Kondo thread 10

[SnozzberryMincePie]

Just noticed the old thread was full, so hope no one minds me starting the new one

[educatingarti]

Just joining new thread. I had plans for gettingvloads done today but I've not been feeling so well so have ended up doing nothing!

[museumworker]

Joining in! Been decluttering for at least 4 years, started Kondo'ing last year and made good progress til I stalled last summer. I started again and realise the reason I stalled was that I hadn't actually finished the categories. Eg. Clothes - just got rid of 2 more binliners of them. (5 binliners went last year). I also have been breastfeeding or pregnant for 4 years so everything was trashed. The next week, I sent charity shopping and literally bought an amazing capsule wardrobe for £65. I think that was karma.

I did keep 5-10 favourite too small items for the future, they're in a box at the top of the wardrobe. I lost 8 lbs last month so I may well be returning my capsule wardrobe soon to the charity shop and getting new things!

Paper is done FINALLY minus the shredding. Again, thought I had done and now realise there was loads tucked away. All neatly filed into 6 box files :)

This week I plan to start komono. Wish me luck!!

PS I work full time with 3 kids so not great at keeping on top of threads but I love to dip in even if I don't post often

[Leeloo2]

I definitely find that decluttering makes me panic - not so much the individual items, as overall I enjoy getting stuff to the charity shop (although I have guilt over not selling...) I think it's more the thought of it being done/finished?! I have no idea why, but I guess it's the fear of the future mk talks about.

It's madness as I hate the clutter and constant mess/tidying, but what will I do when its done? Will my house look sterile?(doubtful with all the kid's stuff!) Who will I be without 'stuff' -possibly no-one? I don't know, it just brings out an anxiety that cripples progress.

I have the same fear with losing weight - i was doing 5:2, lost loads of weight, felt great and each day or so saw scales go down and it was lovely and successful. Then I suddenly got anxious realising one day I'd have to stop (when? What weight loss was enough?) and it all seemed futile so I gave up.

I think I need therapy! Lol

[NewShoesTwoShoes]

Hi, I'm enjoying these threads as they always remind me to get going with Kondo again when I slow down. I've done some clothes categories - but can see myself returning and being more ruthless later on.

Just wanted to agree with the anxiety - when I get rid of certain clothes I am "getting rid" of an old version of me. Me who was excited to start a new job years ago - but now feels sad as I got made redundant. Kondo has allowed me to say "thankyou" for the happy part of the memory but get rid of the clothes so I'm not confronted by the sadness whenever I open my wardrobe. Very "woo" - but true.

I'm hoping to get better at Kondoing because university paperwork - probably comes under sentimental for me - is worrying me already.

[stiffstink]

Someone upthread asked about weight loss - I've been doing SW at the same time as Kondo. I am 39+ weeks pregnant (uterus will be decluttered this week) but I am 1st lighter than this time last year, even with baby on board.

I've gone cake-mad this past month but find that the Kondo mindset has influenced my food choices - eg 'if that cheesecake does not taste as good as it looks, will it bring me joy?' and usually I can't justify eating it in case its disappointing.

I've bought some new fluffy bath sheets and a new bath mat because our old towels are 10yrs old and getting frayed. The old bath mat was too white and always looked dirty when only slightly wet, so a fluffy taupe one will hopefully look and feel better.

The old towels can be kondoed into the boots of our cars for the dog.

[GrubbyWindows]

leeloo and the other anxious/mournful de-clutterers (me too!!!)- there is a really thoughtful piece on slate about how Kondo is really about accepting mortality, which of course is not easy to do!
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2016/01/mariekondooslifeechangingmagiccanddeath.html

[StitchesInTime]

I've taken several boot loads of books to the charity shop now, and am starting on clothes (I know this isn't the recommended order, but some of the drawers were trapped behind a book mountain).

I found an old book on decluttering buried in the book mountain

[stumblymonkey]

The last few posts have really made me think about the drawer of smaller clothes I've been hanging on to.

Do they spark joy?

They are beautiful dresses from LK Bennett that I love but not sure the emotional connection is right.

They're from a time in my life which was very different to now...I was a party girl, work hard/play hard and dating a lot but very unhappy and not at all contented. Now I'm contented and happy and practically teetotal...I'm settled down and we're TTC DC1 so even if I lost weight would I really have use for tight red dresses?

Probably not....so perhaps that's my answer!

[LexLoofah]

Not done much of my own stuff in last few weeks but DD brought home class stuffed bear with a case full of clothes so I kondo'd it for them!

[IsItMeOr]

Interesting about the connection with accepting mortality.

I have problems with anxiety generally, but have mostly found this cathartic, having read the whole book and (mostly) following the order. I suspect it will get harder when I move onto more sentimental items...

