KONDO Thread 9

[Iqueen]

Kondo your Home and your Life. Live the JOY!

stiff wow, just wow. That is really life changing and inspiring. Are you saving money primarily because you are buying fewer clothes and less stuff?

pretty thanks for posting that article. It has actually started me wondering if I could do something similar. I would have to have separate work clothes though. And I do a lot of sport. I like the colour idea....

Impressive, stiff!
I've done little recently, but have got another box for sentimental papers to get them out of the way.
However, yesterday dd wanted to make something seen on Mister Maker's Minute Make Time,, and I found all the bits and made it in under five minutes!

That brought joy.

stiffstink that is truly inspirational. I have stalled a bit and been feeling a bit flat and lacking in motivation but am going to get back into action tonight!
I'm so determined to finish this process by Christmas.
In spite of my slump, it's encouraging to see that the things I've kondo'd are still kondo'd, without much effort.
pretty, that's a really interesting article, I have definitely seen particular styles and colours emerge since beginning this process, but I'm not sure I could be so hard core.
As rooners says, a separate wardrobe for work stuff would be needed.

I meant to say thanks to Iqueen for sharing your story. You've certainly seen a lot of big changes in your life.

As someone with young kids and a full time job I think I'm guilty of assuming that life will be blissfully simple once they are independent.

Also very impressed by Stiff's story :)

I have also managed to keep the kondo'd things kondo'd, most notably all of DS's clothes and it is so so much easier to see everything that he has.

I gave my wardrobe to KM treatment a while back and definitely held onto stuff out of nerves I would regret throwing stuff out. But guess what?! I haven't worn the stuff so it obviously isn't needed and can't be happy shut in a cupboard, never seeing the light of day. So, I shall move it on to new horizons.

Some of you might remember we were talking about letters and diaries. I threw out a lot of my late mothers old paperwork that had made me so sad, but I felt so much better once it had gone. And yesterday, I donated her old typewriter to a charity shop that she was fond of supporting when she was alive. She loved that typewriter but it meant nothing to me, but I held onto it for nearly ten years after she died. I don't feel bad at all!

Feeling the joy

Hello, can I join? [tentatively pushes piles of stuff out of the way and pokes head round door]

I bought the book on Kindle the other day and am about halfway through. I am reading it with partly excitement about getting started and partly flashes of 'my god woman, you're batshit'!

It's me, dh, dd 5 and ds 5 months in this house, plus cupboards, wardrobes, drawers and a loft heaving with stuff. Our main problem is toys, clothes, and then DIY stuff.
I've been wanting to get going but with dd off school still and ds needing lots of attention it's going to have to wait till Monday. My biggest issue though is the toys and dh, I can see how some of you have seen families follow the kondo way when you get started but dd absolutely refuses to tidy away her things, it's everywhere, and something needs to change as ds will get on the move soon and we will all be in trouble! I just asked her about a pile of absolute crap toys on the kitchen floor, what she loved the most. Answer - all of it! What would you keep if you could only keep one thing? All of it!

Dh is the same! I'm doomed!!

Hi,

I am pretty much in the same boat as missmakesstuff. feel like I am a bit late to the party and filled with equal amounts of excitement and dread. I am mum to twins and a boy in his 20s. we also have had MIL staying for the summer so the house feels more upside down than ever.

I am halfway through the book too and feel Ok about Kondoing my clothes (although slightly worried I won't have anything left to wear). More worried about the paperous stuff in the house. we are drowning in it.!

DH is studying for a masters and works full time so I too feel like we are doomed!!

Hi kiwi hopefully someone with wisdom will be along soon!

I'm really looking forward to starting on my clothes, plus I'll do the baby clothes and will do a boot sale/charity donation to get rid of all the outgrown stuff.

I am worried that I'll throw out just about all my.clothes and end up with nothing! The only things I can think of that spark joy in my wardrobe are a couple of fancy dresses...not exactly everyday attire!

It must be more difficult with twins, I'm drowning in stuff as it is, I can't imagine!

Hi both, I did Kondo about a year ago now and most of it is still working fairly well but I do need to get it a little tidier after this summer holiday.

What I would say about toys is, start in the order she suggests, with your own clothes first. It gives you a boost, you start dressing better and quicker and you start to get the hang of it and how long it takes. Also get the stuff out of the house ASAP. Box it up, hide it, whatever it takes to stop people mooching through and ruining your effort.

