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.

Another new thread! We can really talk!

HearMyRoar. Ditto re books. I was really worried but I haven't missed any.

re: books. thanks everyone. I'm coming to terms with it! mil saw one of the books I'm discarding, saying how much she loves the author, I told her to keep it and loved the look of joy on her face

Hello all, I've been madly busy at work so no time to Kondo much. I did leave a bag of unwanted gifts I had received recently to the charity shop yesterday though, rather than letting them gather dust for ages.

There are a couple of entries on a blog I follow about Kondo, the blogger is a frugal one who is trying to pay off her mortgage in three years mortgagefreeinthree.com/2015/02/the-konmari-method/

mortgagefreeinthree.com/2015/02/50-shades-of-kondo/

I found it interesting to read her blogs and the comments.

at 'decommissioning'

I have got my family on board (ish) with vision of making converted loft usable again, rather than storage room. However, they said we should just move the stuff somewhere else.

I have hardly kondo'd lately but I'm not discouraged. This is a long term change of mindset and getting it done properly is better than half arsing it, I think. So I will tackle another load of books and paperwork soon.

I just don't bother with travel sized anything. I just take the big version with me. It is worth it for me because it avoids all those fucking little bottles everywhere. If we go to a hotel, I don't take the little bottles home. Not worth it.

On notebooks, I have convinced my kids to put all their half used notebooks downstairs and we have a huge heap. I'm not going to try to convince them that we USE them. Or they go in the kitchen for my lists.

I have done haircare and skin care. Didn't take long as I have pretty definite favourites OR enjoy choosing on the day. Drawer dividers and shelf basketa are my new favourite things ever.

Now going to try to convince them.

DD was just playing with my bedside table drawers and I realised that the bottom one only contained some old keys. I don't know why I put them in there when I kondoed it before Xmas but they are in the bin now and I have another empty drawer. I might put the books I am currently reading in there to stop the cat knocking a glass of water over them when he sneaks in at night to drink my water!

Ah, I never get to not check a bag!

Yes, travel toiletries are a pain if you have too many of them (like me!) but they do have their uses occasionally - when we fly back to visit my parents, we stay overnight in an airport hotel and I really don't want to have to lug back full-sized bottles etc. of everything, especially not as we have quite a long train journey after our flight.

Having said that, we've accumulated a huge collection - mainly from my Glossybox subscription and because DH insists on bringing back the entire contents of the hotel bathroom from his business travels - and kondoing has made me realise that it would probably take me around a decade to get through it all if I saved it for travel. So, as I think I said earlier, I've sorted out everything I'll need for this year's travels and am gradually using up the rest. At least I only have one more Glossybox to come now that I've cancelled my subscription; not sure what I'm going to do about DH's habit, though! For the moment, I'm leaving him too it - at least all my toiletries are nicely kondoed and I'm hoping he'll see the light at some point.

bring I used to store my travel toiletries separately, but found that putting everything together when I was kondoing really helped me to see exactly how much I have - and it's easier to store by category as well. OTOH I've also put together two separate ziploc bags for this year's two trips so I'm still storing travel stuff separately in a way; it's just that otherwise all my body lotions, for example, are together - from sachets to full size.

I wish I could train the cat to Kondo! Or at least vacuum up his own fur from the settee!

Ah, that makes sense bring. I got rid of all my travel containers apart from two little pots as a) I already have so many travel-sized cosmetics that I don't really need to go to the trouble of decanting cosmetics, and b) I find the bottles hard to clean if you've put lotion etc. in them (tried putting one in the dishwasher once and it shrank!). But they definitely have their uses.

Thanks for the new thread!!

I am feeling very demotivated . Spent two hours kondoing a box of komono. TWO HOURS!! One box!! Unfortunately, it is just one of many.

Also, I emptied one of the big (childminding) toy cupboards, from the sitting room, last weekend and finally dismantled it today so that it can go in one of the emptied cupboards upstairs (huge cavernous spaces). I got it all up there and realised it won't fit in the space I wanted it to (all the other cupboards have furniture and komono in). Now I feel like I'm stuck.

My friend is coming to stay with her two dc and today is my last free day before she comes. Upstairs is in such a mess and I can see me frantically stuffing things in cupboards before she arrives.

Hmm, I think I set unrealistic goals...forgot that I am a lazy arse and will do anything to avoid the things staring me in the face!! Happy Sunday everyone!!

Right, I'm off to tackle the room of doom again.

Now I'm back at work I just can't finish a category in one go. After getting fed up by the mess created when in mid-kondo I have developed a new strategy sort of thing. I now plan how I will store the stuff I am kondoing if I have to leave it half done before I start. Because I'm back at work the paperwork had taken most of the week but I have a neat corner in the living room with everything sorted into a to do pile, a to shred bag, and a to bin bag.

I find if I have a plan on how to store half done stuff while in process it doesn't depress me so much. Also if I realise I can't think of a way of managing it then I'm probably trying to do too much at one go.

This is my thought for the day, brought to you by Hearmyroar...

bring you are so right! For many years I've decanted toiletries into travel sized bottles and have never questioned it.... but the empty containers take up so much space and, yes, Linzer I have also done the shrinking thing in the dishwasher. The thing is I probably only travel once or twice a year and always check in a bag . Think I need to redo them and keep anything useful in suitcase in loft. I also aspire to the perfect packing system and drive my family mad at holiday time, trying to reduce the amount of stuff we all take. I use Eagle Creek packing cubes which are quite expensive but also have some cheaper Ikea ones and like the way things are sorted by type and now realise you can fold the stuff like in your drawers.

Those packing cubes look great, Coat - I knew I shouldn't have googled them.