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.

No Kondo today... Other than a drawer of probably mostly dry felt pens I forgot about so binned them.

Did a major spring clean instead it does feel nice to have the house back in some order finally

Well after saying that DS was getting nowhere, he managed to get another tub of meccano gone without any input.
So I think that I will have a car boot full of stuff which I can get rid of tomorrow. Depressingly, I am only half way through his toys though. If that :(

I finally put the bag if clothes for the charity shop in their collection bin today. I think I put all the clothes in the bag when we were on Kondo thread 1. I have made more progress on my clothes this evening - just did my jumpers. I hope that I am finally, after several months, getting started!

followed by the 1812 Overture!

I've done my books! :) Bedroom is actually starting to look NICE. I am totally amazed - I really wouldn't have thought it possible.

I am skipping paperwork until we get a file that I want. I might see if I can get one on amazon, I know you can buy them in WHSmith but we won't be back in England for months.

Well done on your books! I'd really recommend doing the papers now anyway, so you'll know what size file you need.

Hmm, true, well, I've ordered an expanding one anyway.

Hope you don't mind if I join you all. Over the years I've tried fly lady and ufyh but I haven't got the willpower to stick to the daily stuff. I feel I've finally found my thing with Kondo-ing.

I've made a start today and the picture is what I've cleared out from my clothes. I still have to do dh's, 2x dc, the coats, shoes, hats, scarves, gloves, the many bags of my clothes that I know are in the loft that I can't get to yet (I'm planning on chucking the lot because they've been in the loft that long I clearly don't need them), and then finally the many bags of dc's old clothes (I've kept everything from birth to 4 years and it has to stop!).

Having an enforced break to feed dd, who would rather I sat on the sofa and let her sleep on me for a few hours now.

The most embarrassing thing about that pile of clothes is how many items I've never worn at all.

Thanks Cycle - I have done clothes and books (mine, not bothering with other family members for now) so I guess it's papers now..... I have kind of started on that but actually finding it hard as I have a LOT of papers and I find it very stressful keeping track...

Think I need to see where I actually am - I will need to separate the papers into sub-categories....

Paperwork:

My paperwork has (for years!) been filed in random piles and carrier bags! I have usually been able to find anything that I needed... eventually. But it is a highly inefficient 'filing' method and consumes a tremendous amount of time.

Recently, I had to find some papers urgently. As I searched several piles, I lost patience, and discarded vitually everything that was not essential.

That left me with 4 categories, which I filed, less than 6 non-essential items which I homed, 2 black sacks for burning and 1 packed recycling sack, which has been collected.

I still have a lot more to go through, but most of it will go.

Doing just part of the paperwork category, has made it clear that a computer gives me access to most of the world's knowledge, so I don't need scrappy piles of paper cluttering my home! I've already got my eye on the 2 lever-arch files full of my teaching standards coursework...

A and a quick search for a supper recipe, now, I think!

I feel your pain re papers! Being "foreign" I need to keep some proof of my residency here for years and years, and my home country wants me to keep evidence of earnings for 7years. But I've stillmanaged to get rid of 3-4 bags for life full of the stuff, and there's 2 more drawers in the filing cabinet to go!
Sorting then bin/store/deal with is definitely the way to go! The ones from the filing cabinet were much easier to deal with than the 2 bags for life of paper that i had collected from various piles around the flat.

I've also rearranged my filing system, so most things are by year, not type. Then every year or so I can just bin the oldest batch, and 'filing' will be "shove into folder marked 2015". Things I have to keep indefinitely can still go by category. ..

Paperwork is slow here - imagine equivalent of about 4 4-drawer filing cabinets and various piles around the place. But we're trying hard to get all non-essential records electronically instead of on paper, though any that need regular going through are best on paper. I think I've done the quick wins...
The building work and everything to do with fitting new appliances and items is the main stuff that turns up, and gets shoved in one drawer. I'm trying to get faster at dealing with the stuff that needs dealing with / info saved on computer so I can then chuck the paper, which means training dc2 not to turn my computer off.

Time to see if Emmaus or BHF will collect some lamps.

So over the weekend 2 ikea bags of empty files went to charity. Which freed up space in the box room for my drying racks, to form my laundry station, until the longed for extension is built. Moving drying racks from the bedrooms, the upstairs is now finally looking as it should do post kondo. It is spacious. It breathes better. It is Goooood. Once the last few large bits go, it will make such a difference. I have realised the key, as kondo says, is just to have a lot less stuff. Life is better. Also, I bought a boston fern for the bathroom, part of a plan to improve the air upstairs. It makes the bathroom sooooo much nicer.

