Starting my KonMari journey!

[happytobemrsg]

I don’t have a HUGE amount of stuff as I chucked loads out when we moved bedrooms, but what I do have is unorganised & most of it certainly do not spark any joy. My plan is to start on my clothes tomorrow, then move onto bags/accessories & shoes when I have another spare day.

I’ve finished watching the Marie Kondo series & I’m on the last couple of pages of her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. Her other book - Spark Joy - is on its way to me so I can get help with the folding etc of my clothes tomorrow.

Hoping this will inspire me to do the same with DC’s stuff (3yo & 6w). DH already seems to organise in a similar way to Marie & he has much less stuff. Hoping my transformation (ha!) will rub off on him.

I’m also hoping a clutter-free house will make cleaning easier & I can jump on the TOMM thread once I’m done.

I’m weirdly excited about this! Would love a KonMari thread but if this just ends up being me rambling on & posting before & after pics to keep me accountable then so be it!

Oooh, I'm excited for you! It really changed my life.

Oooh following with interest! I got as far as clothes and books then had DC2. That was over 3 years ago and DC3 was born last week... not sure whether to start again or just plough on with paperwork!
@CanISpeakToYourManager how long did the whole festival take you? And have you found maintaining it straightforward??

I couldn't say for sure how long it all took because I don't think we did it strictly by the book. We had years of crap accumulated and my health was poor.

But I found it changed my decision making hugely in all areas of my life. I can tell much more quickly now if something is 'for me' or not. It is easier to let things go. After a while I basically made my husband read it and then he had a go. I remember we halved our enormous book collection.

We moved house a year ago and we still has many trips to the tip etc but before kondo, I would have just brought the lot with us and drowned in the stuff!

I've finished my stuff and actually feel a little bit jealous of you! It's so much fun.

I'm yet to get the book. Please share how you go about it. My study is a bomb site and I'm keen to get it cleared. All ears!!

Honestly, best £6 you'll spend is getting it from her! Or audio book - my 12 yo dd listened to it five times and then cleared her room this summer :) I couldn't do it justice.

Ok so I managed to do my tops & dresses today!! When I couldn’t decide if something gave me joy I put it in a separate pile next to me & I found that as I carried on working through my pile of clothes I found it easier to make a decision on my maybe pile. My ability to decide if something gave me joy definitely got better as I went on. As I said in my OP, I don’t have loads of clothes left since my move but I was still able to have 1 full bun bag for charity & a pile of things for eBay. I’ve decided they must be on eBay within 2 weeks otherwise I have to charity them (I don’t want them lingering in my room).

Next job is to discard my jeans/leggings & underwear/loungewear. None of my underwear spark joy but I know I need new bits as it’s all worn or ill fitting after second DC. This may be my excuse to buy new.

I think if I were you @DustyDoorframes I’d start again with clothes - I’m sure you have accumulated more stuff & perhaps after all this time you can discard some bits you once decided to keep.

I’m enjoying it already @FurrySlipperBoots!!

Join me @ViewsAreMine!! We can go through it together!

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My life is a continued cycle of Kondoing

I already use my Stylebook app to decide what to wear each day but I can already see how only having clothes I love to choose from makes getting ready more enjoyable.

I think jeans will be difficult tomorrow. Right now nothing other than high waisted sparks joy because my cs car is still so uncomfortable.

Love it!!! In a nutshell:

Starting with your vision really keeps you on track. How do you want your home to look, feel, smell, be used and enjoyed? Collecting pictures and writing descriptions all firm your ideas and give you something to remind yourself when you're losing heart.

Then do categories, not locations - easiest one is clothes, then books, papers, komono (all the rest of your stuff in categories) and finally the hardest category, sentimental.

Doing every category all in one go is the method, but realistically you may need to do them in sections.

Hold every item and ask yourself 'does it spark joy?' if no - out it goes.

Clean and refresh drawers, cupboards etc before you put the things you're keeping away then look at the folding and other storage methods MK recommends. Things look SO NICE.

Take before and after pics to feel pleased with when you look at them.

Enjoy!!

Oooh Great work @happytobemrsg ! Clothes postpartum I find really hard, it's such a transition time as your body is changing shape so quickly. I have clothes I don't love which get me through at this stage, but only for a few weeks each. This is my last baby so I think I'll be saying goodbye as I move through them this time...

happytobemrsg Talking of jeans, I used to think that I could never find any better than my French Connection skinny jeans with an elasticated waist for £70 until I tried the Tesco ones for around £12-£14.

