Clutter, emotions, and folding our socks - Kondo thread 6. All welcome!

[SteptoeAndDaughter]

The Book: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo, Cathy Hirano

Summary of the process link from mipmop

Article of top tips by Marie Kondo

Thread 5
Thread 4
Thread 3
Thread 2
Thread 1

And BeCool's copy of Coughles list of ORDER from Thread 2 for everyone:

"ORDER TO DECLUTTER/LOCATE THE JOY*

Clothes folding by rummy
Books
Papers
CDs
DVDs
Skincare products
Make-up
Accessories
Valuables (passports, credit cards, etc.)
Electrical equipment and appliances (digital cameras, electric cords, anything that seems vaguely ‘electric’)
Household equipment (stationery and writing materials, sewing kits, etc.)
Household supplies (expendables like medicine, detergents, tissues, etc.)
Kitchen goods/ food supplies
Other (If you have many items related to a particular interest or hobby, such as ski equipment, then treat these as a single subcategory.)

KonMari stresses that sentimental items should be left till the end. So for example, when you are doing papers, don't include photos of your children, love letters, old school reports etc, leave anything with a sentimental connection for later."

*As discussed in previous threads, your order for decluttering and finding the joy/spark/recognizing may be different to recommendations.

Morning!

My friends are always astounded I have so many emails in my iphone gmail account inbox. The unread ones are mainly junk and I wondered if there was a mass way of deleting them? Is it easier to delete on mass using the lap top?

Bringme - I have friends who have chest problems due to house mould and would be really keen to know if kondoing helps long term. They also live right by a small river and I wonder if this effects things?

Linzer yes books do collect dust. I'm regretting not vacuuming the book tops instead of dusting them down now.

Hi all. Been lurking around and finally made a start yesterday. My underwear drawer looks awesome. I love it so much I keep opening it to take a look. Going to go through the rest of my clothes today as I know there are things I could send to the charity shop.

Violetta I thought everyone has tons of stuff in their gmail! You can bulk delete using the select all option. You'll need to do it on the laptop. If you only want to delete certain stuff you could search for keywords and then select all. Or you could archive all the stuff you want to keep and then just delete everything left.

I went through a phase of unsubscribing from newsletters and stuff or setting up auto delete for things I didn't want so in theory I only got emails I actually wanted. It's a constant battle though as random crap sneaks back in!

Great advice roar. I'm going to try and set some time aside next week to do it. My friend suggested deleting them individually but there's 2500 emails!

Violetta, I also need to delete everything in gmail... It drives me mad!

My aunt made me laugh, yesterday, talking about how the invention of cling-film changed the way we think of leftovers... Instead of throwing them away after dinner, you put them in a bowl, cover them with cling-film, put them in the fridge, and then throw them away a week later. And my mum added that instead of throwing away the chicken carcass, you can boil it up for stock, make soup, and throw that away instead!

Yeah, I know some people are more frugal and disciplined with food than that, but it sums me up quite nicely

2500 isn't very many! I have spent a number of lunchtimes this month clearing out my mail. I must have deleted around 15000 messages so far...

I agree that using a browser to delete gmail isn't very useful as you can only see and delete about 25 messages at a time. I read all my accounts at work using Apple Mail on my laptop using IMAP. This makes it easier to find and list all the messages from Marks and Spencers, for example, and delete all those that are not order confirmations. You can obviously do something similar on a PC using Thunderbird etc..

Linzer Torte

DS also has a huge stuffed animal collection, and loves every one. They all have been given names, have specific other animals with whom they are friends, and so on. They take it in turns to be in bed with him each night.

Just last week, I managed to fit most of them (vertically, snout upwards!) into two deep drawers in his bedroom that had been newly emptied. Thought he would complain, but he accepted the idea that they could cuddle together more tightly that way and that they were happier. Picking then out for the night has been a very Kondo-esque lifting them out of their designated spot, and slotting them back in the next morning. Makes ME much happier. There is still a pile on his floor of the largest stuffed animals, but much smaller and more manageable than before.

I Kondoed emails over the Christmas break. Not fun doing it, but every time since when I check email, it gives me a thrill of happiness and relief. Hadn't realised until it was done how big the mental burden had actually been.

Anzu - mental burden is a great way of summing up a non-kondoed house/life, whenever I kondo anything no matter how small it feels as if a bit of the burden is lifting! Bit deep for a Saturday morning maybe but it really is how I feel about MK

Roar, welcome! It makes me so happy to see new people joining all the time! I have been around since thread 1 and loadssss of people have discovered the joy! It's brilliant :)

I'm sat in front of the drawers about to start. Should I roll clothes or fold them? Do different people have preferences?

