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!

That looks like my cupboard cheerfulyank!

Pointless I've been having the same. Looking at my mugs and glasses, I only like half of them. I have decided to replace them at my leisure because I want to get replacements that I love. Could take time as I'm so blooming picky.

I have managed to escape the paperwork for a bit. Filled a carrier bag for recycling and have a pile for ds to shred tomorrow...he's excited about the shredding but hasn't actually seen how much he's got to do yet .

Now, these treasure boxes for dcs that you are talking about...should I have one for mine? Do I need to go and retrieve his yr3 creative writing book from the recycle bin? And is 12 too late to start one for him?!

My mother gave me all my birth cards a few years ago...I didn't know who most of them were from (think I've still got them though!!).

It's nice that people struggle in different areas, I think. Well, it makes me feel like I've got a bit of control in certain areas, which gives hope for the others.

We did CDs and DVDs (for a second time) tonight (all mixed now as it's been so long since we were "I" rather than "us"). Lovely H more sentimental than me in this area.

By no means minimalist but have gone from three ikea racks down to two (with room). Everything is alphabeticalised now too. Yep, I'm anal and a messy out of control hoarder.

Love hearing about those of you living post Kondo and having an easier time cleaning and relaxing in your homes. I want to be there!!! I am finding that if I open a drawer to hunt something down, I'll have a quick chuck out whilst I'm in there. Doing it all at once makes so much more sense than those 15 minute blitzes I used to fail at.

I'm starting with my post-kondo kitchen.
Second is the pre-kondo bedroom...actually, it's mid-kondoing

Wanted to add that I keep the boys artwork, reports and momentos in a plastic deep A2 folder. Still need to kondo them but they are very contained.

The worst bit about kondoing paperwork is the run up to doing it! Seriously! Just be ruthless and quick and you'll be finished in no time. I previously had a huge boxful and now only have one pile 5cm deep!! I have two inboxes though in the form of an upright ikea magazine holder - one for me and one for the kids. I hope the new system will work

Hiccup your kitchen has lots of clean lines and no clutter! Great idea to take photos too.

HiccupHaddockHorrendous It's never too late to start! I didn't start treasure boxes until my children had left home. Get the Year 3 writing book from the bin!

My children (30-46) love their childhood memories. I found a crayon drawing that I did about the age of 6, among my late mother's treasures and have kept it. It think it is stuff that children did in early childhood that they appreciate most. But, I have got a very few things from later years, that I think they will be happy to come across, when I'm gone.

They can curate their own crap memories after they leave home/go to uni, but children don't appreciate their own history until much later.

Oh, and as I am now into genealogy, there will be a copy of the family tree in the boxes too - for when they might be interested in it when they retire!

Violetta - my kitchen has never looked this clear! When I moved in, 7 years ago, my stuff came two days before me so when ds and I arrived, the surfaces were already covered in crap so it is such a novelty to see it so tidy (without shoving things into any tiny gap I can find). I just hope I can do the same to the other rooms and keep it this way.

Going to go and do another hour on the paperwork while I'm still feeling a little bit motivated. Might take the charity shop stuff out to the car, too. That will make the sitting room look a bit better.

Hiccup your kitchen looks amazing! I always moan that we don't have enough kitchen cupboard space but if mine were as organised as yours, maybe we would!

My plan for today was books but I've been take our with a stomach bug. My sweet dh took the books off the shelves and held them up to me so I could decide what to discard! We've reduced the numbers significantly so we're a step closer to having space to decorate the sitting room. ??

Iqueen - I'll get the book out . Do you keep your dcs certificates aswell?

It was a bit wild here today so Onslow's garden didn't get cleared but the edging strips on my flooring did! Its been nearly 4 yrs since the flooring was laid but I can't believe DH actually did it!

I swear it is Kondo mind games.

Beautiful kitchen hiccup ! Lovely and organised.

