Kondoing away the chaos: Kondo thread 7 for yet more life-changing magic

[LinzerTorte]

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 6
Thread 5
Thread 4
Thread 3
Thread 2
Thread 1

Tips and links thread

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.

Thanks for new thread Linzer. Welcome to the klub Wilding!

You've made space for more joy weasel - whether its new books you love; photos; a space for a beautiful item etc. Maybe you'll find something which is no longer practical but still beautiful and display it in the space where joyless books once sat.

What do tho actually do with the things you Kondo out? Part of my problem is that I hate waste, so unless I can find things a new home I am really reluctant to get rid

OK, the dress is back in my wardrobe just starting on socks, I never realised how many I have! Might be a ditching bag just for them.

I started the kids' craft things; I had NO IDEA how many packets of felt tips we had!! There are 5. Full packets. Will try them later to see if they still work!

Not much kondoing here today (we kondoed the kitchen drains - the blockage didn't bring us joy so it's gone now). Hoping to do a little paperwork tonight. However I'm now into week 6 of the menu planning which is great as I'm only buying what is on the shopping list and I'm gradually whitteling down the freezer and cupboard stores. A dry(er) new year means the booze cupboard still needs sorting.... Maybe once the kids are in bed.

Hazy There's not a great deal about toiletries in the first book; she says not to keep samples for travel as they deteriorate so quickly and also claims that your skin tends to become clearer as you reduce the number of cosmetics you have, but that's about it.

There are a couple of sections on cosmetics and make-up in book 2, however. To sum up:

• Store your cosmetics in a visually appealing way. The cosmetics themselves should bring you joy; if you use make-up that doesn't spark you, it will have an impact on the rest of your day.
• Make sure you store cosmetics so that you can find them easily; the more items you have, the more important it is that you know at a glance where everything is
• Store cosmetics in categories, either in a cosmetics box that is already divided into sections or you can make your own out of an empty box
• Store as much as possible vertically (eyeliner, mascara, etc.), e.g. in a round tin or jar
• Keep everything else in a make-up bag or box
• If you can store powder and eyeshadow vertically, it will save space; however, if you have enough room, it's easier to see what you have if you store things next to each other (and it looks better) - decide what works best for you
• Store make-up and skincare separately; skincare (toner, creams, etc.) tends to contain moisture and water, whereas make-up such as brushes or powder should be kept dry. Even if you keep them all in the same drawer, skincare should be in a separate box.
• Skincare products are generally kept on the washbasin if there's room. If not, you can keep them in a cupboard or on a shelf.
• You can keep lotions that can also be used as make-up bases either with your skincare products or with your make-up.
• Hair products can also be kept with either skincare or make-up.
• Keep perfume either with your accessories that are kept out "on display"

or near to your make-up.

There's also a section on the bathroom, but I'll save that for tomorrow!

What do tho actually do with the things you Kondo out?
Most of mine goes to the Barnardo's charity shop. Some shoes went to my DSIS and some books to a neighbour. There are various links on the other threads for companies/charities that take different things eg make up; old towels to animal shelters,etc.
I think through this whole process and all these threads there's probably very little that has been wasted iyswim

Families We've also given virtually everything to charity shops or the clothes bank.

Going back to make-up, she also says that you can generally keep powder for about two to three years after you first opened it, any lip make-up for about a year (if it smells rancid, get rid of it) and lotions for a year.

Thanks Linzer - I was actually thinking a round tin of soe sort would be good for my (very limited) make up which is kept in bathroom as I don't have a mirror in bedroom. Currently its in a little basket but that's a bit big so I tend to put more things into it and it all sort of swims around at the bottom and I have to fish to get the make up -iyswim. Sadly I threw out a tin that would have been ideal at the end of last year (after keeping it for ages just in case I found a use for it -argh!). but something will turn up, the house will provide!

families I also hate the idea of waste so I find it much easier to get rid if I have a worthy place to get rid to. As Linzer says there are lots of ideas on previous threads but if there's something specific you have in mind then maybe we can suggest specific things without you having to trawl through the old ones?