On toys, I haven't cracked it because they are like a tidal wave. I hardly buy anything for DS since kondo but it doesn't stop everyone else, so a year on I have as many as last year. Some things I do do now though is throw away tat the minute it annoys me. E.g. Kinder egg toys get looked at for exactly a minute by DS and then he is bored. Throw them! I have superglue on hand to mend broken toys immediately, if they don't mend well, throw them. Ditto toys where batteries are going. Keep an eye on what they really play with. You may need to do a few toy rotations to see this. By this I mean quarter the toys you have and put three quarters into big boxes in a spare room/garage/attic (somewhere they can't pull them out). Give them two weeks to play with batch 1. If there are toys they hardly touched, give them away, store them until age appropriate or store for when age appropriate for next child. Just don't put them back in the room, but them in a separate storage box/chartity bag. Repeat with boxes 2,3,4 of toys and you will find the toys they really like. That is all that should be in their room. everything's else is taking up precious floor space so the can't play as well.

Oh and throw all the bath toys. DS plays with his normal plastic toys and metal cars in the bath to no ill effects. So now my bathroom looks like an adult bathroom!

Last thing on toys. I have a cloth bag full of all the little bits of tat toys that DS really does love but isn't part of a set. Oddment toys, you know which I mean. As they are all together in a bag, if he is bored of his normal toys or we are going on a long car journey or holiday I take this bag and it is full of all his weird and wonderful things and keep him entertained ages. Then these oddments don't clutter the room and mess up his other toys.

theoddity thanks, I'm raring to get started on clothes, ds and mine, he has so many we've been given and bought that I haven't got anywhere to put them!
Toys I would be happy to get rid of, I know dd doesn't need many really, we've just come back from camping for two weeks andvshe had a ball with just a couple of bags.
Monday..the revolution begins in this house!

Welcome to to all Newbies!

Remember, no matter how small your accommodation, you DO have room for everything you really need.

Do NOT buy 'storage solutions' until you have finished kondoing. Or, at least, completely finished a particular category. Until then, use what you have, eg: shoe boxes, gift boxes, fruit punnets, family-size mushroom containers etc. Samosa all your carrier bags; Ranger roll, tea towels, dusters, microfibre cloths; Burrito change duvet covers; and checkout folding fitted sheets on You Tube. Store sets of bedding in one of the pillow-cases and 'file' in the airing cupboard.

Find that ONE piece of clothing that makes your heart beat faster and you adore wearing - this is you 'sparking joy' benchmark for everything else in the house!

Random Discards: this is outside of MK, but many Konverts, can't resist it... you CAN discard anything that makes you feel meh, immediately, whatever category it should be in.

As you progress, you will find yourself becoming more and more ruthless when discarding, and buying more thoughtfully.

You will notice that your head starts clear, along with the clutter. Too much of anything is 'noise', along with too much choice! Problems and decisions become easier to deal with. Consider how distracting 'toy noise' impacts on the DC!

Thank you soooo much, I queen!

I have no clothes that spark joy, money, and 2 stone to lose. Any ideas?!

*no money, that should say!

Zippi A lot of people feel the same way about clothes! Look at them carefully. Find the one thing that you automatically saved, without a second thought, because you really like and wear it when you can. It might be a bra, a pair of knicks, a scarf, some gloves, or a joyful pair of socks. Or even an old, tatty tee-shirt... it's the happy emotion that you are trying to capture.

If that is impossible, think of another item in your home, that you would never part with, because it brings you real joy to have. My item is my spinning wheel - I would cart that out of the house with me, if the place was on fire!

A lot of OPs have found clothes difficult, and become less and less satisfied as they progress. I am certain that this is because not only our homes are changing, but so are we. Some people have also found that they are losing weight (not just the mental burden!) as they kondo. And some have bought a couple of items (cheap supermarket tees or chazzer bargains) to give them their yardstick for joy.

Here's a thought-provoking article, from the Observer 2011, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/may/08/fast-fashion-death-for-planet

Thanks iqueen that's really helpful. I'm just about to get everything out of my wardrobe, that is once I've worked out what to do with the baby whilst I'm covering the floor and bed in clothing!!

missmakestuff Break it into sub-categories! Just cover the bed!

Many OPs, do Tops, Bottoms, Hanging stuff, Coats n Jackets, Dresses, Occasions, Accessories, etc. How small the sub-cats are, depends on the DC's attention span, I think!

missmakesstuff If discards go on the floor, perhaps DC is old enough to 'play' with them?

