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.

Re washing, I am quite obsessed with drying the washing outdoors. I work from home, so on a showery day you can see me running in and out of the house getting the washing in/out ;) I have a clothes line and a clothes horse. In the winter I will still put clothes out to dry, but as it won't dry completely, I will finish it off on the clothes horse in the bathroom with window open and door shut. I grew up that way, and I have always loved the smell of clothes that has dried outside. Besides, it's best for the house and your health to not dry clothes indoors. I do some times end up with sheets/towels over the landing/railing, I don't like it!

I finally did the summer clothes - took less than 1/2 hour and everything fits in drawers/wardrobes, but I am now left with a large mixed pile on my bedroom floor :( Just need to do summer shoes / sandals, can't take long. Oh, and the 2 lovely pair of boots in the garage that I never wear - really want to keep them, but it doesn't make sense.

I love knowing that I don't have hoover bags in the garage full of clothes! Well, a small one with clothes for DC that is too big for them (typically hand me downs or bargains).

HiccupHaddockHorrendous Your dryer sounds like a thermostat problem. It sounds as though it heats up and is cutting out because the safety switch is being tripped? Like hair-dryers? Check how much a repair will be against the cost of a new one. Have you cleaned the filter?

I mended my ancient washing machine myself (thanks Google and YouTube) because I was told by a salesman that a new one would only last 5 years. The parts for the repair cost me £9.99 and saved me £80+!

Thanks again polka re. drying. I think you're right that the key is going to be more organised washing. You've also made me realise why it hasn't been impacted by Kondoing so far as it's mainly DH's clothes and he hasn't Kondoed them.

Hiccup I have empty boxes and tonnes of empty tupperware now. I was going to donate it but actually it's coming in handy for organising smaller items eg napkin rings that were rolling about in the pot drawer are now neatly packed in a small tupperware box.

Misscph - I really should try harder to get the washing out on the line. The gardens are a funny layout here and I have to go around nextdoor's garden to get to mine and the washing line. I'm just too lazy to do it unless the sun is shining and the temp is close to 20 degrees . Also, eventhough I work from home, it's completely impractical to take my childminded rabble out with me to get the washing in when it inevitably starts raining!

Iqueen - yes, I did wonder if it might be a simple (cheap) fix but then started thinking about the space that would be created if I just cut my losses and got rid of it. I could advertise it, explaining the fault and maybe its new owner could fix and use it. Yes, I clear out the fluff filter, regularly and the condenser bit gets cleaned occasionally. I'll try cleaning the condenser thingy and see if that helps it.

Aplace - yes, I have used some of the boxes and started collecting anything that has been newly emptied. Hopefully, once this process is finished, I can get rid of the excess so this is only a temporary hoard

VertdeTerre Thank you! I remember the joys (or not!) of the car nap - some days you're driving round waiting for the DCs to drop off so they can be transferred straight to bed when you get home. Other times you're trying to keep them awake as a nap will put bedtime back by three hours...

Managed to get an hours worth of paperwork sorting done this morning. Just one drawer but it hasn't been looked at for about four years . Some of the folders in it haven't been opened for at least 15 years or so.

I had assumed that the papers were all work related (I was made redundant when pregnant with DC2) but actually found a folder with some sentimental things in. As per instructions I didn't dwell on this, just moved it to the box where I'm storing all other sentimental items, prior to Kondoing later.

However, in it was something that I thought I'd lost/got rid of years ago - a poem that I tore out of a magazine twenty years ago that I loved, but couldn't remember the exact title of (and therefore couldn't find it online).

I can't tell you how happy I was to find it again - it made my day! And I was pretty chuffed to get rid of 80% of the paperwork I found too.

Kondo is working and I'm loving it.