Have just taken a large, treasured but no longer needed item to charity shop. The space in my room has increased again!
Now just wish I could clear everyone out of the house to get more done... Think dh views this as a hobby and therefore something to do in my leisure time

I thought sorting the clothes rail would take ages but in fact it took 10 mins to go through, take out stuff I don't wear and sort the rest into order. Makes me wonder why I didn't do it before! I used the left over time to sort out 4 storage baskets and my sewing box.

Result is one bin bag of rubbish and one bag of charity shop stuff. Charity stuff has been taken to the shop round the corner.

I have also donated the bags of spare change we have had sitting about for months waiting to be taken to the bank. I figured it just wasn't going to happen so we might as well give it to someone who will make use of the money. I've agreed with dh that this is what we will do with our change jar money now. It's a nice way to donate to charity without it really impacting on our finances.

We used to live next to a river and the damp was awful. We moved last march and I don't miss the mold at all! Urgh.

upandawayy - I'm so glad you've seen that item through to its next incarnation... Good feeling for the person who wanted it at a charity shop price; good feeling for the charity who made £15 on it; good feeling for item that now has a loving home and good feeling for you, who made it all happen, and can now enjoy a bit of extra space in your home, guilt-free.

I haven't yet started to read the book but I have had a massive shoe clear out :) Next: PJs and socks :)

bring you say that you have to open windows daily to let air in - I must say I air out in the morning and evening in all rooms. I thought that was what everyone did ;) My DCs had asthma when they were little, and the asthma nurse asked me to air out morning (10-20 min) and evening as it is particularily important for people with air way problems. My mum has dust allergies, and she sleeps with an open window all year. Maybe it's just what I am used to. I should also ad that I cook all the time, a lot of slowcooking, so I need to air out the food smell ;)

Today I went into Wilko for a few bits. I bought some skirt hangers, as I need some if I am going to get my summer clothes (not kondo'ed yet) to fit into the wardrobe - I have 10 (!) unused hangers at the moment, I am so proud (did have to pinch some from DH). And I resisted the urge to buy under bed shoe storage containers!

Linzer, with your DH's dust allergy, I can recommend getting a hand held steamer. My sister's boyfriend (I guess partner, they have been together for 15 years) has dust allergies, and they had to clear their large flat 2 years ago as they were moving abroad. He is a real clothes hoarder and also had a second hand clothes shop (spare time project) for a while so we are talking A LOT of clothes. They got a hand held steamer and used during sorting and packing on everythings, and it made such a difference for him.

Personally I would love a floor steamer mop, but I would need hard floors for that, we have horrible beige (rented house colour) carpets. I have plans about asking the landlord if we can at least tear up the carpet in the hall way, it's disgusting, I had to spot clean it the other day as the dog had an accident, and the spot I cleaned is now so much lighter in colour than the rest of the carpet! I have checked, and there is wood flooring underneath, it looks like it's in good condition. I must say, I still don't understand the British preference for carpets. I grew up with wooden floors and I still miss the smell of the wood when it's freshly washed ;)

Hi everyone, I am about to start with my wardrobe. I know how to fold t-shirts and socks, but what happens with dresses and suits? How do I decide which to keep? Which to store for summer? and which to chuck? I have some pre-pregnancy skirts that just don't fit, I really like them but I guess they have to go? Could someone possibly jump-start me here, please?

RandomFriend dresses and suits I think still have to be hung. MK says you should take everything out, and then hold each item one by one and ask if they spark joy (or "resonate" is an alternative translation). If they do, keep them. If not, get rid. MK also says not to store for summer, but to have everything in one place, so all dresses and suits in the wardrobe, regardless of season of wear. I think some PPs have ignored this, and suggest vacuum packing out-of-season clothes for more streamlined storage.

Re pre-pregnancy skirts, are you realistically likely to fit into them again - is it just a change of size, and weight you're hoping to lose, or also a change of shape which means you're not ever likely to wear again? If it's the latter, then yes, they have to go. Thank them, and then it's time for them to bring someone else joy - pass on to a friend, sell or charity shop.

Random,

Welcome ! The idea is you keep the items that bring you "joy" . If you think you might fit into the pre pregnancy skirts then keep them ,but only if you like them. Dresses and suits get hung up . You are meant to touch each piece of clothing and see how it makes you feel, if you feel happy then it gets kept , if not it has to go. This applies to everything even the most expensive suits etc.. ( you can selll or charity shop them ). It sounds mad but it does work. HTH

Thanks, newgirl and homeaway. 59 hangers and their contents are now sprawled over my bed. I'll report back on how many go back and how much space I make.

Hope the newbies to the kondo way are having fun!
Following yesterdays paperwork sort out, I was thinking I needed to buy some thin wallets to replace a large lever arch file. Today I sorted out a drawer of stationary and found some plastic wallets I'd forgotten about! Unbelievable! MK is clearly very wise when she says the storage you need is already in your home!