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!

Still going with the kitchen, so far the oldest best before is... 24th August 2007 ! Still not beating Emperor though.

Olivia after DD1 grew out of things that still had life in them, I roughly folded and rammed them into the cardboard boxes we had from bulk buying nappies, one age bracket per box (sometimes 2 boxes per bracket, sooo many clothes!). Labelled, and hid them on top of the nursery wardrobe/cupboard. Now DD2 is here, and I've had a taste of her personality, and can see her colouring, I've had a proper sort out. Went through each box, cleared the stuff I won't dress her in, checked condition, re-folded, labelled clearly, and put them back in the (now kondo'd!) cupboard . As she grows, I clear out the things that don't fit, then pull out the next big box and re-populate her cupboard. It's working well so far, as I empty a box, I re-fill it with the things she's grown out of and donate it when full.

This thought had just occurred and I'm sure you guys will know what I mean... I feel more joy no longer having the stuff than I ever did holding onto it.

Me too Polka! It's remarkable how your mindset can do a complete 180...

Progress slowing down as starting paperwork, my Achilles heel;(
Has anyone any tips on sorting photos. Have gathered all together in a big chest and done one sort though. So many photos from drunken college nights out that are getting the chop (thank god was before Facebook)... Lots of ones that I would die if anyone saw, as would seriously ruin street cred/chances of running for presidency... BUT, they bring back really good memories. Do I keep the odd one or Kondo the lot? Family and childhood ones different as a too sentimental but plan to buy nice albums and eventually catalogue them properly....

I'm the pile creator in our house I think the only way to get around it is to make sure you have a place to keep stuff and then go through that regularly and chuck the out of date stuff (old magazines are my guilty habit).

Leeloo I hope your husband has some redeeming habits

Iqueen your post about the things your children have made made me cry. Mine are still a bit small but there are already a few bits and bobs that I cherish. I'm sure that will change over time but you're so right about some things being irreplaceable.

Olivia you've received some good advice already, but what I did in addition to having a ruthless sort through and sorting by age was

1. Sort by season. Eg DC2 will be 2 in the summer, so anything aged 2 that is mid-wintery I discarded. Some stuff was a season out in terms of size so I put those things with the appropriate age just in case the weather is better/worse than expected. More than one season out and it was discarded.
2. Everything per season got put in one bag and labelled with the date it needs to be got out (Mar /15, Sept/16, etc), rather then child age.
3. I put stuff into plastic bags and then hung them by their handles from the hanging rails in dc's wardrobes as there was a lot of unused space there.

Might be more complicated if you have more than two children, but like this I've stored too big stuff for both children (one set from older siblings, one set from older cousins).

Polka you've hit the nail on the head.

Haddock I forgot to mention that your kettle sounds glorious. Can I come and pat it?

Time I've been pondering this too, I will probably have to start photos shortly. I think (but this is pure conjecture) that I will inevitably keep a couple of photos for the memories. And I'm sure that 80's haircut will give out children joy in years to come Seriously, I am also or family historian and photos/pictures of people are joyful centuries on so I will be keeping at least a few of our younger days.

Marking my place so I have a chance of keeping up!

Tense discussion with husband about the bookshelves. He wants to leave all of them up... Just in case I think if we leave them up we he will fill them with more crap. And if we are going to store anything at all in that space, I'd much rather it was behind cupboard doors. But honestly, I'd rather it was nothing at all!

Haven't caught up with latest posts because I have accidentally emptied our kitchen cupboards out and everything looks awful and I'm a bit overwhelmed. A lot of baking stuff for someone who doesn't really like baking or eating the end result.

It all started with a lovely kondo'd cutlery drawer and sort of escalated.

Could you take the bookshelves down, but store them somewhere (garage, attic etc) for say 6 months, just to test that you don't really need them?

Aw itisntjustaphase. . It's the chaos before the calm. Take a deep breath and think joy and start. You will be fine.

haddock I have bought a new kettle and toaster as one was leaking and the other was melting and I can't wait for them to arrive. I also ordered two of these for incoming/pending paper work and for stacking different sized envelopes.

Been thinking about all these stored baby/children's clothes.

I had my children between 1968 and 1984 - we didn't store children's clothes. We only stored things like cots, and prams - the expensive stuff. And it was too early for branded clothes!

So... method recap. I stand in my kitchen over a pile of baking things and clap over it, then hold each thing to see how it makes me feel and say thank you to the things that don't resonate or spark joy and put them in a box to go?

Does anyone else have a pile of empty storage boxes looking very sorry for themselves?

Thanks Mango, that's pretty much the compromise we've agreed to. To be fair, he's got a lot of stuff going on at the moment, so me changing stuff at home might feel like a step too far.

Up and away, YES!

ItsJust - I did have to laugh at the accidentally emptying of cupboards
I have done similar before just trying to find icing sugar for eg.

