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.

Oh and for those of you waiting for stuff to actually get out of the house, I have had a fish tank for 2 house moves, it needs a new pump.

Tried to sell it but no one wanted it. Joined a group on Facebook called "(name of town) Free" and said that it was available to collect. Within 45 seconds I have 6 interested, it will be gone tomorrow!

I have a pile of stuff in the garage for a car boot and anything left over might end up going on facebook for free if I feel that it would sit in a chazza indefinitely.

Got rid of two massive items today, a friend on FB immediately asked for them and said she'd been looking for ages. Hurrah!

OMG I am mortified. I bought a Shredder 2 weeks ago for the paperwork phase.

Today, as I start clearing the crap in the office to get at the filing cabinet more easily, what do I find? My old shredder, unused for circa 5 years.

This is why I need MK

Starface

Well done itis!

starface ha ha, oh dear.

So, photos.

Have lost the knack, or else questioning myself, how am I supposed to do them? Have cleared around a black back full of pictures and haven't even really made a dent on them.

Any tips? Oh, and I'm not the scanning type. Photographs have to be tangible and physical to me. Tips more based on how do I figure out the joy ...

Star face!! Can you get a refund on the second one?!

Well I've kind of adapted the kondo thing and have deck uttered sections of my room rather than categories. However, having asked myself if each thing gives me joy or not...... I've got rid of four black bin bags of stuff!! Woo!! How addictive is this?! Wish I didn't have so much other stuff to do (including sleep...) as I want to declutter the whole place!

Starface
I see your second shredder and raise you...

26 disposable razors!

I guess I am a bit hairy but not that bad! Classic - buy some more because I didn't realise what I had already got! I've just been kondoing a shelf in my large hall cupboard (where I keep bathroom supplies amongst other things because my bathroom is very small)

Star Face - if you can't get a refund, have you got more than one dc (of a suitable age to use a shredder)?
if so you could get them doing shredding races - who can shred the most in 30 mins (while mummy drinks a glass of wine).

kids occupied, kondoed paperwork shredded - win/win!

Glad my sorry tale has made you all laugh. New Shredder was second hand off amazon (using gift token made through trade in from books category). Can't be bothered to send it back and I've kondoed the packaging.

Great idea of shredding races, but just one DD who is terrified of the shredder. I have to shred in darkest night.

It is going in the boot fair pile.

Arti, that is a lot of razors. At least you will use them at some point. No fear of future hairies!

Is anyone else ashamed of bemoaning their lack of clothes once they've realised quite how many they have . I found a whole bin bag full of prepregnancy trousers today and have ended up keeping most of them as I found joy in the fact I was fitting into them again, and I was getting tired and less good at making a decision. So think I'm going to need to do a second pass on my clothes... I think I might move onto shoes and then go back again. Feel like I'm finally starting to make progress though. I actually cleared the floor of my wardrobe!

I'm finding it quite challenging. I'm bad at throwing things out anyway (I find it generally upsetting), but I think that clearing stuff out is making me confront things that I haven't done, exercise outfit that I haven't worn etc, which is quite dispiriting.

I'm trying to keep hopeful that I can achieve it and that I can then do other stuff too.

I'm so sorry about your mum Hear

Just reporting, having finished Kondoing the hanging space in my wardrobe, I now have:

1. a neat row of clothes hanging, organised from white to colours to black; almost everything in there can be worn.
2. a bag of neatly folded clothes, stored vertically;
3. two items relocated to DD;
4. 19 empty hangers!

The bag is full of things that I am certain I shall never wear again, and DD probably doesn't want the jacked that will fit her, so I don't think I have completely got the hang of this yet. However, it is already a huge improvement.

Wow, everyone has been busy!
I did a little bit of paperwork yesterday, the stuff in the box in the hall. Threw out a lot but have barely scratched the surface. I need a system and some files.

Well done gals!

Sheets and pillows today . Magazines.

Just followed your link and it looks like a good place to start bringme

morning all!!

my name is kelly1814 and i'm a kondo addict!!!! i keep looking lustfully at areas in the house in case i am a) missing anything b) haven't got round to it yet. last night my eyes kept twitching towards a chest inthe corner of the lounge - i remembered it is full of dvd's. those motherfunkas are for the kondo high jump when i get in tonight!!!!

imagine my excitement yesterday when i realised that i hadn't kondo'd the top of the fridge.....no joy up there that's for sure!

I'm currently sat in the office with a pile of clothes and shoes in front of me, and work colleagues are popping in and out to take things. i am loving seeing them going off to their new, joy-filled lives!!

love, love, love this thread.

Welcome to the cult Kelly!

I never thought I'd see the day when I'm addicted to chucking/organising

CanI, don't be ashamed, just acknowledge it and put it behind you. Actually, I think not having anything to wear is a natural consequence of having far too many clothes. You have stuff that doesn't fit, and stuff that went out of fashion 20 years ago, and stuff that was appropriate for when you were a showgirl but not so much now you're the mayor, stuff with bloody great tears in obvious places, stuff for a skiing trip you thought about and never went on... How are you supposed to find one of the two serviceable pairs of trousers you own in all that crap???

Can't believe the energy on here the last few days! I'm just back from a family funeral, and the boxes of dad's books are still here, so I'm not prepared to start anything else that can't be finished within the same day. I'm going to do a bit of rearranging of the remaining books, getting mine into one place ready for the next wave of book-kondoing. Then there's a blanket box in the hall I'm planning to empty and move to the study.

Had a dream last night about still having to kondo the - very messy - garage.
Woke up feeling stressed, then remembered we don't have a garage!

*canIkondo", you have summed it up nicely when you say, "clearing stuff out is making me confront things that I haven't done"

That is exactly for me too. Starting to clear stuff normally makes me feel bad because I find stuff that I haven't done.

Today was fine, although I felt a bit sad when I held a skirt that I wore pre-DCs. It does give me joy - it is beautiful fabric - even though it doesn't fit. I put it back in the cupboard. I wonder if the fabric could be reused to make a slightly shorter skirt? Apart from that, the whole process took much less time than I had thought it would. Of course, I only did a little bit but I got started and I want to do more.

Kelly, do you mean that you have done the whole house? I am very impressed. I have just started and I have done just the hanging part of my wardrobe. When did you first start and how long did it take to get to this stage?

wow, this thread moves so fast I can hardly keep up!

This morning I did my hair brushes and stuff box. it is now practically empty. Also random stuff loitering on shelves because it didn't have a proper home. Hung up a few pictures and cleared some shelf space. I've made a good start on the books in the bedroom and dh has done the DVDs, which are mostly his.

Not bad for before 10am