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!

Thanks guys, it's gone back in the Tupperware bag ready for when I go through that and sort out where it will live eventually :)

Nix, welcome! I agree to keep the lid for now. You'll unearth some lidless container that would be perfect for your spices... The house will provide!

Have any of you seen Limitless with Bradley Cooper? The scene where he takes the first pill and all of a sudden he is tidying his messy flat and being super efficient? That was me today!

Did the boardgames cupboard again, I am really beginning to get "like with like", and I show no mercy, I purged the top drawer that didnt' contain board games (lots of office stuff like hole punchers, a paperweight etc), and hey-ho, now all the games are in the same place, not in 2 places! And I have 2 empty drawers elsewhere for crafts that are currently sitting in a card board box in the garage. Anything that won't fit it those drawers is going!

We have a massive garage, it's a triple normal garage. We have previously had a barn (!) when we lived in the country, and it became a complete dumping ground (DCs were tiny and I was working full time). When we cleared it because we were moving, quite a few of the things in the moving boxes that neever got unpacked was damaged with black mold, not to mention it was awful clearing it, it took forever. I do NOT want that to happen again in the garage, so I am very conscious of what I keep there. So far all the Christmas stuff is there, a lot of bubble wrap from the move (bubble wrap is expensive!), summer clothes (I swear I am not going to put the winter clothes back when it's time to get the summer clothes, if there is not room for winter and summer clothes in the house, it means it's time for another round of kondoing), bikes, BBQ stuff and exercise equipment (yes, I use it, I lift weights). I must say I am grateful that I don't have storage in the loft anymore, it's so much easier to deal with stuff in the garage, I can do a bit at a time.

Wow this thread moves quickly! Thank you for the supportive and helpful suggestions. I did another sweep of my clothes, discarded two dresses that reminded me of things I'd rather move on from, and the two jumpers that I was afraid to lose, in case I got cold. Took them (plus two bin bags of other Kondoed stuff) to a charity shop, and then went to another one to look for some cheap, warm replacements.... I'm a bit bowled over: found two lovely jumpers, one cream, one purple (the discarded jumpers were black. I look like a corpse in black) and got a little cardi for the summer too! It's a bit woo, but I felt like the universe was looking after me today.

I also burned a lot of paper work that needed either shredding or burning: it felt more cathartic to burn it, so all of it went into the fireplace.

And finally, all of exP's stuff was gently, and carefully, bagged up to store in the children's room. They have a gigantic cupboard, and it's all on the top shelf so they won't see it. I tried to feel gratitude while I was moving it, for the many years when we were happy, before it all went dreadfully wrong. It's been a bit of a day. But my room now has only my things, and they're predominately joy-sparking things.

I think I'll have a re read of the book tonight - I obviously haven't done this in the order MK describes, but I think I needed to sort my sleeping space out before I do anything else!

Well done Apple - a difficult and good day at the same time.

Good job, appleblossom! And the universe definitely has a message for you with the new bargain clothes! I have previously found great stuff in charity shops, but I try to only donate at the moment ;) A few years ago I was really skint, and it was winter. As I walked past a charity shop I noticed a big hole in my only pair of gloves, but I also found a £2 coin on the ground outside the charity shop that had a half price sale on all accessories! I still have the merino wool gloves that I bought that day for the £1 - I can't remember what the other £1 was spent on, but definitely something with real value!

I also find that I am getting rid of a lot of black stuff. I had 2 black skirts that would be great for a night out in my 20's, but I hardly ever go out and I'm in my 40's! I think that for most of my 30's I bought clothes that would have been great in my 20's pre kids. I found it hard to adjust to being a mum, at least when it came to clothes shopping ;)

I am discovering new outfit combinations now that I have less clothes, it's great! I have a pair of jeans (charity shop) that are a little too tight for my 42 years, but I also have a tunic dress (second hand) that is a little too short for my 42 years, but put the 2 together, and I have a smart outfit that suits my age much better.

Appleblossom Rules are for breaking! Seriously, MK's rules may be fine on average, but who's average?! (I remember once hearing a comedian say that the vast majority of people have more than the average number of legs... 100% true!) We're all adapting the plan to a greater or lesser degree, and you are absolutely right to clear yourself a haven. It's a bit like sorting your own oxygen mask first.

Well done apple bet you'll sleep well tonight!

I think it was Haiawatha who asked if anyone else was only Kondoing at weekends? Well I work ft and mostly Kondo at the weekends but I do try to find manageable/small subcategories that I can do in the evening if I'm not feeling too lazy. I did bedding last night for instance, might do towels tomorrow. Like that I can still feel like I'm moving forwards.

The hallway is filling up with boxes again (another 2 last night - one for the tip, another for the chazza) so will have to do a trip to get rid of it all this weekend.

Haha good point about the legs Hermione

apple that sounds like a very productive day. Now onwards and upwards

mummyonthebus I am kinda Kondoing on weekends and not much else. Fits and starts depending on health, schedule, work (I freelance), household stuff, children's whims and laziness!

Am in a midwinter slump just now following 2 weeks of mild ill health and need to get my act together!

Sorry for so many posts in a row. Just wanted to remind you all that animal shelters love old towels! So if there's one near you, keep them in mind.

We Kondo'd old towels and blankets yesterday Steptoe, and took them to the animal rescue where we got our cat (we're celebrating one year of owning her today). Our entire boot was full, as when I told my MIL she did her airing cupboard too! They were pleased but a bit overwhelmed when we rocked up with 5 bin bags full and completely filled their collection bin.