Off to see dh again. My brother is being a star. Thank you doesn't quite cover it.
And he's apologetic about being busy the next 2 weekends!
Although I have no idea how I'll manage hosp visits over the weekend so I'm going to have to tell dh I can't. His ward doesn't allow children and anyway me + 3 dc isn't really ideal visiting conditions. Hopefully he'll be feeling better and just be bored by then.

Told my brother about MK though. Him and his dw live in a 1 bed flat with too much stuff so I might pass the book on soon.

I kept some baby clothes that i love, probably about two outfits per child. I have a box of baby blankets, the only thing that i need to sort through is two boxes of duplo, but i want to keep some if i can for grandchildren if there any. The key is as always is if it makes you happy then keep it. The lego on the other hand..... there are three boxes of that ,but ds who is at uni wants to keep it.... so that has to wait until the summer. The silver cross carriage pram will go when we move but the crib will stay if i have space. For some this may sound mad but for me it feels right and unless we have a space issue then i won't need to rethink. On an aside my kids enjoyed playing with things my mum had kept from our childhood.

Just did a table top sale. Sold quite a bit and made £20! I've decided some stuff won't sell and can go to charity, to try some stuff on FB sites and do another table top sale in Feb!

All welcome to come and pat my kettle...I'd recommend waiting an hour because it's just boiled

Cool - I hope your new things arrive soon. I had my hands on the exact, same thing yesterday...until I reminded myself that I have an unused one at home already .

Itisn't - your method sounds fab and keep going...you know it'll be so worth it when you're done.

Up - yes!! They are not sparking much joy at e moment because ds and I keep tripping over them . Might just chuck them in the bath, out of the way, for now.

I've just gone through my bag of reusable shopping bags and kondoed half. I get given them all the time but now have 5 including 2 that are used, daily, for mindees packed lunch/snacks. Oh and they are currently being stored in the breadbin (but not sure if they'll stay there unless I can find cupboard space for the whole lot)

Hi everyone - still Kondo-ing here - but it's going to take time!

Re the baby clothes, so many people keep them in a box under the bed/in the loft. I found this great idea to have them turned into a keepsake: www.lovemeforeverkeepsakes.com/

Alittle - well done on your table top sale. I did one for baby/child stuff but sold hardly anything.

Homeaway - my friend mentioned keeping stuff for grandchildren. I'm not sure how I feel about it. My mum kept loads and it's spent most of the last 20-30 years in the loft/garage. The only things my ds played with at her house was the big box of my lego (which she's now given us to have here).

There is a blanket that mum made ds when he was born and I have dithered over that and put it back in the drawer. After reading your post, I think I'd like to keep it. It just seems a shame to have it shut away in a drawer for the next 20 years.

Hiccup I have a beautiful baby quilt a friend made, I don't want it sitting in a drawer either so I'm going to buy one of those plastic tube things for holding posters and hang it up.
I've got back on it today and put the loft items to we are keeping back in the loft. It's mostly baby stuff and some suitcases etc. It is all now tidy and labelled and there is space to move around too. DH was really impressed! Trying to attach photo but phone is being temperamental.
Feel like I've achieved something after a slow week though.

Have gone slightly off-plan and cleared out linen cupboard - all the old duvets I never use and towels gone now. Dh the hoarder is currently going through all his piles of magazines and (hopefully) chucking most of it. It does seem to be contagious!

I don't have as many clothes as most, and I have plenty of storage, but I still think I have too many!

So, I've been trawling the Internet for good advice. Basically, although I no longer have children at home, I need a SAHM's wardrobe, with a couple of outfits for smarter occasions.

Most 'wardrobe' websites advise more clothes than I need, but I finally found a really good one, that others might find useful too:

www.savespendsplurge.com/principles-of-a-practical-minimalist-wardrobe/

Having said that... I have worn the same size, style and make of bras for about 20 years, and as I kondoed them last week, I found 7 that are fine, but need a new wire! I have been meaning to get new wires, because (at £40 a pop) I now rely on getting new bras as presents.

If anyone else has the same problem, new wires can be obtained from here, 99p a pair + good p&p:

www.venacavadesign.co.uk/Welcome.html

JKS that's very good to hear your brothers being supportive

Iqueen I've just followed your link and that is a properly minimal wardrobe! I'm very impressed and inspired. It's making me look with fresh eyes. I'm going to aim for -

3 bottoms (I live in them!)
3 t shirt tops
3 non t shirt tops
1 shorts
1 Shirt
Winter coat
Lighter coat
Waterproof coat
2 dresses
2 sets of heels
Boots
Summer shoes
Sports footwear
Sports outfit

Well, I started shoes today. DH was as there are so many pairs of my shoes that he claims he has never seen! I have a bag-full to pass on to my DSIS as they are hardly worn but just aren't that comfortable to wear. I think my feet must have changed size as I've got older (is that even possible ??).