The thing I'm particularly struggling with right now is old stationery - we've got enough pens and pencils etc to stock a small branch of WH Smiths, but none are so lovely that I feel I should keep them but I can't bring myself to bin them...

families - I'm thinking of donating my extra pens (!) to my school! Schools always need and use stationery. And our budget for one is beginning to dwindle!

I could ask DS's school if they would like it - I suppose I had assumed no one would want slightly battered stuff (eg re-gifting or charity shops no use) but that still has plenty of use left (which is why I can't just bin them)

Ta for the new thread. To sick to kondo this weekend (my germs are not bringing me joy, but sadly won't budge!)

Ha just saw pp's username!

Hi All, may I join you? I have reserved Marie's book from my local library but have a few q's in the meantime. First, I love the folded clothes koncept (did you see what I did there?!) but am wondering how you deal with garments that are different sizes - the drawer I have done looks like an origami jigsaw! Second, any tips for the pile of family shoes that inevitably acculates by my front door??!!

Abdc- we have a lovely looking cupboard/dresser thing which our family shoes go into after much nagging from me

My childminder used to have a big wicker basket by her front door for shoes, too.

*accumulates

Liking the basket idea...

families I have decided that it's more of a waste to leave unwanted/unneeded stuff in the house. Better to let it go to charity shop or even recycling bin.... Obviously thanked profusely before being sent on its merry way.
Hi abdc, think the key with folding is to aim for similar width and height but variable thickness... So a jumper will be much thicker than a tshirt but will line up nicely with it. hopefully someone better at explaining things will be along shortly!! (Keep the faith though, my wardrobe have stayed Kondoed since last October)

We have a basket for shoes downstairs that we're currently wearing.

Upstairs, my shoes are all boxed in containers like this

DH's shoes are on a rack upstairs in the dressing room.

abdc We have a shoe rack in the hall, but still far too many shoes lying around - I try to encourage the DC to only keep the shoes downstairs that they wear regularly, i.e. virtually every day, but still find shoes creeping downstairs from their wardrobes. I keep a few pairs of shoes on the shoe rack (probably too many) and others upstairs in plastic boxes in my wardrobe.

Here's MK's advice on shoes from book 2:

She doesn't like shoes lying around in the hall as she feels that the house can't "breathe" - you should keep the hall as free as possible so that air can come in and out of the house and circulate freely. She recommends keeping only one pair of shoes per person in the hall if possible, plus other essentials such as a pushchair.

If you really want to keep more than one pair of shoes in the hall, create a visually appealing display on a tray or cloth.

She also recommends not keeping shoes in shoe boxes as they take up too much space or, if possible, storing more than one pair of shoes in a box (as long as the shoes won't be damaged by being squashed). More shoes will fit in the boxes if you place the tops of the shoes together.

If you have a shoe cupboard, store the heavier items on the bottom - first men's shoes, then women's shoes on top, and finally children's shoes (unless it means the children can't reach their own shoes). If you have several shelves available per person, put leather and other smart shoes on the bottom shelf and sandals etc. on the top shelf.

Back later with her recommendations for the bathroom, as promised, but don't want to overwhelm everyone with too much information now!

I need to kondo my family's shoes again!!

We have a couple of pairs each in the cupboard, and I'll probably invest in some plastic boxes for the ones that are in the wardrobe.

Thanks for all the book 2 excerpts!

I just wanted to say on the subject of books that I was also a bit nervous of getting rid of books. I've now only got one floor to ceiling bookcase in the bedroom. Shock horror!

However, the other day I was sitting gazing at it (as you do) and realised that every book on there made me really happy. There was no guilt from the ones I haven't managed to read or that anti climax from a book that wasn't as good as you hoped. Just looking at them all brought me real joy and made me happy. It was lovely and made it all worth it