KONDO Thread 9

[Iqueen]

Kondo your Home and your Life. Live the JOY!

Missmakes - but where is DS in your "after" photo? You didn't kondo him by mistake?

Aaargh!!! I've folded and filed him! Actually, I'm doing the kids clothes next, starting with his because he can't argue about what I throw like dd and I really can't see me folding pairs of baby socks...but we shall see!
All my bags went to charity this morning, actually it wasn't too bad. Few things to sell then I'm going to have a repeat kondo

An OP, elsewhere, has recently pointed out that, because our mindset changes during the process, (she's completed the full kondo), she is now more aware and watchful, so she is still discarding things that got through, and she is religiously, discarding at least the same amount when she buys new things.

So, once kondoing is done, there will still be regular weeding, to prevent another build up!

Ok have read up to page 6 of this thread but I have some questions.
I used to do Flylady which I needed (need) to do because I am chronically disorganised and housework is something I really, really, REALLY have to work on.
There are 5 of us in this house and both DH and I work full time.
Is Kondo-ing more of sorting the clutter and tidying as opposed to cleaning?

Are you all relatively sorted in this department and just needing to declutter?

I feel like I want to get started but first I need to clean the house but is this wrong? I am a slattern by nature (although I am aware of it and trying to work on it) and know the house needs cleaning but don't want to get distracted from getting started on this.

Mrs- don't worry about the cleaning. It's all about decluttering, and the idea is that when you have far less STUFF in your house, it's much easier to clean! Welcome!

MrsSadness Welcome to the Kult!

We all start from a different point.

I would say, having read, litereally, thousands of posts on here and another Kondo thread, that the majority of OPs, have (what they consider) cluttered homes, which are more or less, clean.

However, there are some people on these threads, who have, what might be described as 'hoarded' homes... I am one of those. Our homes are mostly uncleanable, although I have managed to maintain the essentials - clean bed, clothes, one food-prep surface, pots and pans, and bathroom and loo.

I am not a slattern, and neither are you! We want a clean home, but with so much Stuff, we cannot clean! And, we may have been lazy, in the past, but we are aware that we have a problem. A good starting point!

Kondoing a stuffed house is a longer job than clearing a cluttered home. So don't kid yourself that it will only take MK's 6 months, especially as you have family and work commitments. It will take as long as it takes, but you can have the home you want.

Cleaning comes after discarding.

If you start with your clothes, you can clean drawers, wardrobes and shelves, before you put back what you are keeping. As you progress, more spaces become cleanable.

Maintaining these areas, as you continue is easy and quick, so slowly your home will come under control.

As Fly Lady has said - "you can't organise clutter". Dealing with the separate categories, is not just a physical task, it makes you think carefully about the best (most useful) places to keep your possessions.

For the first time in my life (apart from when I worked as a chambermaid, over 50 years ago!) I am now taking pride in keeping my cleared areas clean. So. cleaning can start early and good habits will grow, as we progress.

The MK process, changes our mindset, making us think carefully about what we bring into our homes, and what brings us joy. Having only things in homes that we love, or indirectly bring us joy (like vacuum cleaners, etc) will cut down the huge amount of junk that it weighing us down, physically and mentally.

Start by visualising, generally, how you want your home to look. This is your target. It will be tidy, and a tidy home, is quick and easy to keep clean.

Stop beating yourself up. No one is perfect, but we can be better!

Dive in, and soon, you may be able to change your username, to a happier one!

IQueen is wise.

I found KonMari a great motivator for doing cleaning, which I HATE, because...ok, say you start with your clothes, and you take them all out of your wardrobe, and you sort them into JOY/BIN/CHARITY SHOP.

And then you go to put the JOY section back in the wardrobe and think ew, this wardrobe is full of dust and dried mud and stuff, gross.

(Not that this happened to me...nooooo)

So you grab a piece of clothing from the BIN pile and you wipe out the bottom of the wardrobe and dust the rails in 30s flat, and then you chuck the cloth back in the bin pile and put back the JOY clothes and ta-da, tidy wardrobe which is ALSO clean, go you!

It feels kinda good.

Plus if you've sorted and discarded all your unwanted clothes, and hung your wanted ones back in the cupboard, then your floor is probably much less cluttered, making it easier when you do get around to the hoovering.

The increase in ease of cleaning is exponential. It starts slowly, but by the time you're done it's very nearly easy.

(I still hate hoovering though. Sodding cats and their mountains of shed fur. They're lucky I like them.)

MsUrsa Thank you for your kind compliment - I'm of an age, when 'wise' proves that my life has not been in vain!

Hmm. You only 'like' the cats? I wonder...

Msursa I agree with the cats, we have two plus a stray we feed and the hair is shocking...

I've done jewellery and accessories today, couldn't find them in her categories so assumed they were in with clothes. So far that's nearly all the bedroom done, just books in the bedside cabinets to sort once I've done ds' clothes. And dhs wardrobe but I can shut the door on that

I found hanging my jewellery on kitchen hooks from ikea, that hang over the mirror, works great, plus necklaces that go with a particular dress for work got hung on the hangers with the dresses. The necklaces themselves aren't something I love, but they make the outfit, so combined they spark joy..even though I dont want to think about going back to work at the moment!!

