KonMari 2017 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

minnie2 · 5 October 2017 at 9:46AM

Firebubble he loves his puzzles but i have just turfed some out.i am very aware of the C word approaching and i know he will get tonnes more so his favourites stay.the books may need another visit but the younger books are now appropriate for my daughter.i think i need to keep the baby clothes a bit longer got to have a hysterectomy soon im on medication in preparation already and i was told i was infertile so my babies are still extra especially precious at min but i may knock it down to one outfit.i was told to keep them by people as i was throwing out at the time but now its been 3yrs i am faltering but i think i need time.

minnie2 · 5 October 2017 at 9:50AM

firebubble wrote: »

Minnie2, it sounds as if you're powering through your house!

Re children's clothes, get them out and have a good look at them...even when washed and put away clean, stains seem to appear when they are stored for years, so that might make the decision easier if you're looking to cull any.

Baby clothes are only sentimental to mothers, not the children who wore them, probably because the babies don't remember. Even if you want to pass them on to be worn by your grandchildren, really no one wants to put their beautiful new baby in old, musty and even stained clothes, so I haven't actually seen any of my friends or family gasp with delight at 30 year old baby clothes, lovingly preserved by Grandma... it's harsh, but in the same way that you probably enjoyed making or choosing these clothes new, your children will want to do the same thing, not have to pretend to be grateful for a box of old stuff. I think it's the same with wedding dresses - women save them, thinking how lovely it will be for their daughters to wear them, but this is actually horribly selfish, because it's imposing your choice on your daughter, with a whole bundle of guilt added in around not offending mum...

Also, re your son's puzzles, there is a simple solution - sit down once a week with him and do a puzzle. If he doesn't ever want to do a puzzle, or if he loses interest before finishing it, you've got your answer and the puzzle that he's not interested in can go!

GreyQueen - I'm wondering about getting rid of my ironing board. I absolutely loathe ironing boards (I'm left handed, so always seem to trap my fingers), and as a result, I have designed my life so that I never iron anything apart from very very rare occasions...even then, I spread it on my bed and iron there. It must be at least 2 years since I got the ironing board out... But I keep thinking, what if I suddenly need to start ironing, and what happens if I don't have the ironing board?!! :rotfl: So it's still sitting in the cupboard...annoying me by falling over every time I get something out.

I dont iron.i have a £4 iron from argos i bought years ago that my hubby uses occasionally.i honestly couldnt tell you where the iron is right now.....but if he needs to iron he uses the kitchen work surface or he has also been know to iron it while he is wearing it.if you have a piece of work surface in the kitchen its as good as a board more stable and the plugs are right there too and no risk of iron toppling off

Karmacat · 5 October 2017 at 10:01AM

firebubble wrote: »

GreyQueen - I'm wondering about getting rid of my ironing board. I absolutely loathe ironing boards (I'm left handed, so always seem to trap my fingers), and as a result, I have designed my life so that I never iron anything apart from very very rare occasions...even then, I spread it on my bed and iron there. It must be at least 2 years since I got the ironing board out... But I keep thinking, what if I suddenly need to start ironing, and what happens if I don't have the ironing board?!! :rotfl: So it's still sitting in the cupboard...annoying me by falling over every time I get something out.

Me too :j I was asking myself that very question just last week. I don't trip over it, but I certainly don't use it, and if by some rare chance I did have to iron something (erm, I can't remember the last time) I could use the kitchen table, which has a layer of floor vinyl laid over it as a heat protector.

minnie2 wrote: »

i think i need to keep the baby clothes a bit longer got to have a hysterectomy soon im on medication in preparation already and i was told i was infertile so my babies are still extra especially precious at min but i may knock it down to one outfit.i was told to keep them by people as i was throwing out at the time but now its been 3yrs i am faltering but i think i need time.

Then please give yourself time, minnie - I know you described yourself as impatient, but why set yourself up for regret if you chuck out too much, especially when there's so many other categories you could be doing?

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Fen1 · 5 October 2017 at 10:25AM

My ironing board is permanently out. OH irons one shirt for work each morning rather than doing a pile once a week. OH does not plan or do ahead. Grrrr.

However, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really bother me. I far prefer him doing his own ironing than have me do it ( which I used to : how stupid am I??😠😠😠😠😠).

I occasionally, perhaps once a month, iron other stuff. I now wear clothes that are non-iron or minimum iron. It took decades for me to figure that one out. Again, how stupid am I????

Also - confession time - where would I house the ironing board? My closets are full.

And so it continues to decorate the living room...