My airing cupboard now has a FREE shelf to store toiletries and loo roll etc.

nix how shallow are the Tupperware lids? Do they have a lip? If yes, you can use them for separating bits of small utensils that you don't want rolling around in the drawer (just blue tac or velcro the lid on to the drawer bottom) or for hair brushes/combs or in the fridge for cheese or meat or whatever.

Kondoed my cleaning supplies and binned some leather cleaner we bought for £1 about 8 years ago. It has moved house twice and looked like milk of magnesia so thank you and goodbye. Made room for my 4 x bottles of bleach up on the high shelf.

Note to self, you don't need any more bleach!

I was baffled by the cocoa powder eyebrows. Makes me want to name change though!

I had a weird experience last night when getting DS ready for bed. My parents had looked after him on Sat night, including putting him to bed. I have no idea why but my DM unkondo-rolled all of his PJs! I did a little squeak when I saw them all just shoved in and not rolled up standing on end. I think she is barred from now!

Misscph, my grandma used to tell great stories of getting together with her "housewife" friends for coffee on weekday mornings, trying someone's new diet pills (ie: amphetamine), and the whole lot of them manically cleaning their host's house for 3 hours

I wonder if any of my friends could be persuaded to come here, take class-A drugs and wash the windows

I'll be round tomorrow with my chamois...

My ds1 (7) brought me into his room tonight to show me his bedside shelf - kondoed! I never asked him too, honest!
Have got nothing sorted tonight as been marking all evening. But pulling my clothes out for the morning has got a lot easier now they are so few, and so folded!

Tackled two cupboards I've been dreading as part of doing household cleaning supplies. One has a completely empty shelf and the other looks about 100x better. Found an old deep plastic tub in one that I'm now storing spare hand wash and washing up liquid. I usually have no idea if we have any more of these and just buy them randomly when I see them on offer but now I can see exactly what we have.

Also cleared three more bags to the charity shop and that's after doing a boot full yesterday, I just keep finding so much joyless stuff. Also took a bag of cat blankets to the animal shelter as we have far too many.

Husband seems to have really changed his mindset. I was looking for a dog brush last night, and discovered several toys they never liked, some moribund tennis balls and a couple of harnesses we no longer use. He took the puppy-harness off me, reminisced happily about it, then added it to the bin

Hiawatha, mummyonthebus, steptoe etc... I'm really only kondoing in earnest at the weekends as I work full time. The mindset encroaches a bit and, like with the dog stuff, I find myself chucking stuff in between times, but it's almost like practice... Sharpening up my decision making for the next big event. MK reckons on the whole clear-out taking six months, and I think that must be taking into account people working full time, having caring responsibilities, or just having a life to get on with at the same time. What I live about the categories is that you can completely nail a job in a weekend, and the effects stay with you, keeping you motivated to do the next one.

aplace will tidying that area mean you're done or close to done? I can definitely see procrastinating on that since after that there's that what next question. Does it also have implications for you in terms of inviting people over?

bringmejoy yy it will mean I'm close to done if I finish the komono corner of doom* and you're right it does have implications for inviting people over - you are so wise . Hmm, I'm also wondering now if it's about control too as the other areas are predominantly my domain but DH and DS really need to be on board if the living room is going to stay tidy.

Lots to think about. I think you might be right about inviting people over, if I can avoid it through the house being untidy then I don't have to deal with the other more personal insecurities it throws up eg what do we talk about? how do I feel about my current career? what are my interests? etc Gosh, this whole process has highlighted that I really need to spend some time rediscovering who I am.

Morning all! I'm doing some work this morning and after that I need to run a few errands, get the dinner on etc etc. But hopefully later on this afternoon I'll have a chance to go through these two big boxes I have sitting here. I think they're mostly outgrown children's clothes, so I just need to charity shop them or put them aside for a new baby in our extended family, expected any week now.

Very NOT Kondo to do boxes rather than all of the same thing at once. Reason being that I know there's a lot of charity shop stuff in there and I want to get it done in time for Thursday's pickup. After the pickup I will go back to the proper KonMari way of doing things. Promise!

Can I ask a question please? I have read the book. I have started on my clothes. And not before time, as I have absolutely masses. Something needed to be done, so the Marie Kondo experience has come at a good time for me.

I have loads of clothes that are too big for me. This is because they were post pregnancy clothes from 2 years ago. I am not sure whether we will have another baby. Its very much up in the air. If I did, I know that i would need those post pregnancy clothes as I bloat like you wouldn't believe post pregnancy. But I don't need them now. What do I do with them?

Hermione, that is so funny with the diet pills ;)

Got started on DSs toys today - he has a lot of komono boxes, but I only took a few bits, and he loves all his random cr*p, and I think that's okay. I got one box sorted, I took the stuff that I know I want him to have, but he's not really interested in.

DH started to have a little strop about one of the kitchen cupboards last night, saying where had all the stuff gone in a grumpy way but the moan really petered out when he admitted he couldn't actually identify what was missing (because it was crap that we never use lol!) He is my biggest obstacle in kondoing so I have to admit I'm REALLY looking forward to his imminent week away on business so I can have one of those drug fuelled house decluttering frenzies! (Sadly without the drugs though ). Right I'm taking my brew and going to finish kondoing the spare room of doom .......