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.

I've had to re-Kondo an area

• I found another bag of scarves and had to go for a much bigger drawer.

I think I haven't quite got enough drawers as drawers have become more important.

I've no shelves below head height and I need everything at head height or I will never open the box. I suspect I still have too much, all of which is totally right

Bras are the things needing a drawer, I've tried a box and a bag behind a door - neither worked as I just pulled a clean one from the clothes horse rather than go looking for one - so I do need another drawer so I can see them.

I think I need a blanket box (could repurpose one) for linen in my bedroom and then use the drawer in my bed (divan) for pyjamas - thus giving me my new drawer underneath my pants (makes sense) for my bras.

Those may be the dullest paragraphs Ive ever written
But the outcome - bras near pants makes sense if I can get there

We live in an average 3 bed house. Currently we have the third bedroom as a dumping ground an ironing room.
However, baby2 is on the way and the third bedroom will become the nursery.
Where does everyone keep/do their ironing please?
I have no tall cupboard to store the board in.

Do you have a tall kitchen cupboard? Currently filled with shelving and tins?

Are there no tall cupboards at all anywhere in your house, not even a wardrobe where it could fit in? Maybe you could have a fold down one if you have wall space?

Or next to the wall just standing up between the nursery wardrobe and the wall?

Tw1nkle our board is in the cupboard under the stairs, which doesn't help you but it is on one of those brackets that you can screw into a wall or sturdy door, might be a solution? We do the ironing in the sitting room after the DCs are in bed, the basket lives on the landing (not ideal and will be Kondoed in due course)
Laurie moving stuff around like that sounds like a plan. I've found that MKs doctrine "discard first" works, once I'd done all clothes the storage just sort of came together of its own accord. Bit "woo" I know.

Regarding ironing board storage, we also don't have a tall cupboard. In current house it is stored down the side of our wardrobe ( downstairs bedroom) and in previous house it was in the kitchen between the fridge/ freezer and the cupboards. Baskets of ironing waiting to be done are either in our bedroom or in the hall. Not ideal, but without the luxury of spare rooms it's the only solution!

You can get hooks/hangers to hand an ironing board and iron on the back of a door www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brabantia-Iron-Store-Holder-Heat-Door-Wall-Ironing-Board-Hanger-Hooks-Storage-/151558230632

Bringme, I think it's a good idea to do your car first aid kit along with your at-home kit, on the understanding that each must stand alone once you're finished. The point of dealing with them together is that you might find that (for example) your car-suncream is past its best, but you can replace it with one of your duplicates from the house.

I think it's as important to kondo your car kit as anything else. You don't have space to spare, and especially with the first aid stuff and sun cream: you need to be confident you've got enough, it's within date, and you can lay hands on it in an emergency.

Twinkle, our ironing board is just tucked in beside the wardrobe in our bedroom.

I don't iron... Am I the only one?
I own an iron but it's rarely used. When things come out of the washer I shake them out and hang them on the maiden and never really have an issue with creases. Can't remember the last time I ironed anything...

Just read that back to myself and thought it made me sound like a bit of a scruff, mooching around with clothes on full of creases! I'm not though, honestly :D

Have had a very disheartening morning taking out everything of a certain category belonging to dh as I thought he had no idea how many he had (a collection basically) and he has refused to throw away a single thing. Was able to restore them folded and it takes up two less large boxes, so that's the only plus. Wondering why I'm getting rid of so much of my stuff basically to leave more storage space for his crap

girlybags Yay! I haven't done 'the ironing' since the 1980's! With 5 children, I didn't buy anything that need ironing or dry-cleaning.

I, too, cannot remember the last time I did any ironing - my iron and ironing board get palpitations, if I approach them. The only item I own that needs ironing is, an unstructured linen outfit, which I wore once for a wedding and which is headed for the chazzer.

Oh, and having kondoed the chore of ironing, I would kondo both the iron and board, but when I've fininished the house, I shall need them, when I begin sewing again!

Glad I'm not the only one
I don't own an ironing board so if I do need to iron I just make do with a towel on the floor or dining table

Thanks for the advice Bringmejoy, I think he would say he is a collector not a hoarder but I'm not sure I see much difference - he will try to keep all the old magazines he has read for example, what on earth for? I guess I jumped too fast to a sentimental item for him. He was happy enough to get rid of normal clothes.
I love the idea of there being some spaces in the flat that don't have shelves/plastic crates/crap in them.
Ironing - I do much less since my clothes got enough room to hang up or be folded properly

Maybe ask him to read the book? Say that since his things bring him so much joy, the method of course lets him keep them, but you want to be able to discuss this in the same framework.

Bringme - our iron and board are pretty much only used when I'm sewing, and on the very rare occasions where DH needs a shirt and can be arsed to iron it

Iggi - I've been worried about that too: husband taking my decluttering as license for his shit stuff to expand. Actually, he's started getting rid of some stuff too, though not at all to the same degree. My strategy has been to get rid of storage options as soon as they're emptied. Storage boxes have been squirrelled away where he can't see them. Cruddy plastic racks have gone straight in the bin. Book shelves have been taken down (we did have a bit of spat over gat one, but I replaced them with a chest of drawers to help keep the study laundry-free, and that cheered him right up!) Where removing storage isn't an option, I agree with bringme that you should try to stake a claim on drawers etc, at least until he adjusts to the sight of empty spaces.

I don't iron. DH does because he wears a lot of shirts but he likes them ironed a certain way so I let him do them himself. It is leading to a problem because he leaves them hanging about the sitting room and kitchen till he gets round to ironing them. I really don't want to take on his ironing again but I hate how untidy they make the rooms look.

I do think MK should have at least a chapter on how to cope when you live with other people who aren't Kondoing!