Thanks for the kitchen advice. Had a bit of unexpected bonus child free time this afternoon and started with some kitchen drawers, and the tea/ coffee cupboard. Chucked a carrier bag of rubbish, including weaning spoons that I have used for 3 children ( youngest now 4!). Remember clearly buying them when my eldest started on solids....in 2001..!
I do think the organisation might need to be revisited once all the cupboards are are Kondo'd, but have started it at least.
Sideways muffins made me smile, and inspired my muffin/ cupcake cases to now be sideways in the drawer ( in a shoebix lid)!

I also have a collection of empty boxes developing, causing questions from dh, but have found uses for many of the containers in the process.

Kondo'd the baking cupboard. Hurrah.

And just about ready to attempt my jewelry. As others have mentioned, I find so many things sentimental that certain categories are harder for me than the Designated Order implies. So I am doing it my way.

Anyone 'going to' the Kondo Web chat?

Hermione - thanks for your encouragement. I had to drop everything to go out and teach so I think that is why it seemed so overwhelming. It had just taken much longer than I'd hoped and then I had to go out and leave it all in chaos! I'm about to pick up again from where I left off - bin bags at the ready!

JKS - fantastic news about DH

My flat feels messy - I'm not managing to put things away and I still have too much junk

It is a relief to have him home. And not feel like I should be rushing off to visit all the time.

Have given him a pile of papers and he agreed to bin most of it.
Aiming to get him sat in bed while I suggest clothes to get rid of.
Eg about 15 pairs of speedo pants (proper name escapes me!) that he bought for after having the snip! He's doesn't need them now.

Can't say I'm totally done with paperwork and we still have far too much but it's all had a once over at least. And the long overdue filing has been done.
I've a big plastic crate ready to shred next week in the office.

A few dvds selected and some bits from the kitchen so I have another plastic crate of randoms ready to leave at some point.

I haven't had the iron out since I started kondoing - my clothes aren't getting creased now they are nicely folded or hanging up with space around them

Thank goodness it's Friday! Busy weekend planned but I'm itching to at least do something! Might kondo my baby's clothes as she has tons!

Glad your dh is back, jks!

I'll let ds know the good news in the morning

Hiccup - I think you want to take the indestructible glasses to the chaser and keep the pretty ones for your friends. If you've been managing with four, you can afford to break two without any problems, and they sound kind of joyful!

We've recently completed a mortgage transfer, and the last bit of paperwork (new repayment schedule) arrived today. I've just put all the paperwork from our application, AND documents/statements from the last mortgage (which was in three parts), AND stuff from the mortgage before (obsolete for 8 years) in the TO BE SHREDDED pile. That was quite a wodge of paper, I'm tellin ye! The house/mortgage file now contains about 15 sheets. Happy sigh. Oh, and I haven't really started on paperwork yet.

Not sure what's likely to happen this weekend. Still have boxes of books everywhere, and husband has promised help to shift them, but his dad's in hospital, and I don't know if he can fit it in this weekend. If not, I'll probably attack the fabric stash!

Thanks for link to the live chat bringme, interesting that she has kids herslef, totally not what I expected. Also this answer about things which can't be replaced right away

"However, if you have not found anything replaceable with, just stick with what you have again and again. Those things are helping you every single day. So you should appreciate how they are contributing to your life. Change the relationship with those items, by appreciating their contributions to your life."

Not much kondoing here, pulled something in my back so have been hobbling about while DH tried to wrestle the toddler away from me and brought me the baby now and again for feeds. Have been looking at my books on the shelf though, and spotted a few which can go when I am back on feet again.

Good news on your husband JKS, hope you enjoy your weekend together

Chazzer, not chaser. Autocorrect!

Re:drying clothes. We dry outside almost exclusively for half the year, and sunny weekends even in winter, but day-length, full-time work, and a maritime climate don't help. We use a heated airer, shut in our least-used room, with the windows open - that keeps the cold air (from the windows) and visual clutter to one place.

Hope the back heals soon, Hazy. I've had sacro-iliac trouble a couple of times, and when that goes..! I actually passed out from the pain in the middle of getting changed at the chiropractor's once.