How do you decide what sparks joy?

[defrostingdilemma]

I’ve just started the process of decluttering my home and have been really inspired by reading some of the threads on Mumsnet.

If you’re currently decluttering, how do you decide what items “spark joy” and you therefore want to keep? And equally, what makes you decide to get rid of something too?

I guess this is aimed at those who follow the Marie Kondo method, but also those who don’t and have their own criteria for keeping something or chucking it out. Everyone really!

My aim is to do a major declutter and then follow the TOMM method to ensure the house is permanently visitor ready. That’s the dream anyway - I’m not sure how realistic it is.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts

You don’t decide...it’s a feeling...does it lift you? Does it stir up nice thoughts or emotions for you? Etc if you don’t FEEL positive about something then get rid of it or pass it on.

If I went by joy I’d have feck all left over .. does a hoover ever spark joy?
I do follow the idea of do I like/love it with clothes/makeup stuff but everything else it’s more a do I use this and when did I last use it.

Have you read the Kondo book (rather than the tv show)? It's very clear and helpful.
If you do it in her order, and start with clothes in a heap, go straight for your absolute fave things, pick them up one at a time and notice the feeling. That's what you are after!

I described it to my DM (who had to get rid of loads of stuff when she downsized) as "look at this shelf full of ornaments, if there was a fire, and you could grab one thing from there, what would it be?" and from there she cleared about half the contents of her house

Have you used it / worn it within the last year?

Thanks for the replies! What do you do if you have a lot of items that truly spark joy? Keep them?

Yes. As long as they do create a positive all together as well.
If you feel oppressed by all the things even though individually you like them, then you'll need to reconsider.

Very helpful - thank you! Looking forward to getting stuck in!

i have many things that I have not used or worn within the last year.
I would not dream of getting rid of them. that seems a very utilitarian attitude to life. I don't agree with it.
I do find it hard to get rid of things, think it kind of insecurity, don't have much money. so often happens I get rid of something, maybe I never use it, then the very next week something happens, and I need it, so have to go out, find it,if it still is available, buy it, prob more than I need, and of course the cost.
so this puts me off throwing things out. one never knows when something might be needed.
I have in the past bought bales of cloth from Liberty, simply because I like the colour/ pattern. they cert sparked joy, so I left them over the back of a chair, where I could be uplifted by them every morning.
I cannot do needlework, nor am I crafty, to make them into something. I don't regret buying those, when I could afford to.
I have got in a muddle since though.
several deaths in th family, having to take clear stuff, even with disposing of much, still have much to go through, sort and sift. its more than a practical physical task though.
it can be too sad to do.

I am a miserly ecofreak which makes it hard to get rid of anything that 'might' be useful. I decided that if I only had to buy 1/3 of it back, that was still 2/3 of the oppressive clutter gone (so worth it). In reality, probably I've only had to buy 5-10% back. So well worth adopting a minimalist, decluttering attitude.

Alex, consider whether to offer the nice bolts of cloth to a sewing group, maybe a group who make quilts for vulnerable people. This will be doubling your pleasure by sharing it with others. Sometimes charity shops have nice pieces of cloth you can buy & enjoy for a while, to share onwards with others, when ready for new things.

When my mother died, I shipped tonnes of her stuff to my home (inter-continental, went thru the Panama Canal!). Almost all of it I have given away or sold since. I didn't understand that what she loved wasn't what I loved. Sudden deaths are so hard to sort out what to keep. tbh, I've thought a lot more about things my dad might leave me when he goes. I'm going to be very choosy about which of his things to keep. he has a fragile large art item I truly want... but can I ship it? Agonising over that one.