I have every colour now. They might be called jeggins, anyway the elastic waist might be ideal for your CS scar.

They stay up all day, I cannot praise them enough for making my tummy look flat

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do any KonMari-ing today (except that I used her folding method to rearrange DS1’s pants/socks/vests/PJs. I’m amazed by how much fits in the drawer now. We are moving DS1 to our old master bedroom so I’m having to focus on that right now, hopefully doing my jeans/leggings next week when DS1 is back at preschool.

@WomanBornNotWorn I have a vision in my head of the lifestyle I want to create. I want my life to be clutter free, clean lines, no dust. I don’t want my eyes drawn to dust. I want each room to smell nice. I want each room to feel calm. I don’t want to apologise to guests for mess or dust. I want to feel proud of my home.

From just doing my tops & dresses my wardrobe looks lighter. I read that you should decorate your storage areas with things that spark joy so they are not hidden anymore. I have put a large photo I have of me & Marlene from OFAH at the back of my wardrobe which I see every time I go to my dresses - it makes me smile. I’m super excited about the storage stage. I keep looking at boxes & wondering what I can store in them.

@DustyDoorframes it IS such an awkward stage. I’m back to my old weight but the scar is proving tricky & quite painful when something rubs on it. I’m going to stick to stretchy treggings & dresses for the time being.

@BlueLines do you have a link to those jeggings? I’ve bought some black & blue Lift & Shape high waisted jeans from New Look & they have lovely stretch. I wish they did more colours though - I miss my regular khaki jeans.

I’ll take a pic of DS1’s drawer tomorrow- it looks fab!

The DCs rooms have finally been sorted so I had a chance to KonMari my trousers. Was much easier than I thought. I’m keeping 3 pairs of high waisted jeans (I massively recommend the New Look Lift & Shape ones), my favourite pre-pregnancy khaki jeans & a raspberry pair from Gap I love but not sure I I’ll fit back into. Right now they still bring me joy so they are staying. Will try them on when feeling more comfortable & reconsider then. I also kept 2 pairs of printed treggings. I have some lovely leggings I like wearing at home so keeping them for loungewear which will be my next category to tackle.

I’ve got about 15 things on eBay. I did have one particular dress on there but after discussing it with family today I tried it on & really liked it so will keep it. This is where the KonMari method seems to go wrong for me. She says I shouldn’t try items on, just hold then to decide if it sparks joy. But sometimes things look crap on the hanger but look fabulous on.

I know I owe this thread some photos. Will add some as soon as I remember!!

Well done Op! You are smashing it!

But like the things that look bad on hanger but great on there are Likewise things sometimes you keep in the wardrobe, as you used to look fab when younger and thinner! so it sparks joy but actually looks bad when you try it on and makes you sad!!
Anyone else got a wardrobe of clothes that you hope to fit into one day?!

That makes sense Vicky! I have kept the dress I wore when DH proposed which still fits, but have discarded my tiny playsuit from my hen party.

I wish I had more time to really crack on with the rest of my clothes but with a 3 yo & 7 week old it’s tough!

happy I'm in awe that you are managing to sort ANYTHING, you are a superwoman in my book!!
Re trying things on- I think she means to not get bogged down trying tons of stuff on. Most things you do know when you pick them up, but trying the odd thing on isn't going to wreck the process. Keeping momentum really helps, so I tend to put the "argh don't know" stuff to one side and come back to it, it generally feels clearer at that point- and that would be the moment to try stuff on too.

Ah thanks Dusty! I’m still not 100% convinced on that dress even though everyone says how nice it is on me 🤷‍♀️

I’m going shopping at the end of the month & I really want to buy new underwear & loungewear so that’s my incentive to get those bits sorted ASAP (post DC I’m treating myself to some nice underwear that actually fits).

mrsg I’ve started the wardrobe declutter too. Baby girl is 10 weeks now and I need new underwear. Must go and get fitted. I have a section of maybe clothes which I think need to be tried with the right underwear. So bra shopping next week.

Have ditched 6 pairs of jeans today though.

Photos of DS1’s clothes as promised

I just did my underwear drawer - bras, knickers, socks & thermal layers

I still fill the drawer even though I chucked loads away. It’s just more organised & easier to get to everything I actually wear

Currently sorting dd and ds’ clothes. Have a box of stuff which doesn’t fit. Will take the week and sort through it and work out what I can save of ds’ and pass down to Dd. The rest will either be stored for car boot or taken to charity shop.