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.

It must be nice once the kitchen is finally fixed though
I am standing in my living room about to face toygate. Getting worried...

BrandNewIggi Ha ha! I know what you mean... last week I discovered a sackful of soft toys in the bottom of my airing-cupboard... they belong to my youngest, who moved out more than 10 years ago! And then, there are all the board games and jigsaws, and God knows what else in the Room of Doom!

Just found out we have not one but two industrial strength flying insect killers ... They are huge! And we don't even have mozzies here... Why oh why?

Oh and telephone plugs for a country I last lived in fifteen years ago.

I have been working on toys recently and am halfway happy. Have moved some of the big things around a bit and the dc are playing with things more. No one has noticed a single thing I've removed.
Plenty more can go I'm sure but it'd be easier without dd at home all the time.

Rugby time for me - whilst also trying to tackle my v difficult jigsaw ive had on the go - hidden under a sofa - for months.

Iqueen - I must confess still smarting from my dm throwing out my "best" teddy when I was about 30!
Unfortunately our "room of doom" is actually our only living room. I try to avoid sitting in it in the evening as it just makes me itchy because of the mess

Oh Iggi, just think how your life will change once the Room of Doom is sorted....!

Need to start on komono now, which is very daunting. CDs and dvds will be contentious so will tackle the storage cupboard with wrapping paper etc in it first.

Tiny steps: got all gift bags together and listed on Freecycle - we never use them. Defrosted mystery box from freezer. Used up a few packets. Managed to persuade children and MrNC not to buy a cuddly toy for Mothers Day, nor some play jewellery for dd - got her a purse with a neck strap, which will be useful. Tonight's mission is the games cupboard...

Komono - categories are vital!!

Am hoping I don't get something for Mothers' Day too, NC. So much of what hasn't given me joy has been gifts...

I'm getting cake from the fancy bakery for Mothers' Day. Yay cake.

Definitely agree re komono categories.

Let it be a hot stone massage voucher, let it be a hot stone massage voucher....

Def, the last time I had one of those was the weekend I conceived dc2!
Well it took almost eight hours but it is done. I'm sure some of you would have managed to be more ruthless with the toys, but I've still got rid of four bags of stuff and found a place for everything. I can see our dining table for the first time in months!

Iggi, that's brilliant.

Well, we are considering another, so....

I made the mistake of going into town today to do a bit of shopping - the day before Mothers Day! It was like the run up for Christmas, driving and finding parking was a nightmare. I have still not recovered!

I went into Primark, I never do, as I am convinced it must be sweat shop produced clothes at those prices. But DHs T-shirts are so tatty, and he has rejected all T-shirts I have bought him in the last year, so I gave up and replaced his tatty old Primark T-shirts with the same new Primark ones. I am really working on my tendency to "fix" people and making life harder for myself - DH does not want my choice of fairtrade T-shirts in heathered colours, he likes plain black/white T-shirts from Primark.

And then the dishwasher broke. For the third time this year. The amount of money I have spent on repairs would have bought me a new one! I hate doing the dishes by hand!

But tomorrow is Mothers day, and although I hate the shops for only selling useless rubbish, I am really looking forward to it, we don't really celebrate it in Denmark, so it's a bit strange to me, but the DCs love it and I love that. I have cleaned the house a bit so I can relax, still have to do homework with DCs, but the bulk of weekend chores are done.

I had a lovely long bath, and then I cut my hair myself, the mumsnet way. I hate hairdressers, and this is the second time I cut my hair myself - the result is brilliant, and it took 2 minutes.

Good night, everybody!

misscph I tried that haircut once. It didn't go so well. My hair's just about long enough again to brave the hairdresser...

Have just dealt with the wrapping things and games. It was much quicker than I expected, the rolls of paper are now standing up beautifully in a wine bag and I discovered two bags of bubble wrap, which will be very useful for our move in a couple of months!

Oh, and I meant to ask whether anyone has need of a bunch of baby shower things: paper napkins, paper cups and plates, and some decorations. Found a bag of them. Do charity shops take that kind of (unused!) thing?

Happy Mother's Day everyone.

BranNewIggi, well done with the toys! I think I found that to be the hardest category to do so far.

misscph, our dishwasher is broken too! We've got our third call out booked for Tuesday. DH bought an extra years warranty as he thought it would be cheaper. Compared to 3 call outs it is, but we've still not had a working washer for 2 weeks now, and we could have had a new machine with 2 years warranty for another £40! Also, we wouldn't have needed 3 call outs if they'd actually fixed it the first time, and not broken the hose whilst trying to put it back! Grr.

I'm nearing the end of Kondoing. I can't believe how quickly the last bits got done. I need to do photos, but as this includes hundreds and hundreds of digital photos I'm dragging my heels a bit. I think I'll need to do it over many a few sessions, probably in the evenings. Physical sentimental stuff I'm halfway through. Filled a box with our wedding cards, why was I keeping those?! Have made a wedding scrapbook for the bits I want to keep. Not sure what to do with my collection of postcards. I don't want to stick them down and not be able to read them (they're ones I've been sent) but I don't like the idea of putting the into plastic-wallet-type display book. Not sure why. Any ideas?

You could pin them to cork boards Mango?
I went through more of the Cupboard of Doom last night so everything that isn't weird DIY/elecronic stuff could be categorised somewhere else. Charity shop is now getting a bunch of ornaments I haven't needed in 9 years, though there were some things that really did bring joy.

