Kondo thread 8

[Isisizzie]

New thread for Kondo addicts.

Sorry I can't do all the links that were on the top of thread 7.

Messymomma Kondoing works for any home! Some of us are seriously messy and although it is likely to take us longer to kondo the excess, the principles are the same.

Apart from clothes, bedding and towels, and kitchen stuff, most of my stuff is scattered throughout the house. I will have to break down some categories - eg books - because I don't have room to do them all at once, even if I could find them all!

Bedroom restored to sanctuary status (apart from a pile of DH's stuff on his side of the bed). Hooray!

Also managed to get all our dirty laundry clean. DH and the nice weather did most of that.

Passport applications sent off, ferry booked, so our visit to see my family in August is all sorted. I'm going to KM my stuff at my parents' house while i'm there. I moved out 15 years ago!

Welcome messy! I find MK works fairly well for people who are intermittently ill etc, because you can do smaller categories and once one is done it mainly stays done.

MrNC has asked me to weed out his clothes. (rubs hands in glee)

Welcome Messy et al. I think you will find MK helpful. She will help you refocus on the joy, visualise the future you are working towards and get cracking on get rid of the joyless clutter surrounding you.

All my clothes have been gone through and about half has gone for charity or rags. The rest has been folded away in the drawers. I like the folding and filing thing. My drawers look so neat and tidy.

One thing I did discover is how few of my clothes I actually like. Most of them are hand-me-downs from my Mum, MIL or my best friend and at the time we were really broke so I was happy to accept them but they aren't really my style and a few things that I wear regularly I actually dislike quite a lot. I hadn't even thought about it before. I wonder when I stopped valuing myself?

I did get rid of anything that isn't my size and quite a lot of the rest but I've had to keep some because I need something to wear. I need to think about what my style actually is these days and start building a wardrobe of clothes that I love.

Ah man I am so late to this party. And it does actually feel like a party
I just read The Book from cover to cover over a couple of days and am so fired up about starting to kondo. I feel like a really important part for me is nailing why exactly I'm feeling motivated to do this, and why right now. She talks about it in Chapter 2 in the section 'Before you start, visualise your destination'. For me, it's about coming to terms with how much my life has changed recently, accepting my new lifestyle and embracing it and living it to the full. I'm pleased to see Our Leader actually recommend tackling clothes first. My wardrobe (2 of, plus chest of drawers, plus random articles stuffed in cupboard under stairs) is as good a place to start as any. It's stuffed full of work clothes for a job I no longer do and doubt I ever will again . And 'going out' clothes. Ditto.
Anyway I need a clear (childfree) day to sort it out properly, kondo style, as in start by chucking everything in a big heap on the floor. Can't do it with the kids around as they're 3 and 21mo. In the meantime would be really interested to know other people's 'destination'. What's your motivation for doing it??

My motivation was that I gradually recognised that I needed to take control of my home and life, rather than just reacting to whatever occurred!

I love how empowered I am now (and I'm nowhere near finished kondoing! But I CAN and WILL get there!)

Gave up smoking at the weekend... a 50+ years addiction! And I'm never going back! It's not bothering me at all!

Kondoing the house will take longer than MK suggests - my house is very cluttered, but I know that I can't fail, because I won't allow myself to!

You stopped smoking just like that? Blimey that's brilliant! Never smoked myself, just so glad I never got started because I see from other people how hard it is to stop.

So it's really true what MK says then? The magic of tidying = transform your life!! Anyone else had similar life changing moments since tidying?

Congratulations IQueen on stopping smoking- I guess it was something that wasn't joyful for you?

Welcome to MessyMomma and anyone else new I've missed!

