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Housekeeping

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KONDO Thread 9

999 replies

Iqueen · 12/07/2015 09:43

Kondo your Home and your Life. Live the JOY!

OP posts:
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23
MsUrsa · 06/12/2015 08:10

She'd probably ask the kids which ones spark joy and then get rid of the rest.

This may or may not work in the real world. Smile

MsUrsa · 12/12/2015 14:59

Bless me Kondoers, for I have bought a bunch of stuff. Though to be fair it is all on my list of 'things you will need to labour at home, mmmkay?' Which is a very comprehensive list.

And I'm hoarding stuff for when the baby arrives so I don't have to shop as much. Loo roll. Cat food. It brings me joy to not have to go shopping when the weather is bad, so nyer.

How's everyone doing in the run-up to the holidays?

Allgunsblazing · 12/12/2015 17:16

I am looking at a big ikea bag full of clothes I am getting rid of. Then I can see the wardrobe, 4 dresses, 2 cardigans, 2 tops, some pijamas.
Not sure the difference between kondo-ing and just throwing stuff out, but it feels liberating.

P1nkP0ppy · 12/12/2015 17:24
Xmas Blush Was skimming through last few posts and thought She'd probably ask the kids which ones spark joy and then get rid of the rest MsUrsa was talking about the children, I thought kondo'ing the kids was going a bit too far.......
MsUrsa · 14/12/2015 12:04

HA!

Though I must admit that at 32 weeks pregnant, I'm kind of looking forward to kondoing this kid out of my uterus and into a more appropriate storage space in the (reasonably) near future! (After 36+6, preferably before 41, if you're listening, child).

That said, yes, kondoing the kids is probably going a BIT far, kondoing their toys is probably a bit less extreme.

Besides, what if they wanted to kondo each other?

Well done on your wardrobe clearing Allgunsblazing!

Allgunsblazing · 15/12/2015 06:16

Thank you, msUrsa. The wardrobe looks like I've been robbedGrin
So far, less choice means no more piles of clothes on the chair and ironing basket, better fitting clothes and more time to ponder over expensive shoes Wink

SayAGreatBigThankyou · 15/12/2015 21:54

I'm in (an early New year resolution joiner!).
Have dabbled in Kondo before, but the house still seems full, so I'm going to start afresh. We're moving bedrooms around after Christmas so will due clothes and clothes storage then, and until then break the Kondo rules and try to just get 5 things out of the house each day!
yesterday: bag to charity shop
today: nada
tomorrow: gifts for nursery and school teachers

stiffstink · 20/12/2015 11:24

The hall, stairs and landing are being decorated (by someone else - its a big deal for DH to let someone else do a job because he feels compelled to do everything himself, hence its been waiting for 5 years).

DS's bedroom furniture in his new room is getting finished over the Christmas hols by DH - I can't explain how fab this makes me feel after 5 years of plastered walls. We are actually turning the "junk room" into a huge sunny bedroom for him and he loves it already, even with nothing in there.

If I hadn't kondoed, I feel like it would never have been done and I would have spent another 5 years nagging and crying at the lack of progress.

Even DH is getting on board now. He said he needs to kondo his tshirts (he sent 3 bags of work shirts to the charity shop last week without letting FIL have a look first, just as MK tells us not to!)

He hasn't kondoed the tshirts yet but he is talking about it and I now know it will be done because he is so pleased with the space in his wardrobe, which is huge progress.

The living room and dining room are all Christmassy but minimalist, oh its lovely. I am going to buy a stand to put all next year's Christmas cards on - tried to kondo the pesky little buggers but DS won't let me get rid of them yet.

When DS's bedroom is done we'll be able to transfer him from his current bedroom and sort out the nursery which means getting all the baby stuff out of the loft. I am itching to kondo the baby stuff, there's about 6 suitcases full which is ridiculous. I am going to be strict with gifts received for this baby, I will keep what I like and take back what is exchangeable for vouchers for the future. If its a girl I expect a flood of pink tutus and pink plastic (blurgh) and that's just not happening in my lovely pale blue/grey/minimalist kondoed house!

kermit79 · 20/12/2015 20:45

I'd like to finally bite the bullet and join in, please. I'm feeling inspired by all of you and have started on my tops after reading the book 3 times.

