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.

Hermione, that sounds great! Welcome everyone new (for all I am relatively new myself, must admit).

I am loving being able to find things more easily... I think the advice on storage in the book is really helpful - don't scatter, keep simple etc. A helpful guide post the discarding stage. I still have some discarding to do, but my storage methods for those categories I have done are much improved.

Well lunacy, I hope you find, between the book and the thread, you will end up with a lot less to look at. Although my home is far from hardcore minimalist, it is reaching the point of only having joyful stuff in it, and I am definitely bringing less in, considering purchases more etc. I don't resent my space anymore, or feel like it's staring at me (I can relate to that). It's great!

DH started Kondoing his clothes today. I think we'll get all of our things in one dresser! He had most fun justifying things to me that he likes and I don't.

Kiwi, my first Mumsnet haircut wasn't great either, although much better than not having one ;) This time I watched a couple of videos on youtube to work out a better technique, and it worked really well. DS wants me to cut her hair the same way. I told her to have a good think about whether she really wants the same haircut as her mum ;) Besides, she's only 10, and part of me feels that you need ot be at least a teenager for a layered hairstyle.

Mango, it's horrible not having a dishwasher, isn't it! I don't actually mind doing it by hand, but it takes forever. I made a cake after lunch today, and doing the dishes after lunch and cake baking took me nearly an hour! well, I also washe dthe kitchen floor, but still.

Although I can't say I had a bad Mother's Day at all, it did have all the elements of a day from hell! I woke up at 5 and couldn't get back to sleep. The rabbit weed on the sofa, the dog threw up on the carpet (which was cleaned 2 weeks ago!) and I had awful backache, which I thought was down to driving too much yesterday (traffic, tension etc.), but then my period started, old school with cramps and all! Kind of explains why I was so exhausted and stressed the day before. My period has been all over the place the last 3 months, I don't get it, I have a copper coil and I'm 42. I so hope it's not the first signs of menopause. I really thought I had my PMS under control after a bad patch a few years ago, but with my period all over the plac it has become hard to predict when to hide because I am about to become moody! Im posting about this in the health forum now, and hope that a PMS guru has some advice.

Oh, ebay sales are going better - but I am spending the money on ebay immediately ;) Does mean I nearly have all bits for my wedding guest outfit for May, quite a relief.

Hi, I have only been able to do things here and there as I haven't been too well lately but I have enjoyed reading everyone's threads and getting hope. What I have done remains good and definitely easier to put things away. The big things left to do are the office, books and travel stuff. The books are an issue, although I have stopped buying and read on kindle instead there is an office full of thousands of books, could take days/ weeks. I did do a chest of drawers full of junk and put in my craft supplies, all standing style. Also tons of paperwork waiting to be sorted, hopefully kondo style.

So, after posting that I wanted to finish fitting the mats in the hall way the other day, DH didn't do the vital part he needed to do in order for me to finish the job. Now, the dogs have ripped it all up and eaten the underlay and the leftover stuff all got taken by the bin men on Friday. I get so peed off with DH not doing simple 5 minute jobs when asked as this sort of thing is usually the result and it is now going to cost us more time and money due to being trashed!
I did DD's underwear drawer and it looks lovely. I also persuaded DH to do some furniture shifting on Saturday and he's put up a shelf too. There's still a little more clearing to be done but it's looking good and he seems to accept that we really do need to declutter. The dogs are both puppies and get into everything at the moment. If there was nothing out, they wouldn't be able to destroy so much stuff. They ate the Harry Potter boxed set of Blueray the other day and I just felt relief that there was 1 less thing to worry about getting rid of!

I forgot to say; WRT: NHS pension contributions, if you keep your March payslip, it has your year to date pension contributions on it. That and your P60 are sufficient evidence.

Also; how are you all managing to Kondo with twisted clothes? 90% of my familie's clothing is twisted after the first/ second wash and I am unable to untwist it again. So it never lies flat and goes lumpy when I fold it. What to do?

Gibble - sorry about the mats. But I can relate to the Harry Potter set. I wasn't sure what to do with too many vacuum bags I had in a pile. Laid them out and one had a hole. Straight into the bin and a sigh of relief that one thing could just go without guilt!

Do you mean the seams don't line up? I just try my best to make a square/rectangle.

Ds still has a couple of new pox spots so another day at home with her. We're going to do some baking - though I guess the pox can be spread through that so best not give them to anyone else??

Hoping to chuck a few broken clay blob treasures from the dc today. Sneakily though!

Oh and Dh isn't well. Again. Gout he says. But no alcohol for months? Must be another trigger.

Hello all, checking back in for some inspiration/motivation as I want to start properly again today - building work more or less done (just painting left which I will do myself as much as possible so can minimise mess). DH back. MIL still away so I only have 1.5 toddler free days in which to re-tidy house and re-start kondo. And sleep, if baby allows.

I definitely think categories help, but am doing them in the order of 'which ones will make most impact'. So trying to work out which category to do make the biggest change. Trying to convince myself that it isn't toys....but perhaps I just need to take a deep breath and do it.

Mango Re the postcards, could you photograph/scan the backs of them, then in a scrapbook you can stick the postcard down and put a print out of the message next to it.

Actually, while I'm here...
Those who have done toys, did you focus on joy for you or the DC (ie, should I keep the nice ones or the plastic tat). I struggle most with the ones which DS doesn't play much with now but may do in the future or which DS2 might like. I know it would be easy to replace, for eg, dinosaur toys, if DS2 is into them, But I fear I would always resent the money spent and be annoyed at giving away the ones we have.

Hazy - not very konmarie but is there a place you could store temporarily the toys notbeing played with right now? Then at least the current play area wld be easier for dcs to use. Use an electronic/paper calendar reminder to get them out / review situation in a few months or however long is appropriate?