I did find that, when I had de-cluttered the cloakroom, it looked too bare. DH commented on it too. Then, when I was pulling out my cold weather clothes to sort through I found a couple of framed pictures from our honeymoon that I had forgotten, so I propped one of those up in there and it looks about right now.

I've been re-discovering things that I love which were essentially lost in our house before, and moving them into new places (sometimes I've had to try a couple of spots before it feels right). It does feel like I am gradually finding our home again, as the clutter is stripped out.

[Longstocking2]

I have a hoarder in the family who everyone says is OCD with Aspergers though I don't know if she's ever had a formal diagnosis. I see some of her hoarding in me. I find it so hard to decide what to do with stuff.

I don't think M Kondo will know what it's like to have a fluctuating weight! If you get rid of everything that doesn't fit you now, you have nowt when you lose weight... do you?

My h's and my bedroom is a mess, I can't believe it's good for us.

[Wannabefit2016]

If you havent seen this already.. more from Marie Kondo

Also I noticed in at least 4 seperate video's she has a type of uniform for meeting clients or doing presentations... I'd love to see her home and wardrobe.

[StitchesInTime]

I don't think M Kondo will know what it's like to have a fluctuating weight! If you get rid of everything that doesn't fit you now, you have nowt when you lose weight... do you?

I've been going through my clothes the last few days. I have loads of clothes that I've kept for when I lose weight and can fit into them again. Some of these have been too small for me for over 10 years.

Just about all of them are in bags waiting to go to the charity shop now. Yes, if I lose weight I won't have anything to wear. But having piles of too-small clothes around does not spark joy at all. I don't think I realised just how much they were weighing on my mind until I started moving them out.

If i lose weight and have no clothes - well, I'll deal with that when it happens. For now, I have room in my wardrobe and drawers to actually properly see the clothes that do fit and that I like.

[stumblymonkey]

Do you think these pics are her home?

www.houzz.co.uk/ideabooks/59286462/list/magic-of-tidying-author-marie-kondo-shares-how-to-spark-joy-at-home?irs=US

[2016Bambino]

Joining the new thread. I had a little girl a week and a half ago so progress has obviously stopped for a while! I'm really pleased with what I achieved the first few weeks of January though as it would have been super cluttered with new stuff if I hadn't cleared out a lot of things.
I now have mountains of boy's clothes to Kondo as I had saved them in case we had another boy. May leave them to sentimental though as that will be hard!!!

[Zippidydoodah]

Congratulations, bambino!! 💗

[Trenzalor]

Clothes was fairly easy. If it didn't give me a nice feeling to think about wearing it, it went. Clothes and shoes are now beautifully organised. Books however... That's hard. Made somewhat easier by our damp and mould problem killing some signed first editions. I hate mould and damp. Books are currently everywhere and I've bagged up the easy to part with ones. The rest are harder.

[stiffstink]

If that's her house and wardrobe she has 5 x more clothing than me! Any idea what those little porcelain things are in her cutlery drawer?

[GrubbyWindows]

stiff I think they are for resting chopsticks on?
congrats bambino!
Re books- soooooo hard!!!! But if it gives you joy to have them there, then I think it's fine, right?. For me they are totally sentimentalia...

[stiffstink]

bambino me too - just had DD today and I'm chomping at the bit to get DS's stuff out of the loft. There are 8 x 80L storage boxes and 2 suitcases of boys things. Utter madness!!

[PrizeyPrize]

Room for another on here? I've just started the book, it's so inspiring.

[GrubbyWindows]

stiff congratulations! You are posting about kondoing within hours of giving birth, I love it! Now go to sleep crazy lady!!!

[HowBadIsThisPlease]

That was a really interesting article.
it's making me think hard about what is difficult for me to let go of and why.

Early in the morning on Jan 1st I was half awake and thought "Lighter". I decided this year to let go of a lot of stuff. I keep trying to think "lighter" and i have such a tendency to be "heavy" in so many ways.... what is it about sad memorabilia that draws me in so hard? Is it somehow shirking respsonbility to cast of bad emotions, bad times? Is it just another manifestation of guilt?

[OneMoreForExtra]

Joining for staying power!

I found and read Kondo after discovering these threads, and did quite well in January with my and DS's clothes, and then stalled. Books aren't a massive issue because I got down to a quarter of the original number a couple of moves ago, and they haven't built back up, but they're next and I'm not motivated. (Not counting cook books which are a special and growing category!) I Kondoed my car last week which upset me a lot - like a PP said it was saying goodbye to a previous, liberated version of me. Now I don't use it to commute and we go out as a family in DH's car, so it was sadly sitting outside our house getting rusty, but I still cried. And I think it's put me off doing more - I need to Kondo something I want to free up next. I'm liking the 'lighter' motto HowBad .