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.

Nuzzle MK's second book isn't out in English yet but the German translation came out a month or so back; both anzu and I have bought a copy and have posted a few useful (and not so useful!) excerpts.

Glad today went ok, Pointless.

Thanks for the info about the cubes, Coat; that's really helpful. Two cubes per person sounds good, although I think I may need to build up a collection gradually. I did have a look on ebay.co.uk (which is how I discovered the set of three, as they have American listings as well); postage varies from quite reasonable to ridiculous, but even with more expensive postage the American set was still the cheapest - actually, I don't think there were any sets available at all from UK sellers and no particularly bargainous individual cubes. There are a few Eagle Creek distributors here and in Germany that have reasonable or even no delivery charges, but the cubes themselves are more expensive so there's no real saving. I've also watched a couple of Eagle Creek videos on YouTube, which has convinced me even more that I need some - I shall definitely keep an eye out for bargains!

Ok, I'm going to take the plunge...my house is doin' my nut in & I neeeeeeed help! Where do I start?

Lucy's mam- read the first post on here, as it has a summary plus links to all the threads.

Glad today went ok for you pointless.
Thanks for reply coat. Am only lovin the idea different colour for each person. Am defo ordering ones straight away, just hope won't be thrown off thread for buying storage... I promise will get a huge amount of joy from them

Thanks Linzer, I'll have a look back through for those tips!

lycysmam, welcome, you can start with reading some of the articles that are linked to in the first port of this thread - then it will start making sense ;) It's daunting at first, but it becomes addictive as you see the results and feel your head clearing. I recommend you get the book - it's a quick read, and mos libraries have it.

Haha Time. You will def get joy from them. DH loves them even though he doesn't entirely embrace the reduced packing concept yet!

Dh started in books today - I'd skipped that category as he was in hospital. We need to do it together really it's just finding the time.

We keep finding odd things to add to the charity box. Not very thorough but still useful I guess.

Right, I'll make a start at the top and see if my local library have a copy of the book.

I feel like I'm wading through mud trying to sort it all atm

Thanks Mango and all who responded to my question last thread.
My problem is getting on top of the laundry, I know I could kondo those clothes that are clean and then those that come out of the laundry, but I have been using this reason to procrastinate. In the meantime im enjoying looking at minimalist interiors and wardrobes on pinterest and elsewhere.
I can recommend the following (minimal clothing) blogs for those interested.

into-mind.com/
dailyconnoisseur.blogspot.de/p/books.html
www.un-fancy.com/

Anzu have you heard of the langenscheidt series of language books, the learn German in 30 days worked well for me. And theres one for Japanese too. (I'm a bit of a Japanophile, and just wanna give it a try.)
I am rationalising that if I spend 30 mins to an hour each evening on this -instead of the daily mail- I may have some basic language skills at the end of the year The Kanji script is a bit daunting though.

I live in NRW, in Bonn.

Ok, I've had a scroll through and read of the first two links. Haven't used my library card in a while & it won't let me log in so will nip in while I'm in town tomorrow to sort that & request the book.

From the links, I gather the idea is to actually hold each item & look at it & decide if "it'll do" or "love it, keep it"?

I can make a start on my socks etc tomorrow maybe. Although I have kept a few pairs of my mum's (she died 24 years ago & they've lived in my sock drawer since). Where would they go? Maybe I'm over keen & should actually read the book first?

as a bit of blurb for the blog links, the first is about how to edit your wardrobe, find your 'uniform' based on your daily activities, create capsule wardrobes & reduce everything even makeup, to the best quality essentials.

The second blog is where I first heard of Marie Kondo, this blogger lived in France and choses 10 main items for each season and says to use your best china everyday. (or somehting to that effect)

The last blogger also chooses a small capsule wardrobe each season (30ish pieces including coats and shoes.) and manages to look great everyday imho.

General Question: Does anyone else have a drag queens stash of makeup and yet actually never wear any on a daily basis?