Mathsmo better late than never :) My motivation/rock bottom was buying one of those 8-square Ikea shelf things and cloth boxes to hide my half finished projects and piles of crap. I was so embarssed to have to buy furniture to take care of my shit
My "destination" is that I want to instantly know where everything in my flat is, and also I want it to be "real-estate ready"- to look like a home on RealMove or similar (not sterile and "set"- I want it to be a home, not just a house- but everything in it's place surfaces cleared etc. DH also uses as an excuse to not put things away complains that he never knows where things go, so he can't put things away

Yesterday's success was going through a padded trunk that currently houses stationary (cards, wrapping paper and gift bags, envelopes, notebooks, etc) It's right next to the door and I'd like to use it to store hats, scarves, and gloves, but first I need a home for the keepers. Once I empty 2 drawers, I can move the stuff :)

I just kondo'd the manky kitchen compost bin. This had made me JOYFUL.

New solution for green kitchen waste = a small bowl. Empty into green bin outside whenever full and put in dishwasher. I honestly don't know why I haven't thought of this before.

Morning everyone. My husband is back and he was amazed at what I'd done, particularly the drawers all folded neatly. He's a bit of a perfectionist and folds things like he's working in a clothes shop but then gets frustrated when getting something from the bottom of the pile screws up all his hard work and then he just shoves it all back in and crams the drawer shut so the kondo way of folding is really appealing to him. He's going to help me get stuff to the charity shop this afternoon but he's just said thst he'd like to go through his drawers and get rid of some stuff too before we do that. My god it's infectious! I thought I was going to have to do the 'sneak it out quietly' thing but he's really on board, which is brilliant.

I've done what I think might be a bit of a no-no though. I've bought some storage. I sorted out my shoes and have got rid of quite a lot so that most of them now fit in the shoe hanger in the wardrobe but there were a few pairs that I wear regularly that didn't fit in there. Usually they get dumped by the side of the bed and get walked on so I went to Dunelm Mill and bought a little shoe rack. It fits nicely under the window and I can fit the shoes on the bottom shelf and clothes that can be reworn can go on the top shelf. That's kind of ok isn't it?

While I was out I also bought a new microwave as ours has died. I really thought hard about which ones sparked joy and ended up with one that's about half the size of the last one and is warm cream to match the cupboards. I've just set it up and it is really cute and made me smile.

Hope you're all having a good day.

Messymomma- result!!

Hello all, I have not been on the Kondo thread for months, and it shows, the clutter is building up again! I have just re-kondoed kids bedrooms with kids, one carrier bag each, so now need to sell/charity/bin these bags. I am very keen to get "to the bottom again" before the school holidays. My mum is coming to visit, and she is a hoarder, and she brings a lot of clutter disguised as gifts with her every time, so I need to be hard but also kind and accept the gifts that are useful.

Messymomma another thing that happens just like MK says it does! I am so hoping to have the same effect on my DH. He is naturally messy and a hoarder but when he sees things nice and clean and tidy he does actually feel better. So I'm determined not to make encourage him to kondo any of his stuff this time. I'm just going to focus on mine and hope it inspires him to do the same.

mathsmo Yes... just like that! It was a moment's decision. I've been been trying to give up (yet again!) for the past 5 years, but I would just cave in with the first available excuse.

The new positivity (and happiness) that has come through kondoing, has brought me the power to do anything that I choose, (apart from becoming a black, male, super-athlete!) I just need to DO IT.

Smoking did bring me joy, but I think my life will be much more joyful now.

Talk about woo! Today I found a suitcase, I'd completely forgotten about. I've been having trouble with completing 'clothes' because my house is an unheated, ice-box in winter.

What was in the case?

Three lambswool sweaters, (over 40 years old, and still perfect,) that I am now small enough to get into! Yay! Love the JOY!

... tra la la, everything's going my way!

Hi all! Lots of great updates and newcomers, it's so encouraging and I will have a better read later on

I wanted to come snd share that DH has a new job! He starts on Monday. Big relief to us all.

My health has worsened though and I'm off ill for a week. I can't leave the house as need to stay near the loo and I'm in a lot of pain. Endocscopy next week and MRI at the end of the month.

KM wise, I've done little bits. I started on digital files and cleared a lot.