The system makes sense and seems flawless on paper but when it comes to it, I'm not finding it very straight forward. I've just filled a bin bag but still have so much stuff (that doesn't quite 'spark joy'). I guess I'll learn to hone my skills and be more ruthless. How are those of you with young DCs finding it with regards to knowing who you are what clothes actually suit you these days? There's more to this than just tidying up, eh?!

I'm really looking forward to having the home of my dreamsGrin

kermit79 · 20/12/2015 20:53

I have another question for the Kondo experts... When you fold your clothes all neatly and properly and lovely, don't you have items that are unidentifiable amongst the rest? Ie, how do you know which blue top is the one with long sleeves and motif on the front? (I still have too much stuff, don't I Blush?)

SayAGreatBigThankyou · 22/12/2015 10:44

That's brilliant stiff.
kermit I'm still learning, but a session with a personal stylist (big bday present) helped! And for your second Q, I have hardly any clothes so it's easy enough!

MsUrsa · 24/12/2015 11:20

Likewise say. Mind you, I have a lot of subtly different I swear black polo-neck jumpers.

kermit, I find that starting by holding one of your favourite things helps with the discarding. Because it starts you with the mindset of 'I want as many of the things I own as possible to make me feel as good as this does'.

Plus, you may end up going back again at the end of the process and re-doing clothes. I think a lot of people on the thread have, because (here comes the woo) all this sorting and discarding really does help you clarify your priorities and your style and...who you want to be, IYSWIM?

Good luck with the Christmas rush, all!

Sum314 · 26/12/2015 01:23

Joining for 2016. Will buy the bookvto read on a flight b4 new year.

Do any of you get the joy testvwrong and think shit why why did i throw that out? Im afraid ill want the stuff back when its too late

Zippidydoodah · 27/12/2015 00:01

Happy Christmas, one and all!!

How are you all doing with the inevitable extra stuff you have received into your homes the last few days?! Argh!!

I'm going to try and get my kids to choose some toys to get rid of/replaced by new toys. Wish me luck, though! Hmm

Sum314 · 27/12/2015 00:49

I didn't get hold of the book today. I thought I would. It's been everywhere until I decided to buy it! But I can't go wrong if I throw some stuff out tomorrow. I will go to a bigger book shop and get it.

Greymalkin · 27/12/2015 06:31

Good morning everyone, hope you have all had lovely Christmases.

Zip - I know the feeling! My lounge looks like a bomb has gone off in a toy shop, and I only have one DS! He is too young to be an active participant in decluttering so DH and I will "assist" Wink

Welcome Sun - you can get the book on kindle if that helps? I got mine on Amazon though as I couldn't find it in any bookshop.

For the next week I'm going to deviate from MKs order and just declutter anything that's lying around that I don't want. If I see something that needs to be got rid, I don't see the sense in waiting until I get to that section of MKs order of doing things. Just going to get on with it [rebel]

Greymalkin · 27/12/2015 06:35

Oh and Sum - I am relatively new to kondoing, but so far I have not regretted throwing out a single thing. I took 70% of my stuff to the charity shop, put some too small things into storage and am left with a very small wardrobe of clothes. I love every item that is left and I look after them better.

I might feel a bit panicky when it comes to paperwork though. I do hold onto a lot of paper "just in case"

Allgunsblazing · 27/12/2015 06:45

I got mine from the library, if that helps?
I am getting rid of a pc today!

Sedona123 · 27/12/2015 09:25

I'm new too.

I have Kondoed my clothes, and paperwork, now need to work on all the other stuff.

Kermit, not sure if this will help, but when Kondoing my clothes, I didn't do things exactly as set out in the book. I first did my clothes a year ago, loads of bags of stuff to the charity shop, but put in the loft a huge bag of "unsures". Re-did recently, and got rid of all of the "unsures", plus loads more clothes that I still hadn't worn in the year since I Kondoed.

