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.

CoolCadbury.

yes, an oshiire is/was the place where traditionally the bedding was put into. The size is the same as one tatami mat, as pretty much all traditional homes were build in an essentially modular way with the tatami mat as the basic metric for size. That way you can easily get replacement mats, sliding screens, etc. and they will always fit.

Bedding in Japan is not really all that bulky when folded away. When living in Japan with DH we had an apartment with two six mat rooms, and one oshiire. The bedding for two of us, when put away took up one shelf of the oshiire, so that left one shelf for storage of other stuff.
Incidentally, the kitchen - which also doubled as entry hall - was also one tatami mat size, so you can imagine how little storage and preparation space there was! And we even managed to squeeze a washing machine in there as well.

Traditionally, for storage of clothing, people also used also tansu, which are fairly small portable cupboards. But that is talking about back in the days when the vast majority of the population was extremely poor. Back then, most people did not have enough extra clothing to need a tansu to store it in!

Must be a day for the paperwork! Managed to do mine too. Big pile for recycling, and a bigger pile for burning. We don't have a shredder, tempted to get one, but will probably destroy it trying to do too much at once! Also set up the bank account to paperless, so less coming in.

I think the links thread will be useful for me as my copy of the book is due back to the library next week. But I agree with previous poster that nobody should feel compelled to read all the thread.

I have been lucky king of for a while, trying to catch up a bit and would love to join in.

I've been decluttering since before Xmas then discovered these threads a couple of weeks ago. I'm definitely a Konvert! So far I've done clothes, books, paperwork, photos, bathroom, kitchen and even my 9yo son's room (which was by far the worst!). The house is starting to look really good now and I'm happy to be surrounded by less stuff in general. Loving the word Komono and have Kondo'd quite a lot of it. I reckon about 20 bin liners worth of stuff has left the house so far and need to tackle the loft and shed at some point but with my current frame of mind I think it should be a piece of cake :)

My son is a much worse hoarder than me, he hates to throw anything away including actual rubbish! I decided to just tackle his room on my own as I'm 99% sure he doesn't even know what was in there, everything was just piled in huge Ikea canvas drawers. All the drawers are gone now and everything is on shelves so he can see exactly what he has and knows where it all lives. He is actually spending more time in his room now and anything I thought he might ask for at some point has gone up into the loft so I can always get it for him. When I'm sure he's not missed any of it I'll get rid of it to the chazzer.

I'm a bit of a fish geek, I have 2 tanks running at the mo but have just got into marine which I'm loving. My tropical tank is in danger of being Kondo'd towards the end of the process...

Anyway, I've waffled on for long enough!

Moving fast again! Bloody awful day at work. stupidly busy and really low on staff, so much so that we're all doing shifts to cover the reception. The up side to this is that I got to Kondo some of the stationery drawers!

Anzu I agree with bringmejoy -it's lovely to have the extra pieces of information. Glad you are here.

mango one of the first things I did when I started the current temporary job was Kondo the drawers and my little area.

Do you think "to Kondo" will ever get in the Oxford dictionary?

Cool I think it depends on how enduring the MK Method is. Don't new words have to be in general use for some years before being welcomed into the OED?

Lucky king, haha! I meant lurking, stupid predictive text on iPad! :)

Yes you are right, of course, about general use. But I think the time has shortened eg bromance, chugger and defriend is all in OED and those words haven't been around all that long really. (saddo that I am, I checked)

girlybags welcome.

Still can't face sentimental stuff. Might try this weekend with DS's baby clothes. I kept a few outfit from each age range (newborn, 3 months, 6, 12, 18 months) as I thought he might like to see how little he was.

Cool

This might sound a bit " woo" but if you are not ready to do the sentimental categories , are you sure you have done the others properly and actually finished them ? This might be what is holding you back from moving on ???
No idea and it might be way off the mark, but it was just a thought.

Interesting idea home.

No, I'm all done and I've done it prescriptively as KMarie instructed. Every drawer and cupboard are perfect and exactly how I like them - apart from the one cupboard where I have hoarded all the sentimental stuff. TBHonest I resisted, stalled & did nothing for about a month before I did the paperwork because I knew how mentally exhausting it would be. I think I am going through the same thing here - it's the sheer volume and how exhausting it will be, but emotionally this time.

started back at work (boarding school teacher) so haven't had time to post or Kondo for 3 weeks! BUT v happy to report that house is staying tidy and clean, and am making the time to put clothes away properly.

I'm itching to continue the process - I keep eyeing areas of komono beadily but having to return to my marking/planning/evening duty.

DH wants to keep this set of 3 stoneware items we got as a wedding present - a toast rack (seriously!) which is broken, glued back together and never used, a small casserole dish and a broken teapot, also glued. He says they give him joy.