Iqueen what a fantastic find. You'll enjoy those come winter.

prettymess really sorry you're not well. Good luck with the endoscopy and MRI.

DH sorted through his clothes and added two more bags to the big charity pile. We then actually put it all in the car and dropped it off at the charity shop. Result!

Came back and he's been practicing folding and most of his clothes have been put away. There is still quite a lot of stuff waiting to be washed but it's been sorted through and everything there is for keeping. Oh and my clean washing was folded and put into the drawers straight away. It was easy. I'm liking this quite a lot.

Glad your DH has new job prettymess. Hope you feel better soon. My health is reasonable atm and I have new manager and am planning on staying at work rather than quitting. So time still at a premium but money less tight.

Got new summer hats for dd and ds, and slippers each too, but 4 winter hats are being chucked. Working on toys...

Finding This blog really inspirational. It fits with the kondo method nicely and has given me a much needed boost with the process. It talks a lot about life without the clutter and reminds you/inspires you to keep going with this new way of life.

Currently putting the last of my CDs on itunes and donating/selling the hard copies. We have a shop called CEX by us which buys 2nd hand DVDs/CDs and electricals and you can check out online how much you will get. We have used them for a few years now, basically selling Dvds and buying 2nd hand ones, then selling the 2nd hand ones back to get the next lot! They have stores in a lot of places and are well worth checking out. I am selling 4 million DVDs and CDs to just get £12 though but every little helps

Next challenge is to start scanning our paperwork. Also looking to buy a digital photo frame so that I can stop stressing about making photo albums.

Cancelled our Virginmedia contract today too and we are going to attempt living with minimal tv which will be interesting as I always have it on in the background.

Jimmycorkhill, I tried Musicmagpie. It's taken three weeks so far and I still haven't got the £4.41 I got for 10 CDs and a Bluray. Tssk.

The question about visualisation is interesting. I stumbled on MK through active conversations and an intriguing thread title. I wasn't aware of the need to declutter. But after reading I could see junk everywhere. I train mindfulness as part of my job and could really see the links. We started in this house 5 years ago with literally only a bed and for years it has been a slow acquisition of possessions. I had never learned about getting rid of things. Having a child was a big change and brought a load of things that were briefly joyful but the needed moving on. Lots of systems in the household needed improving and rethinking. MK opened my eyes to the clutter and gave good practical strategies for letting go and streamlining my space. It all feels lighter and more restful.

Yesterday I took my niece on a shopping spree and she raided some of the jewellery I am getting rid of. She is fabulously strong minded and was definitely only taking the joyful. I also have a new job - a promotion, a better commute, but a day more than I'd like. I'll just have to have another baby and drop down again . But for now we'll cope and the extra money feels so luxurious! I am glad to be kondoing my old job... unfortunately I can't really celebrate because FIL just had a stroke, so not really appropriate. The shopping spree was my celebratory splurge! But it's all for someone else so no junk here!

I am loving being on this thread. It's all so POSITIVE

What's my destination? I want to be able to invite people into my home without having to do hours of tidying/hiding things/getting angry. I want to be one of those mums who lets their children have friends over all the time but it just isn't happening as I can't be spontaneous. Every time I tidy I have to do a massive chunk of clearing away first.

prettymess Congratulations to your DH, for the swift job turn-round.

I hope your health improves, now the worry of DH's redundancy is over. Stay positive!

I can't believe what a difference there is in all areas of my life, since I discovered that I control my feelings and happiness. It really is woooooo!

Starface This failure to discard, and gradual accumulation of excess, was my undoing! It sneaks up, unnoticed!

Obviously, in the past, I did discard stuff as and when it was no longer needed - I don't have stored babies/children's clothes, etc, and the children are long gone, too!

I think one of the things that MK highlights, indirectly, is that Life-Changes have speeded up unnaturally, and our waking lives are stuffed so full of responsibilities and commitments, we have little time/energy to focus on details.

MK has helped me to see that the minutiae are the key to happy contentment.

What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand, and stare?