The shed is now fit to bursting, but car boot season is almost upon us, which should sort that. I know that's not very kondo, but it will be attempted for some stuff ahead of charity donation. Plenty has gone straight to chazzer, but some will be via boot fair. Partly to fund joy bringing improvements.

I love kondo. Thank you all for your motivation.

Ps, I have not tried other methods, but the mere thought of daily maintenance is enough to put me off.

I have put all of the new storage shelves and whatnot into DD's wardrobe today. It took an awfully long time as I had to keep on moving the things up and down to get them right. And then I found the slide out scarf hanger and went to put it up and it doesn't have all the bits. Arse. I have started putting some stuff away. As I put every item away, I have said to her "this?" Etc. a couple of times she has said "yes, you can throw that" and I've said "no, I'm not throwing anything away, YOU are getting rid of stuff, not me" I feel the need to be clear that everything which goes is her choice, not mine. I did struggle a little though as I made her throw away 3 empty face powder compacts a load of manly old sponges and a school bag which is held together with hope.
She can't actually get to her bed ATM but I have told her that we will continue in the morning before she goes out. Watch this space.....

Thanks everyone for your support and success stories about paperwork... I may come on to this thread asking specific queries as I go through papers....

I have actually already binned a load of empty files which I had (empty) as I had a bit of an obsession with buying stationery...

Meh! Another few hours spent doing DD's room this morning. We did toys and paperwork. Sadly, I'm having to go through it not in categories as I am unable to actually move in the room and she's just lying on the bed seething boredom and rage.
I've had to stop and come downstairs to do some downstairs housework and then went into DS's room and found his tv on, headset and controllers scattered across his room and him next door with the fecking iPad I had gone looking for! Words were had.
I also need to do some ironing today. Maybe if I do DD's ironing, I could do her clothes with her this evening? Seems like a plan!

What do you all do with shirts, school shirts and such like? I can't see myself managing to fold them wrinkle free.
I have sold a couple of DD's items of treasure today and have loads of rubbish to go now. More stuff to list later on today and tonight.

I hang school shirts and the few smarter shirts my kids have.

Did a run to the chazzer shop with a couple of boxes.
And dropped off a big Peppa pig a friend wanted for her gdd.

Also totally overbought chocolate for easter. Oops!! But at least that consumable.

Eughhh... FINALLY Managed to kondo an email account today after spending AGES getting the stuff transferred off so that everything is now in the one place. Oh to have an IT dept... :-) Anyway that is that done.

Totally out of the right "order" but it was mega-important for my day to day life as having things in different places with different passwords etc was driving me mental.

What are people doing with old pairs of curtains? These are either from previous houses, or are sets where I have since made new ones for that room and so they're not in use or likely to be

They were all out of sight, out of mind, in the drawers under DD's bed. But am now swapping her bed for a new one, and this won't be an option.

I will have to make my peace with donating them, I guess, but it's trickier than anything I've chucked out so far and I've no idea why!

Charity shops take curtains, I think. Might be helpful to put a note of sizes for ease of selling for them. A few people here locally have tried to sell theirs via Gumtree or local Facebook selling sites? I had a pair but they were all (unevenly!) faded so I didn't feel so bad just putting them in the rags at the local tip.

Oh, good idea to put sizes in - will pin a note to them. They are not perfectly constructed because they were just for me, but all from good fabrics and fairly plain, so someone may get use from them!

Unidentified: Are you holding onto the past with them, or anxious about the future? -maybe afraid of peeping Toms--

We've actually always folded all of DD's school uniforms and dresses she doesn't wear trousers mostly because we DH didn't want to get a wardrobe when the baby was born as "very little children don't have much to hang and if its a boy, he wont need stuff to hang up."

Papers continue in my flat, defk0ndo how are you getting on with yours. I am starting to feel right guilty about hiding away a hobby-related accordion file, rather than putting it in with the rest of the papers to be dealt with... ditto the recipes torn from magazines (using the logic "surely these should be looked at when I get to kitchen things?" ) ... so paper may be my stage for a while yet! :(

Had a bit of a shorty moment earlier when I went into DS's bedroom and his xbox stuff was all scattered around the room AGAIN. Had both kids captive in the car on the way to band practice and DH too so I ranted at them the whole way there. I think I made my point and hopefully they will stop going along behind me and trashing the place and now DH is aware what has been going on each and every day.