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.

HearMyRoar I can highly recommend sorting out pensions. I've been dreading even thinking about it for years. I had piles of paperwork so just sorted it into the different pension providers, and then went through my jobs chronologically until I figured out what came from where, and then weeded out all the bits that were out of date or not needed, and made a to-do list of things that needed sorting out. Most things were all done over the phone in one afternoon.
Actually the most complicated thing about it is that most of the pension companies have been bought/sold/changed name about 2 or 3 times each, so that was a bit confusing. But as someone else said upthread, now that I've done this once, and have notes about everything, I will never have to do it again! Once new statements come in I'll just bin anything that becomes obsolete.

I agree with previous posters about looking forward to getting time to tidy the next category! Very happy that I got a cupboard of kids drawing paper all stood up vertically the other day, and it has stayed that way... So far!
Need to do the kitchen next. Any advice on how best to tackle it? I know the strict Kondo way would be to get everything out, but has anyone done it more in small sections?
Loving reading everyone's experiences.

Gnome, I have just done kitchen cupboard by cupboard, but the downside is that you don't get that deep purge, and you will probably need to have another go. But it's easier to do it bit by bit if you haven't got much time. I would do one cupboard as I cooked.

Thanks for that tipp2chicago, I'll start compiling my list of questions!

Gnome I'm only a third of the way through the kitchen (skipping about a bit between the categories ) but I'm breaking it down into small sub categories, I've so far done oils and condiments, tins, drinks etc etc and plan to do crockery, utensils, cookware and Tupperware as four separate categories otherwise I'll never have time to do it all in one go.

Nowisthetime welcome. I know what you mean about Kondoing around the DCs! Mine miraculously slept at the same time today......in the car. Such a waste of good Kondoing time But on the plus side, the last bag of clothes went to charity today so now I really feel like that category is DONE.

Sorry, welcome nowistherighttime, couldn't scroll back on phone!

Anyone who has children's clothes to donate, here is another option

JoJo

Sorry - so excited the link worked that forgot to explain! JoJo Maman Bebe are collecting clothes to donate to families via Barnados. You get a voucher back for each batch too.

Arrghhh - part way through kondoing literacy games for work. Everything is everywhere - the bin is overflowing and I feel overwhelmed! I've only started on the large game packets too - not the small ones!

JKS and daydream - thanks for the boost: I was pretty proud of myself over the mystery bag. Had a bit of a wobble this morning, but now I think "fuck it!" A) it's gone now, so nothing I could do about it, and B) what could it possibly contain that I've done without for literally years yet I can't do without, or replace, in future?

Linzertorte - can we roll back to your makeup? Your husband says you can't throw it away??? What's that about? I'm probably a bit harder-faced than other people about gifts, but I really think that, once given, they become entirely the property of the recipient. Therefore, the recipient gets to choose their fate. I might make exceptions for family heirlooms: offering them back out to the family. But no one ever has the right to say to anyone else "You must keep this on my behalf." If they want it kept, they can blinking well keep it themselves!

arti - don't panic! Just. Keep. Going. I was in that state with books last weekend. I wanted to back my rolled-and-folded clothes into my easily-accessible suitcase and emigrate to a galaxy far, far away. However, my only options were to put it all back where it came from (what a wasted effort) or just get the job done. Actually, by the time I had my crisis, I was over the hump, and finishing the job wasn't nearly as awful as I'd expected. Find yourself a bin bag from somewhere and just keep ploughing through it. You'll know its right when you put back a fraction of the original volume.

Hermione isn't that a song? ... "I'm all about the space, about the space (no clutter)....

Hermione Don't worry; I ignored him! (He's not the controlling hoarder he sounds like.) I have to admit I would hate to throw new make-up away, though; I passed a lot on to a friend today, but did also throw quite a few things (old nail varnish, mascara, etc.). I did keep all the eyeliners that DH gave me apart from one (which didn't seem to work properly), but they're all more or less brand new and I know that I can use them all; I've got rid of the rest, however.

Anyway, I think that's my make-up and skincare products now done; I also did towels and flannels at the same time as they're all in the same cupboard. I'm hoping that DH will be inspired to do his now; he has a ridiculous amount of miniature bottles of shampoo, shower gel, etc. thanks to all his business trips so his shelf is jam-packed. I did manage to persuade him to part with quite a few last Christmas, when we sent a parcel to a refuge, but somehow the number has crept back up again. He does use what he brings back, but not quickly enough to make much of an indent on his stockpile.