Well, halfway through here! My bedroom is in an absolute state, ds had to lie on the bed with piles around him whilst he played with the things he could grab...(a pair of lacy knickers at one point!)

But it is sort of done...

I have a gigantic pile of clothes I'm keeping and one of those massive storage bags overflowing with things for the charity shop, plus a bin bag of stuff to bin.

I'm just about to start on cleaning and then putting everything back..I've got till 2:30! School run time, then I'll get nothing done.

I have got a maybe pile...I know some of these things should go really but it's things like black ankle boots, which have in tan. I love the tan, wear them all the time..got the black, but just don't love them. But the tan ones don't go with everything.

I also have lots of dresses I love, but I can't breastfeed in them. So I know in 6 months I will wear them, so I guess I just keep? But so far they've been in storage as I've just not got the space, ditto work clothes.

I wish my wardrobe looked like that capsule wardrobe, I want to be that.put together and organised, but at the moment it's just a mishmash, 50's style dresses which I love and suit me but are just too much for everyday wear, boring mum uniform of jeand and tops...
Thing is I guess I've identified the things I love now, maybe as I get more confident and have more cash I can start to get rid of the less loveable stuff and replace it with the clothes I really want to wear.

I have though been doing this 'no new clothes' thing, only buying from charity shops and only then when absolutely desperate for new things, maybe I'll try to stick to that until xmas at least.

Oh, and just to help anyone tryingvto get started...it can't look worse than this!!just do it!
Before and during...yes, that is ds buried in a pile of clothes...
I will post after pics in approximately 2 hrs, if I ever get out from under a sleeping baby and piles of clothes...

missmakesstuff Obviously, keep stuff that you might wear after weaning, but wear those dresses now, when convenient - there is no excuse to wear boring mum uniform of jeans and tops... Life's too short!

BTW, check with your chazzer before binning any textiles - many also accept 'rags' for recycling and get paid for them. Just label the bag to save them from sorting.

Many OPs find that wearing the 'maybe-s' for a day results in a definite decision!

Well, it's done! 3 massive bags of clothes and shoes, plus rags etc for the textile bin in another bag.
The maybes are.things I'd wear.for work, or things I like the shape of on me, but I think some might go when I've the time to wear them and the money to replace them.

I still feel I have a mishmash of clothes but I can see.I need no more bright summery dresses, and that strong bold colours seem to be.my thing, so I'll concentrate on those and gradually phase out some of the other things that are worn or tired, but I like.

My wardrobe is an old 1930s one.and it's not exactly suited to being kondo'd, but I've done my.best and it is so much nicer!
My knicker drawer has never looked better either!

Well I take may hat off to anyone who can Kondo their clothes in 1 day. I did make a start although not in the correct order. I have done undies, bras, socks and tights, and managed to throw 2 overstuffed carrier bags out. Hopefully on Thursday I can have a go at the wardrobe and the massive pile of stuff on the bedroom floor, before moving onto bags and shoes. (and I have just remembered the coat cupboard downstairs) I am guessing that you do the laundry as it comes round?

Haven't quite figured out what to do with putting stuff back because my fitted wardrobe has shelves and not drawers.

I am dreading moving onto books because they are all over the place and hard to get to as there are piles of stuff everywhere. Just like she says not to do.

Should I do the airing cupboard before books as it feels more manageable? Just pillows, sheets and towels.

I am a shocker for thinking "this might come in handy".

Kiwi I found it relatively easy, I was flinging things in a second or two in the end! I do have regular clear outs of stuff anyway, but really I think I'll be continuing to get rid of some bits over the next few weeks. I'm still struggling with the 'spark joy's concept, as I look at things and think we'll that's a perfectly ok pair of trousers, I haven't got another brown pair etc, but then I remembered wearing them and they drag on the floor which definitely doesn't spark joy!

It also helps that I've recently had a baby so I'm in the mood for change, getting rid of maternity stuff and massive black cotton pants was no hardship!

Missmakes- your cupboards look fab!

Iqueen- thanks again! I've been attempting to scale mount wash more and in the process, have got rid of a few bits. It's sp satisfying to finally get rid of stuff that has been lingering around for ages "just in case"! Have only made a teeny tiny start though; think it's going to take a long time to sort this house out!!