I think I'm done

still got stuff to organise upstairs as we're rearranging the bedrooms so good opportunity to store things properly, but the actual discarding is done.

It feels strange to be finished. I feel very organised. house is extremely tidy. I haven't discarded everything so may re-read the book at some point in case I can revisit any areas but actually feel pleased to have gotten to this point - never thought I'd get there!

big spring clean in the house today, everything looking shiny

I guess it feels strange because for so long my house has been a project of decluttering rather than for living in, and soon I can just sit back and enjoy it. I keep wondering what I need to tackle next but it's all done

by the way, I kept all my payslips too, I actually needed to use them a week ago so very glad I had them!

good luck everyone!

postcards - could you hang them on ribbon? dangling down? that way you could still read them?

Hello I'm new to Kondo, but I think I did Kondo our clothes today - 1 bag went in the bin (holes/stains etc) 3.5 bags full ready for the charity shop

I haven't got the book but it's on YouTube as an audio, not sure if I'm folding right but most need washing and ironing now anyway after being creased up on the floor

Excited to see if it stays tidy

Do I need to develop a relationship with every item? Is that the idea? Because I haven't thanked any clothing and my mum says if I'm not greeting my socks im doing it wrong -and generally told me its insanity to Kondo

Started on my wardrobe today. Got rid of a load of clothes and shoes that I have been holding onto 'just in case'. Also, rolls and rolls of tatty wrapping paper that I have again been keeping hold of. Also lurking in my wardrobe is a big tin box full of instruction manuals and documents. May have to get my courage up for that one...

Hello newbies

I'm still focusing on getting my discard pile out of the house. More bits sold on local fb page.
More waiting to go/be listed. It's tricky to take the photos of stuff with dd still at home. Possibility of school tomorrow for her. Need to assess spots in the morning.

Used up a pile of unwanted cake decorations with dd today. They were a substitute from an online shop months ago. Dc were happy at teatime :)

weasel, that's amazing, good job!

Spent the afternoon with DH at his lock-up, he is sending all his materials and equipment to a factory, he used to have a lady working for him, but it didn't work out (he sells meditation cushions and benches). It was so overwhelming, stuff everywhere and very disorganised, made me think of packing and moving house, and I really didn't like it, but we did pack more than 20 large boxes, so he only has to go down there tomorrow to organise it for the shipping company.

I STILL have kids artwork and school work to tackle, and I really don't want to do it. It's not the biggest priority, as I probably want to keep it all and I feel like most areas are well covered, not perfect, but good enough for me to have more space mentally and physically.

Wow weaselwithin, things must look different at your place. How long have you spent?
I'm still on paperwork!!! However, all clothes staying kondoed and incoming paperwork under control. Have discarded alot of old stuff, still have pension and life insurance pile to do. Finding the time is biggest issue but sticking at it.

I've had my first Kondoing regret. I gave all my art supplies away on Friday because I haven't use them in over 2 years. Then just this morning I discovered the world of adult colouring books (not adult content mind you, just aimed at adults!) and now I've had to buy new pens after I only just gave loads away. Not the end of the world though.

I'm currently looking at a pile of unused toys, rejects from the dc's. Many things still boxed. I feel like I should put them on eBay, but I'm so unmotivated when it comes to that kind of thing, having to photograph it, list it, answer questions, find the right packaging, deal with town parking and post office queues, hang onto the tracking info, etc. So no, I think it has to be charity shop. Then it's just gone!

Wow, weasel! That must feel a bit unreal, but how exciting!

There's a devil inside me saying "You've done loads. Just stop now." I think it's because I've just got upstairs back in order after two months of boxes of books and furniture everywhere. The thought of pulling out all the plates seems like a backwards step, even though I know it's not.

But I did promise myself a little break, just a few days ago. Maybe I'll feel more like it after a breather..?

I'm busy amassing more boxes in which to store items which are staying! I have lots of boxes tonight. The ones I used for DD's drawers didn't get prettied yet but when I get the chance, I have nearly a whole roll of wallpaper left from her room so will wrap them in that, then they'll be coordinated :D

Wow - I can't imagine being anywhere near finished.

I've discovered that embroidery threads are a komono category for me! Various skeins scattered in different sewing boxes and bags around the place. What was I thinking!

I used to do a lot of sewing creative work that needed embroidery thread - less these days but still a little bit and of course until you do a project you don't know what colour(s) you want so it is all staying for now - albeit in ONE plastic tupperware type box/

(when I was a teenager my Mum bought me a large box of over 100 skeins in different colours - I still have a lot of them! Then other people have given me some as they know I "do sewing and stuff". Embroidery threads for life anyone?!!)

I can't imagine being finished either. Though I do dream of it.

I've seen these adult colouring a few places are you enjoying it? I have a soft spot for dot to dots and found a1000 dot book a while back. Kept me quiet for ages currently working through a griddler book.

Bob the builder bundles listed on fb. Fingers crossed they'll go. Ds1 was massively into it but the other two not at all. Again lots of time and money on eBay spent acquiring it all. Hey ho.

Dd is back at school. Yey.
And nanny is back hooray!!

Congratulations, weaselwithin! Well done! I wish...

educatingarti Ha ha! I've got over 400 skeins of embroidery thread! From the embroidery design business I had in 2000! Luckily, they are all in clear plastic boxes, by number.

I'm glad I kept them, and the fabrics - I have to produce a sampler by July!

The icing-on-the-cake is that my 2000 design software works on Win 7!

I'm really looking forward to doing more embroidery, when my home is a haven of space and tranquility.

I love the fact that less stuff means less maintaining, and less time doing chores!