MrNC thanked me for finding a bunch of kitchen fittings that we will need in a few weeks. Also I've been trying to get him to sign up for electronic share statements etc to reduce the amounts of paperwork turning up - over half of which are letters asking him to sign up for electronic statements - and we agreed to sell the shares to solve the problem. I filled in all the forms, found the certificate, got him to sign, and all done (and shoeboxful of paper recycled).

Kiwi charity shops down my way take anything unopened and even things that are - low-income areas and shops desperate for donations. A few miles away they are much fussier.

What a lot of fruit-related usernames here!

Hi everyone, can I join? I became interested in the idea of de cluttering and minimalism over the summer and then again after Christmas (!) and have been reading a lot of blogs like The Minimalist Mom. I have two kids and a husband who can only be described as a messy hoarder. My ds who is 9 cannot bear to throw anything away and cries if I even suggest it. I have had to sneak a lot of stuff to the charity shop while no one was looking!

I can't abide mess or clutter as it makes me feel claustrophobic. It probably has something to do with the fact that we live in a small house with very little storage. My attempts at de cluttering have stopped and started. I tend to get bogged down by the things that have emotional value. Both my parents died very young and my photos and boxes of memories have huge value for me. The same goes for things that I hold onto from my own kids.

I was intrigued to find this thread and have just ordered the book. I am itching to start on my clothes!

Hello ladies, may I join you?
Having read the book last month I have turned in to a Kondo devotee. I have done the bedrooms, which look amazing, and I am now starting downstairs.
I have 2 box files of manuals, instructions & guarantees. Kondo says I should just throw the lot. That seems very scary to me. Does anyone have any tips? I was thinking of photographing the guarantees to save in a directory so that I know when things were bought.
Should we save evidence of having purchased items in case of needing to make an insurance claim for major fire/flood damage?
Thoughts appreciated!

Welcome newbies.

Re minimalism. Kondo isn't strictly minimalist. Its not about having little stuff. It's more about only having stuff that brings joy ("joy" interpreted fairly widely to include functionally useful things). And quite a bit on how to make better use of space you do have.

Re guarantees etc. I have kept manuals for items where I do actually use them. I have kept proof of purchase for items still under warranty and for big ticket items. Insurance also covers items stolen. A few years ago I successfully claimed for an slr and for a laptop because I had receipts. They were 4 years old, some of them. I do not agree with kondo extreme throwing. I have also kept payslips going back a long way. I recently had to fight for some years of nhs service to be recognised (poor record keeping). I worry about records of pension contributions being lost (I have heard this happen) so I want proof.

Re functionally useful, I think I managed to narrow it down OK in one of the previous threads.

An item which is functionally useful can bring joy in one of three ways.

1. It makes life/a task more easy or more pleasant for you than not having it would. E.g. a vacuum cleaner might not bring joy, but having to clean every floor with a dustpan and brush suddenly makes the vacuum cleaner appear very joyful! This is the baseline. Then in addition:

1. It works well and is nice to use. I used to have a dustpan and brush which didn't leave a line of dust when sweeping up which was great. Likewise a comfortable handle etc makes a difference. It's worth spending a bit more on something which works well as that will bring you more joy than an old, falling apart one which is frustrating to use.

1. It looks nice. Whatever your taste in "nice" is. Bright pink with a smiley face, funny slogans, cartoon patterns, sleek black and chrome, clean white, matching in with your kitchen/bathroom/etc, artistic design.

If you've got an item you need but it fulfils only the first, then you could consider replacing it with a similar item which also fulfils one of 2 or 3, when you have the financial means to do so.

Apparently Marie addresses point 1 in her previous book but does not mention points 2 or 3.

As William Morris said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful"...... and if it's beautiful AND useful all the better!

Starface, I use the term minimalist pretty loosely. I'm just really tired of looking at all the junk in my house. Looking forward to reading and getting started.

I have followed Starface's approach to gtees etc. and now have one magazine file instead of a large 20 cm wide concertina file. I had gtees for items I didn't even have. Filleting these will already help. Where instructions were very small/unlikely to be used soon I scanned them.
I agree re paperwork - don't chuck too much, particularly financial stuff. Scan if you must but ensure you have as full a history as possible re earnings, pension and NI contributions, any investments etc etc. Putting my sober professional hat on, my advice is to bear in mind that, while it is unpleasant to think of it, some of us are dependent on others financially and records of spending/income/ how finances were split/property acquired/shared with partners could be vital should relationships ever fail, particularly where children are involved. I think Marie Kondo is a little simplistic on that point.

This is a special day... My lovely husband has taken the last of dad's books to the library! We also dropped four carrier bags full at the charity shop, and I've binned a couple more... Things that survived a first pass, but not the second edit.

Mango - I totally get what you mean about things going quick towards the end. I'm nearly finished the 'upstairs categories', and finding it's accelerating as the space gets tidier-looking. When you get down to a handful of things making the place look untidy, it suddenly gets very easy to get rid of them, however precious you thought them at the start of the process!

I've still got kitchen and dining room to deal with, and I'm not so much as thinking about the man-shed, so I wouldn't like to give an impression of complete calm here, but it is a much nicer place to be than it was 3months ago!