Miss makes I really like the hanging in outfits idea. I used with my DDs clothes. It all needs a wash after one wear anyway (toddler) so I store it in outfits. Then I know how much I have left and whether I need to sort laundry /iron / put a wash on. It has helped me in planning what to get her as she moves through sizes too.

Hiya.

I've namechanged but I used to post quite regularly. I was on the very first thread and it's been a year since I started Kondoing.

One of the things that KonMari said was to visualise what you wanted your life to be like. I had a very strong vision that I wanted to have more (head) space to be creative, have more friends and a permanent job in a setting that was supportive, fun and rewarding. Well, within a few months of me starting to Kondo, a good friend who I had lost touch with contacted me as well as my best friend from school (from 31 years ago) and I have made new friends too. I interviewed and got the job I wanted and I started just last week. It's only been a few days but I feel like I have finally found a home there - my colleagues are lovely and the Leadership Team are supportive, and the children are not bad either! And finally, I am doing a creative evening class.

My home? Yes, every drawer is beautiful. Everything has a place. Things are easier to clean. My new job has slightly put all of us out of routine but I'm hoping it won't take too long to get back into things. I am still struggling with DS's lego and it's ability to spread and seemingly multiply. But then again, it makes him happy so as long he tidies it up at the end of the day (and he's very good about this), I'm okay with it, on the whole.

I'm planning round 2 of Kondoing - basically re-looking at things I kept the first time and seeing if they still bring joy because I have changed so my tastes have probably changed too. This time, I am visualising a healthier and slimmer me, more leisure time and now that I have permanent job, a beautiful home.

So for people just starting out, yes it works and yes you can do it.

Right I started last night.
I grabbed everything out of my wardrobe and underwear drawer and chucked it in the living room and sorted it. Now got two and a half solidly packed bin liners full of stuff for charity.
I found as many shoe boxes as possible and sorted the remaining clothes into my wardrobe and drawers. And labelled them
It looks amazing but can't get the full effect because our bedroom is so small that I can never open my drawers fully but it still looks great.
The thing is while doing it I was extremely aware of how cluttered and dusty everywhere else was and how much it needed sorting. I resisted the urge though and concentrated on my clothes. Like someone else said though because everything is behind a door, nobody can see it.
So today unless I open the wardrobe no-one can tell anything changed.
Can we really not do a room at a time?
This will take me forever at this rate.

star I like that idea, I might try it for dd, she has a ridiculous amount of clothes that have to go with a certain pair of leggings etc, plus it would stop her getting all mismatched stuff which drive me round the bend when she dresses herself!

amber
Thank you for that, it's amazing! My ideal life is similar, I imagined walking in the door to be able to get the kids tea, get organised etc easily so I could actually have some time to myself. I'm on mat.leave but will return to teaching in Jan and one of the things that worries me is keeping on top of the house after that, as we justvend up living in chaos!

mrs well done! I know what you mean though, I really just wanted to finish the.bedroom yesterday but I held back...

Right, my one worry.is...other people! Dh has again left the following items lying around in the 12 hours he's actually in the house..
Socks (next to the washing basket
Pants ditto, the washing machine
Jacket
Shoes

That doesnt include the other random bits or the fact he's always looking for someone he's lost.

Does this magic work on husbands?

missmakes - you may have to kondo the husband too!

MrsSadness Doing a room at a time is not advised, because Stuff is usually sacttered round the house, which makes categories (which is the key) impossible.

However, most OPs do complete the bedroom after clothes, because it is usually easy, once clothes are done. Also, it provides one joyful place in the home!

amber Thanks for telling us how kondoing has changed your home and your life. It really is amazing how joyfulness attracts good things! It's already changed me and has brought me some joyful surprises.

missmakesstuff According to Konverts with OHs/DHs, most do eventually 'get it'. From my observation, they seem to come on board, when they see the difference that less Stuff, organisation and tidiness makes to life. They begin to notice that clutter (especially in the bedroom) is only theirs! Also, helping with joint possessions (books/DVDs etc) helps them to see that they also have excess.

Educating fortunately for him he sparks joy in other ways, otherwise he'd be out!

About to start on ds's clothes and finish off clearing the last of the stuff from the bedroom, it's cleaned now and feels so much nicer, I really hope you're right iqueen..he's pretty hardcore though, years of a cleaning obsessed irish mammy doing everything for him, then years of rebelling! He's gradually improved in the 12 years we've been together, maybe it'll take another 12 to get him on board...

amber I loved your post! It really inspired me.

mrssadness I have had to do a room at a time - in fact, I have done a little at a time. I'm on mat leave with three very young kids so just do what I can, when I can grab it. It's not the Kondo way and I am only now becoming ruthless with binning stuff. I'm going to re-do bits too. But I have still transformed the house (and I am only half way!)