Also need to do the children's shelf, but am waiting for DD2 to help me (she loves organising and tidying; she's by far the tidiest person in the house) and she's been out all afternoon.

zippidy and bringme thanks for the anti-stress wishes I am feeling less stressed today. Inspired by all the job Kondoing on here, I had a chat with dh today about how we can restructure our work/life balance to give me more opportunity for joy. Nothing concrete decided as yet but definitely a step in the right direction.

I'm going to reKondo my jackets tonight. I had already sent a bag to the charity shop before I started Kondoing so didn't redo them when I did clothes. However, I'm pretty sure there must be some that can go. Thanks to Kondoing the cupboard under the sink, I now have a large supply of black bin bags (at least three packets - bin bags are obviously something that pre-Kondo I bought, promptly lost and then bought more). Looking forward to filling some of them with items for the charity shop.

OMG! Make-up! Mine's all in make-up boxes/cases, in the spare room. Erm, unused for 8+ years, including a Biba eyeshadow!

Make-up is... close to an X outdoor TV aerial donated by a daughter! WTF?

I kondoed the TV licence over a year ago, before I'd even heard of MK.

To be honest, Linzer, eyeliners are a bit of an Achilles heel for me... I've still got quite a few, even though I got rid of a whole lot more!

Thanks for the earworm, coatandhat!

bring my bras are mainly unwired nursing ones at the moment . I folded them in half (cup inside the other cup, IYSWIM) then half again, tucking the straps in as I go. They seem to stand up vertically in the draw ok, I put them in stood up on the band ie the same way up you would wear them? Mind you, it helps that even unformed, the cups are the size of cereal bowls .

I have two three drawer units full of makeup - from my BeautyTube obsession days. I thought that was bad enough until I started unearthing bags of old jeans from under the bed. Underneath them were about ten neatly labeled Glossybox boxes - eyeliners, blushers, lipsticks, eyeshadows, primers, etc. I'm horrified with myself! Those beauty gimmicks don't touch me anymore - a peach blush is a peach blush, even if it has 'revolutionary light reflecting youth enhancing lustre particles' it's still just a peach blush!

The only positive to come from all that is that I know what I like now, and I know what suits me, so I don't need to experiment anymore. But the annoying thing is that it has all been used, or at least tested out, so I can't pass any of it on

Book 2 has a diagram for bra storing! (I skipped ahead and skimmed the folding chapter)

She has them not folded at all, but tucked up so that the cups all nestle into one another, and then all stood on end, with darker ones at front, going to lighter ones at back.

A few extra things on clothes storage from Book 2:

• not to worry too much about the folding of really light items, like thin polyester and chiffon, as they WILL fall down no matter how you fold. Fold them as you would other clothes, but then roll, then slot them in relative to other things so that the other things essentially hold them in place.

-not to bother trying to roll really thick winter stockings, as they will undo themselves, just fold so one pair of the legs is above the other, then down in half, then in half again (and another time also, if need be) -winter pullovers can be compressed for summer storage by squashing down tightly to get out extra air, then putting into a similar-sized plastic or cloth bag and tying or sealing the top. -not to leave drawers half-filled once you have put stuff back in after the discarding. Put other items that more-or-less fit in the same category in there too. The empty drawers should stay empty for the time being, as you will probably find something as you keep on going through the house that could reasonably stored in them anyway. The rationale is that any half-filled drawers end up, probably subliminally, telling you that you do not have enough, and will tempt you to go out and buy more stuff even though you don't actually need it.

And one last thing. She said bath towels are fine just being stacked and not rolled, as one goes through them so quickly that one rotates through the entire pile quickly. Seemed a bit odd to me, as if she uses a new towel daily (doesn't happen in our house!). Mind you, traditional Japanese towels and much much smaller and thinner than Western towels.

Not about book 2, but I made muffins today, and they wouldn't fit in the tin. Then I realised that if i flipped them all sideways so that they were stored vertically, they would actually fit.

Haven't started the book yet, but was just wondering, is the folding essential?

Hehe at sideways muffins!