truly spark with joy. And I am the very definition of the fear of future person that she talks about in the book. So I kept jumpers etc on the premise that I won't be able to replace. And then I'll be cold. Someone many messages ago suggested primark. That might be the answer.

The other issue is my recently exP who has left all of his stuff here. Today I'm making it my mission to move his things out of what was our bedroom. It's mine now. The things that are in it should bring me joy. I think that putting his clothes and books in boxes in the children's wardrobe might not align exactly with MK but it's the best I can do. And actually am feeling gratitude to flylady that there is space in the kids wardrobe to do that!

So I'm having a cup of tea and then going in there.....

Welcome Hiawatha and appleblossom.

Yep one of the few criticisms I have of MK is that she rather assumes that everybody has the money to replace joyless but necessary items.

Having said that, there was a discussion up thread about the translation of bringing joy, which could also be "rings a bell" or "resonates". So while those jumpers might not make you joyful as such, their role in keeping you warm might resonate and be reason to keep them.

(Also re primark, I thoroughly recommend Uniqlo for jumpers, slightly more expensive and they do come up small, but for around £20 you get pure wool which is much warmer than the acrylic stuff you get in Primark)

Milkpudding I was skimm reading the fred and read your last-post-but-one as having a "joyless baby"! Have you thought about re-gifting?

Not much progress here but I did sort and re-organise 4 work drawers on Saturday. So much more space in them now and I wasn't even that strict about the "bringing joy" aspect. Hard to "feel the joy" about items like staplers I find!

I am realising how important this thread is me getting decluttered, thank you all, you are a source of inspiration!

I did a quick kondo of mine and DDs clothes this morning. I can stilll find things that I haven't won for years or that I have never worn! It turned out that all of this clothes has either been given to me or bought very cheaply in the sale/second hand. It's all from good brands and I guess that is why I have hung on to these items. I am debating whether it's worth ebaying them or if they should just go to the charity shop as none cost me much.

I actually though that the freezer was in a reasonable state, but I think it could be better organised. I know for a fact that there is nothing over 6 months old as we moved 6 months ago.

I have recently started using Evernote, mainly I have been doing some work for them (I'm a translator), but it's a great app, it's really useful to have digital notes that sync on my phone and laptop. I am the kind of person who will write a shopping list and then leave it at home ;)

Thank you vert. I Kondoed the pantry last weekend, throwing away masses of spices, herbs, dried stuff etc. I found things that were older than 7yo DS. Feeling huge satisfaction with the minuscule amount I have fond so far.

I agree either Kondoing making you think twice when doing the food shopping. Now that I know exactly what is in the pantry, I dint want to add unnecessary things. My good shop was £40 cheaper than usual this week.

New to this thread but I have bought the slimline hangers that were recommended and spent yesterday sorting my wardrobe - three bags for the charity shop and found loads of things I'd 'forgotton' about. Also made the decision to throw out a jumper my DM bought me when I was pregnant 14 years ago .

Great ideas on here, thank you.

Hello all. I read the whole book this weekend. I found it funny and inspirational. Can't wait to get started. Will probably need lots of help!!

bringmejoy I haven't noticed particular brands as such that might influence future shopping, but in line with what you were saying about quality, I have found that the clothes I've kept tend to be natural fibres or largely natural fibres, just because they wash and wear so much better.

I've identified a few gaps in my wardrobe as a result of being able to see everything I have (for the first time in years!). When it comes to filling these I'll be looking for natural fibres. Unfortunately these are often more expensive, but I have already found that being more "mindful" about my possessions means that I'm less likely to make unsuitable impulse purchases, or go for cheapy fast fashion stuff because "it'll do".

Yes huge thankyou to you guys for keeping me moving forward and reflecting on progression/steps

Rummikub so glad it's not just me with forgotten frozen food!

DH has started to kondo his clothes. He's now got a bin liner to donate, and asked me nicely to fold his t-shirts for him (normally he'd have tried to hang them all up) This weekend I managed to de-ice, clean out, and kondo the contents of both the chest freezer and the little one that's under the fridge. I didn't get a chance to make up any meals, but I have a basket in the chest freezer all cleared out and ready for when I do.

I wasn't feeling very motivated this morning. I feel a bit like I've done so much, several categories in now, and other than a few, mainly hidden areas, the house still looks like a tip. As I clear one category, I find random crap that belongs somewhere else. I've filled 2 crates with this stuff, and now it's starting to creep back into other places, so I need to group it up. I was trying to think about what to post, what the actual problem is, and I realised that I have no area large enough to sort through all the komono, that's raised enough to be toddler safe. So I'm going to pull out our old butterfly table that I was keeping for laundry folding (ha!) and crafts, stick on the child-safe corner bumpers that were re-found last week, and use that in the lean to conservatory. Once I've cleared the crates, I can crack on with the next bit, hopefully without feeling like I'm stalling, and the odd bits that haven't been kondo'd yet can go in the crates.

I'm not sure who suggested a crap basket. Is anyone doing this at the moment? I am asking for trouble having a crap collection point?

Mango

I think you have to stop throwing stuff in your to do later basket if it is not working. If you have something in your hand and you know it brings you joy then keep it but if it does not it has to go . Is all the stuff that you are getting rid of out of the house ir ib the car waiting to go to the charity shop. Everything you have sorted out uo to now should be in its home with its friends. Hth.

Mango, I think as you Kondo, you become less tolerant of clutter. I'm sure your house has improved, but that you are just seeing more areas that need kondoing.

Scuppered again for today's Kondo plans after discovering lice in my daughter's hair.

I'm enjoying reading about all of your adventures, though!