Hello to you all! I would love to join this thread as I am becoming obsessed with kondoing my home! I first heard of it a few weeks back while lurking on MSE, which led me here. I am so pleased that I am not the only person struggling with piles of komono (love that word!) everywhere! You are all so inspiring and it is lovely to read about all the successes.

Like others, I think I am finally going to be able to sort the house out once and for all! I started with socks and undies and then moved onto the rest of my clothes. I was really surprised to find the process getting easier as I went along. I've also done most of my kitchen cupboards and the bathrooms. Love the folding and rolling - and like the rest of you, I have to keep opening drawers and doors to check things are still so lovely and tidy!

DD thinks I have gone mad and keeps asking if my socks are still relaxed!

Looking forward to chatting on here!

P.S. Forgot to say - another translator here - well, former translator! Also, am a Brit living overseas.

Oh, another translator, welcome ;) Maybe because the book is Japanese it attracts so many linguists? I wonder if I would have read it if it was written by an English author?

I put 6 items on ebay - it's a start ;) I hate spending my entire evening writing listings so doing a bit at a time. I also find that once I start, I like having things for sale, it becomes a habit, so it's fine to take it slow. Don't want to pay for the listings anyway, so need to keep it under 20 per month.

Can't believe I can still open a drawer and find something I immediately recognise as "not needed/wanted". It's like having mastered a new skill! I am worried if I will have anything left in the end ;)

DH hasn't passed comment about the major kondoing so far, except to say that there's been loads to do and he feels its been non stop. He's not been particularly enthusiastic. However tonight he said the house is much easier to keep tidy and feels nicer. Glad he appreciates all the effort because it's been hard work but also enjoyably addictive.

My house was weird when I came in tonight, as in a perfect living room, just like when the cleaner has been. Only she hadn't been!

It turns out that DH had a quick tidy round before he left for work, wowee! When I commented on how nice it was he lectured me saying "well it only takes a few minutes to put the one or two bits away and then do the cushions!"

We only have to put one or two bits away! And DH is on board! Yee he! And he wants to tackle the garage.

Yes.

Bringme - are you managing to whittle things down? I keep revisiting areas and finding more to kondo.

I've asked DH to do his areas - so watch this space. He's very precise and it could take a while though.

Just realised. Pre kondo I used to tidy LOADS, swallowed by mess and hardly clean (with the exception of loos, cooking stuff and beds). Now the house is generally very tidy I still hardly clean (with the exception of loos, cooking stuff and beds). The truth is I've never had a proper cleaning routine and tend to be sporadic, generally cleaning just before guests arrive. I guess now the house is tidy, I could really look at keeping the house extra clean too. It's the floors I hate! Mopping and hoovering.

Hi just finished last thread. And this thread moves so fast! Some v interesting posts that made me think.
I'm not a teacher/ child minder but do work in a mentally challenging job dealing with other people. And I find it hard to decide what to have for lunch as I feel mentally exhausted.
upandawayy I also suffer from anxiety issues, used to be a hoarder till that kath Kingston book helped switch a light on. My exh said I use my anxiety issues to keep everyone at arms length. Probably some truth in it.

Someone on previous thread said the clutter protects isolation. That's v true for me. Letting other people in is scary, they hurt you. I attach feelings to objects and find it incredibly hard to let stuff go. I am really hoping that while my life is in a state of flux with separation, finances etc that this kondo process will give me back some control over my life and that maybe my anxiety issues will become in check. Just wanted to share some thoughts sorry for long post and if the threads moved on from where I am.

I'm another one not keen on cleaning so I'm hoping that kondoing will mean I need to spend less time on it (not that I spend much cleaning at the moment!). And I'm also hoping that less clutter around means fewer things to attract dust; DS is allergic to dust, but ironically his room is one of the most cluttered. He happily kondoed his books with me the other day so they all fit into his bookcase now (there were piles of books lying around before) but it's his cuddly toy collection that's out of control and he loves them all... They're not exactly easy to dust either (but do go in the washing machine from time to time).

Hi SnowKitty; can't believe how many translators there are on this thread! The book definitely does seem to attract linguists misscph, but I'm not sure whether it's because it was originally written in Japanese - maybe it's something to do with the method appealing to the linguist's mind? Mind you, I do remember thinking that there must be something in the method if they've made the effort to have the book translated (you see lots of books in German on decluttering, simplifying your life, etc. but I've never seen any of those translated into English).

I really have to finish the paperwork today - DH is around now that it's the weekeend, so I have no excuses. And I've realised that we still have quite a few DVDs that we could kondo; we have two small shelves full of them. My parents also send over DVDs of British TV programmes that they're recorded for us but there are a couple of programmes/series that we didn't enjoy and so haven't finished watching. I think I'm keeping them out of a sense of guilt (as they've gone to the trouble of recording them) and because I'm thinking we might be glad of them if we run out of other things to watch, but I'm not sure that's ever going to happen.