Thanks for the good wishes APlace

I probably gave the wrong impression of dh JKS. He's really thrown himself into it today. Another 2 boxes of paper plus a few small bits of furniture to take to the tip tomorrow. Spare room is now almost empty yay. Just a few baby bits in there that need selling. He even told me off for sitting down and having a cuppa earlier

I agree with those saying paperwork isn't as bad as it seems, even if i haven't done it all yet. I was dreading doing my peppers, but the bunch I've already done was actually very easy to do and as cool says, why keep stuff that stresses you? There's a good chance that most of it will leave the house and then you never have to worry about it again!

The house is finally starting to feel a little less full. We're not there yet, and dh admits he'll need a second pass as he's finding some categories difficult, but wow. It feels great. And as others have said, it's lovely being able to go straight to your stuff.

Have a nice Sunday everyone

Oh i missed your kitchen photo Haddock. Looks fab!

Iqueen - also, meant to add, your boxes sound lovely and well thought out

Avocado - thank you!! I've been saying exactly the same about my kitchen for so long. I've redesigned it so many times (mostly in my head) to create my dream kitchen (just need a lottery win to pay for it!!). Now it's not so necessary and I have a tin of chalk paint waiting to be put to good use

Good luck with the books and hope you feel better soon.

Thanks for the kitchen love ...couldn't have done it without all your support!!!

Oh and to show my lovely, tidy kitchen my appreciation, I bought it a new, purple kettle today

Yes I'm self employed. I do have quite a good system - everything that needs to be kept for tax goes into a paper folder with the year on it, then it's archived. That way every year when I make a new year folder I can just shred the contents of the oldest one. It works really well as I never (ever) have to refer to them.

HiccupHaddockHorrendous I've got most of their school reports and certificates for cycling proficiency etc - these are things that they would have probably lost by now. They may well chuck them after they get their treasure boxes, but everything except the cards they have sent to, belong to them and it up to them to decide to keep or ditch when they are old enough to decide if they bring joy. They are not there yet! They have had their educational certs, birth certs, NI cards, passports etc since they had a settled-ish life-style. Some were quicker than others!

Lovely kitchen - I wish! Mine is more a 1950s scullery - 9ft x 6ft. A cooker, washer, sink unit, fridge-freezer and a double base unit and a bin. Might have to kondo everything back to when I was first married: 2 dinner plates, 2 mugs, 2 settings of cutlery, 2 tumblers, 3 saucepans, 1 pyrex bowl, 1 tiny wooden spoon... ! sigh

(I have only kondo'd clothes toys books and CDs so far and my house is sooooo much tidier and easier to keep sorted. I haven't even touched the kitchen or household stuff so far. Keep at it. It makes such a difference)

It sounds like many of the partners have been very willing! DH has has really struggled to kondo/DIY sadly. He's done his clothes and part of his hobby/work room but I can tell it feels like a huge job for him and he has so very little time available. He's very slow and methodical but extremely thorough which is brilliant.

How did you get on with toys FrancesHB - I'm still struggling with that?

Your kondoed-kitchen looks beautiful Hiccup I hope its appreciating its new kettle.

Oh & on the subject of Dh's, I suspect my Dh would rather cut off his arm than get rid of any of his stuff. Although he does look around sometimes and say "we have too much stuff", he very clearly means "you do".

I feel like I'm hogging the thread so I do apologise but I have a few questions.

Towels - how many do you have? I'm thinking about just having two per person (only me and ds)...one in use and one in the wash. I also have two hand and bath towels for camping. They're super lightweight. I'm just a bit concerned if we have more than two overnight guests at a time...I guess I just have to tell them to bring towels or use the camping ones .

Next, has anyone taken clothes to the cash-for-clothes type places? Was it worth the trip? I bought 2 huge bags of baby clothes off a friend for another friend...long story but I'd like to try and recoup a little bit of money. However, if they're only going to give me a fiver, it's probably not worth it.

Gah! I can't remember the third question I had!! Have almost unearthed my bed so going to change the linen...I might remember the last question then!!

Leeloo - I just patted it as I switched it on ...I really love it and I just know the kitchen does, too

I can't decide whether I'm better off without a dh or not...on the one hand, I only have to deal with my own stuff but on the other, it could be a good thing, if they are a Konvert, to have someone to help .