Hello Lucys mam. Hope it lives up to my hype!

Save your mum's socks for the last sentimental section. Part of the category idea is to start with easy choices, building to harder ones later.

Wannabe, that was how my make-up looked before I started this process. I actually do wear makeup... Not every day, but pretty often. But I was hoarding the stuff like I was supplying New Orleans' Mardi Gras. The thing is, the colours and packaging bring out my inner magpie, so I've experimented with LOTS, and kept them regardless of whether they make me look like I've got conjunctivitis. Next to my clothes, make-up has been my biggest kondo success so far: I love knowing that whatever I choose to use is going to make me feel good, and it's in a small enough pouch that I can stick the whole lot in an overnight bag without feeling over-the-top.

Speaking of packing, i so want these packing cubes you're all talking about! I'm going to file that idea for next time I go on holiday. We don't have kids, but we do tend to move place-to-place a lot when we're away, and I hate trying to find stuff in the jumble that suitcases turn into. To be honest though, I think the concept of vertical storage is going to make a big difference there.

I'm stuck...
Upstairs looks great, my bedroom has been Kondoed to within an inch of its life and is looking really spacious and tidy without looking empty. The bathroom looks great and even my 9yo hoarder sons room looks good but I seem to be stuck on the living room.

It's all the electricals; Xbox, Wii, PVR, DVD player, not to mention 3 small bookcases full of games and DVDs. We have got rid of loads as well, probably got rid of two thirds of what we had but it still seems a lot! The consoles etc are in regular use and the DVDs and stuff are the ones we love and which are watched regularly. Maybe I need to think about alternative storage or keeping them elsewhere but it just seems to make sense to have TV stuff near the TV...

Aaargh!

lucys no there is a step you need to do before you start decluttering. Marie says that it's very important and you won't complete the process if you don't do it. It's called "Visualise your destination" and off the top of my head it's about thinking about why you want to be tidy, how you imagine your house could look, what it's going to be like and how it's going to feel to walk into it etc. Goals - one of mine is "I will sit in other places" - at the moment I only ever sit in my chair on the computer, or in bed! Perhaps someone who has the book to hand can explain it better than me.

Girly - I know "new storage is not the answer" but new storage is OK after you've been through everything and decided you have everything that you want to keep. If you have too much for your current storage, maybe you don't love the storage you have and need to change that.

Make up - I have a case of crappy, cheap make up which DH bought me for my birthday last year. It looks like the kind of make up you get free with Sindy magazine :( I don't want to get rid of it because he obviously meant well, but it looks terrible, I can't wear any of it. TBH I rarely wear make up anyway because I am just totally useless at putting it on. I will at some point ask some of my girl friends round to instruct me!

I am still on clothes. I have done tops and trousers and dresses and coats. I need to do socks next. Have been putting it off because I know I will end up with about three pairs left, most of my socks are awful and full of holes. I did actually go out and buy new socks recently, though, in preparation...

I had an awful nightmare, about moving, I was having a panic attack about not having enough boxes! THAT is the aim of my kondoing, that next time I move it won't nearly kill me as it did this summer.

Have decided to kondo my job. Can't cope with it anymore. Contractually/morally bound til the end of the summer term. Hope I haven't made the wrong decision!! Argh!

Zippy, well done! If you can't cope with it any more, then you shouldn't! So I guess you hand in your resignation now and then you have plenty of time to look for a new one?

Ah thanks ladies! miss - yes, technically I do.... But I'm thinking of having a couple of years off work while my children are little!! That's the thing I hope I don't regret but if I have a change of heart I've got plenty of time to try and find another job!

Haha bringme, did you wake up in a cold sweat?!

We have used packing cubes for years. Can I suggest getting different coloured ones for different family members (oh, it's just my family that empties them all onto the floor to find their socks is it ?)

Well, Zippy, if you can afford not working and you think you will enjoy being a SAHM, then go for it!

Thanks Bertie, I'll wait (impatiently)until I get hold of the book before I dive in then