Ok I continued with the bedroom (was mostly clothes because it was drawers) last night, straight away once I got in, and putting all paperwork (there is LOADS) into a bin bag to sort when I get to that stage. I am just trying to get the bedroom sorted so I have a nice base from which to plot kondo-ing the rest of the house.
It feels so much better and my wardrobe is now a dream!
I feel a bit daunted by how long this will all take.
I am such a hoarder by nature (come from a long line of hoarders, don't even look in my mother's house people!)
I need this to sort out my behaviour and so I can have the sort of house I don't feel ashamed of. I also think I will have so much more energy once this is done.
I will finish the bedroom tonight. I know we aren't supposed to do rooms but I think I agree with the lovely Iqueen when she says that people tend to finish a room once they start in there. I think people do it because they just want to see results fast.

Can I just say how lovely and supportive you all are

Sounds good to me mrs, I'm sort of going to do the same thing, all that's left (after the pit of doooooom that is my husbands wardrobe!) is the bedside cabinets, so book and assorted crap that I'll just put aside to sort when I get to those categories.

Tidied my daughters bedroom last night and persuaded her to let me put sone things away in the loft..so that's the plan once I've got ds clothes done. I'm struggling though with how I slim down the amount of clothes he has! I'm just going to get started and hopefully once things that are too small etc are gone it'll be easy.

rooner I'm onat leave till Jan and I'm determined to get the house decluttering by then, we are planning on moving and renting this place out in the spring and I just can't see me getting any of it done when I'm back at work. I've found it hard as ds doesn't sleep more than 30mins max during the day and dd is at school so I have to drop what I'm doing for school runs..but yesterday, whilst dinner was.on, I did a food cupboard that I had things literally jammed into, I chucked a few things, got some clear tubs and shoebox lids and it's beautiful now...took about 10 mins. It can be done!

In our case it has to be done though, dh has been making noises about getting paid for storage when we put our house up for rent, which is madness! Or he things it will take two weeks of him off work to move, which is bollocks. If he just threw away a third of his things we'd be done. So I'm determined to show him it can be done, with room left in the attic for boxes of things we don't need to be packed ready to move. If it's just his things taking up space and costing us money to move, then I will have won the 12 year long argument...petty, moi?

I'm not Kondoing the cats! Even if they are furballs. And amazingly neurotic too. They were rescue kittens and we got them when their first owners couldn't look after them any more when they were about 3.

They still have some funny habits.

I'M ON TOPIC I SWEAR.

MrsS, I tend to think that all decluttering is good decluttering. So you did a category, and then you did a bit of a space? You'll probably end up coming back to the space later because there's stuff you missed, but that's not important because FOR NOW it makes you feel awesome, so it's all good.

Paperwork is a pain in the butt. But those giant piles of shreddings do feel like an achievement, and because paperwork tends to come in individual sheets/ a few sheets at a time, it's easier to stop and start it than some other categories. Which is probably just as well.

You can do it missm! Very impressed by your food cupboard shoebox lidding. I once (sad alert) went through my MIL's baking cupboard and chucked out all the dried-out stuff, multiple bottles of expired vanilla essence etc.

Maybe I should have considered a career as a professional organiser. I do love tidying other people's stuff to a sad degree.

Ds has been kondo'd...we'll, his clothes have! It was a bit tricky but I know he'll be growing out of things fairly swiftly so it's an ongoingvthing, at least now his clothes fit in the drawers..dd's started today with a few summer dresses and I will finish nextvweek. Another 4 carrier bags for charity and more to pass to friends.

My kitchen cupboard is already working well, I've managed to cook dinner tonight with no jars falling out onto my head!

Mrsursa I would lovevthat job too...I'm an art teacher and organising our stock cupboard was one of my favourite things to do with the door shut so I could get away from the kids

Thank you missmakesstuff, iqueen and rooners. It really is magic.

missmakesstuff I spent a lot of the summer thinking about how my life would exactly look once I went full time permanent (have been supplying p/t for 5 years!). I've had to downgrade some of my plans simply because I have been so tired after work. But the thing is, it's hardly ever very untidy in the first place and if it is messy and untidy, it doesn't take long to sort out.

Ok, this is a pivotal moment, bloody monumental...dh is upstairs kondoing his clothes I asked him to put some of his washing away (3 weeks worth!) and next thing I know, he's giving me suits for the charity shop and letting me origami his geeky t shirts - all 52 of them!

It's not a complete job, he's only listened to me telling him about this batshit Japanese woman so he's put some seasonal stuff away for the attic and he's still got 52 t shirts, 7 pairs of combats and 10 pairs of army boots, but maybe he's preparing for the zombie apocalypse and it's baby steps in the right direction...

Dd has promised to fill a charity bag up as she wants to get a heart pin from the British heart foundation, so maybe this magic is working!!

I am pretty pleased with us this week! That's about 3 bin bags full of clothes alone given to charity, plus lots I'm giving to friends too and selling on. I actually am finding it easier to dresses there's less choice, but better, and I haven't bought anything new even though I really could have every time I've dropped something in to a charity.

Onwards!

Well done, missmakesstuff! Have you given DH the book to read? It often spurs them on to greater things!