I also don't fold most of my clothes as I know that anything folded tends to get forgotten. I now have one large wardrobe full of my everyday clothes, with underwear in the bottom drawer, and jeans, tops, jumpers and cardis all on hangers so I can see what I have got. My other wardrobe in the spare room has summer dresses, evening wear, jackets etc that rarely get worn or are out of season.

This may not work for you, but I love it. It now takes me all of a couple of mins to choose my clothes in the morning, and even though I have way less clothes, it somehow feels like I have more!

Sum314 · 27/12/2015 13:10

greymalking, thanks, it helps to know that you didn't regret getting rid of the things that didn't give you joy

NotCitrus · 27/12/2015 14:08

I did a fair bit of Kondo, then not much for the last 6 months. My clothes were the best success - I have what I need and can find them easily as they fit in the space I have, though some could do with being upgraded.

We have a pen/crayon drawer and a craft drawer which helps the dcs and me find such stuff and they sometimes even tidy away. Craft stuff can take over the planet though (stern glare at Compulsive Buying Friend...)

Now fitting a kitchen so loads of tools and screws etc that hopefully can soon be kicked out to the shed, followed by Kondoing the lodger and then selling a set of furniture, which will make other manoevring easier. Paperwork is still an issue - will try the 12-month file idea people on MN suggest, so papers can be filed for future reference in the relevant month/year, and others filed for storage only if really needed.

MrNC has just agreed to let me do his clothes as its got similar to when we first moved in together - I refused to live with a man who had more than 50 T-shirts or 100 pairs of crap socks. He agreed to 30 T shirts and 20 pairs socks and the charity shop gained about 100 of each... Now we try to stop at the charity shop soon after visiting his family...

MangoBiscuit · 27/12/2015 19:16

Hello all. Last year I got the book for Christmas, today it has been one year exactly since I started Kondoing! Feels like an anniversary I should celebrate, so I thought I'd hop on the current thread and see how everyone is doing.

Zippidy did you get past your rut in November? I can totally sympathise with what you said. I didn't stick strictly to the order in the book. The idea of starting with clothes is to hone your "sparking joy" recognition. If you have no problem with that, there's no reason you can't start elsewhere.

For everyone dealing with how to organise toys for little ones, this blog post was linked to ages ago on a previous thread It's about toy rotations, and limiting how many toys are out, but creating well mixed sets. It's worked brilliantly for DD2s toys, makes it far easier to put them away at the end of the day.

stiffstink · 28/12/2015 08:07

I can't think of a single item I have regretted kondoing- if there is something then I must prefer the space its absence has created.

Currently staying in a cottage by the sea and its great to be in a place with no clutter whatsoever. I think the lack of stuff is what makes holiday accommodation so relaxing.

DS got tons of stuff for Christmas but also gets his new bedroom when we go home, so I will kondo as we move his things to make room for his Christmas presents. He got loads, even though I was very restrained. I wish other people would save their hard earned money instead of buying things he might never be interested in.

kermit79 · 28/12/2015 20:15

Happy Anniversary mango!

I love your tip of holding a favourite joy-inducing item, Ursa and I'll be doing that prior to my next Kondo session. Might also be a good thing to do during a session to help re-focus amidst the chaos.

A session with a personal stylist would be a fantastic treat at the end of it all, wouldn't it! I had my 'colours done' a few years ago which gave me permission to discard a pile of clothes that weren't 'my' colours.

I'm trying to follow the correct MK order because I love her but I'm starting to see why some people have jiggled it to suit them. Clothes have been particularly tricky for me but I found underwear easy. I wouldn't say that any of my socks spark joy but my underwear drawer certainly does now! I suspect toiletries will be similar and could possibly have started there. I would say that even although I'm not very far into it, I'm thinking about every single belonging differently, and I guess that's what it's all about.

Sum314 · 28/12/2015 20:35

I didn't get the book today either but sometimes, just having more than enough of something gives me joy! Socks were something I was thinking about earlier. When I was growing up it was a struggle every morning to find two clean matching socks. We weren't broke or anything but my mum just never bought us enough of some things and socks were one of the things she scrimped on! Now you can walk in to penneys and buy five pairs for 2£ but perhaps they were disproportionately expensive back then.