[Deleted User] · 5 October 2017 at 10:43AM

some unplanned km this morning but good. I am preparing a few things towards christmas presents and wanted to laminate a few bits, charts that I downloaded, I had far and away too many laminating pouches, including A3, much has gone out, bin day today, no point keeping hundreds of pouches, just because I bought them ages ago. While in that cupboard, I unearthed some large bottles of herbals, not needed any more, down the sink and another small but important space is released from stuckness

Re ironing, lol, I remember when the family were at home, the ironing was divided into five piles and everyone did their own, even children after age 11. Just hankies and pillow cases before that age.Our son got very crafty and only ironed the top front of his school shirts if he was wearing a jumper. When there was just husband and me, he did all the ironing. I seldom iron now but keep the board out as I have space, I need the iron for my linens, much of what I make is linen/cotton, wears very nicely and can be worn several times but no doubt needs a press after washing

I am still on the accidental KM route, when things turn up, then I decide. Category never worked for me, would have spread the mess all over, I found that a corner at a time, in a room worked the best

oceanspirit · 5 October 2017 at 12:05PM

greent wrote: »

There are also some (impractical) shoes which I love but am unlikely to wear again. On the basis they make me smile when I open their boxes, though, I am going to keep them

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

Greent I have a lovely pair of shoes with a matching bag that I wore for my niece's wedding - I don't think I've worn them since, but I love them and they make me smile. Ahem, my niece got married 12 years ago but they're a classic style so I'm keeping them!

I have a pair of heeled ankle boots which I only wore a few times before I had my major arthritis flare which has left my ankles and feet badly damaged. They are in a box in the top of my wardrobe and they stay because to me they are objects of beauty and I love them.

OH has offered to help me catch up with a few things over the next couple of days so more things should be leaving. So far a suit of his is ready to leave as it is too big for him.

daisy_1571 · 5 October 2017 at 12:54PM

To those swithering, get rid of your irons and boards if you don't use them !!

I think as we go through life we gradually refine so if you currently don't iron on a regular basis then why are you going to suddenly start ? Or rather, why are you going to start so suddenly that you don't have time to go to a 24 hour supermarket and pay £12 for a new one ? You can easily iron on the floor on a towel or as other people have said on a kitchen bunker however if like me you iron once in a blue moon but it is sewing related then it is easier to keep the board for example I have just made curtains for my treatment room so was ironing long bits of cloth yesterday - if i ever needed to do a shirt I can do that on the floor, 2 yard long bits of cloth not so much.

It's easier though to hang a shirt on a hanger to dry buttoned up then put it straight in the wardrobe ready for its next usage. It's sitting for a week in an 'ironing basket' that crushes it.

Karmacat · 5 October 2017 at 2:35PM

daisy_1571 wrote: »

To those swithering, get rid of your irons and boards if you don't use them !!

I like that

I think I can certainly get rid of the board, but I'd keep the iron, in case I *did* want to iron on the table. I do have some things that would look better ironed, and I want to keep them.

I think as we go through life we gradually refine so if you currently don't iron on a regular basis then why are you going to suddenly start ? Or rather, why are you going to start so suddenly that you don't have time to go to a 24 hour supermarket and pay £12 for a new one ?

I love the first statement! Though to be honest, buying a new ironing board would mean an online shop and a home delivery, as I have no car.

You can easily iron on the floor on a towel or as other people have said on a kitchen bunker however if like me you iron once in a blue moon but it is sewing related then it is easier to keep the board for example I have just made curtains for my treatment room so was ironing long bits of cloth yesterday - if i ever needed to do a shirt I can do that on the floor, 2 yard long bits of cloth not so much.

Hmmm! I'm just about to inherit a sewing machine from my mum, my sister's bringing it on Saturday. I've never sewed, but as this one has become available, I want to see if I *can*. I can see the board being better for long cloth than the floor, but I could still see ironing curtain length cloth on a table. Or my desk, come to that! Or am I missing something, Daisy? I really don't know, its a foreign area to me.

That's it, the ironing board gets the chop

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catshark88 · 5 October 2017 at 3:05PM

I am very excited. I am waiting for am Am@zon delivery which includes 2 plate stands for items I stored out of sight, FOR YEARS in the bureau that now awaits its Viking funeral.

One is a bit of stained glass from the door of my childhood home (which I adored) and one is a tacky painted plate of a smiling whale, which is one of the most idiotically joy sparking things I can imagine.

OK, I need to get out more...

:rotfl:

EssexHebridean · 5 October 2017 at 3:12PM

daisy_1571 wrote: »

To those swithering, get rid of your irons and boards if you don't use them !!

I think as we go through life we gradually refine so if you currently don't iron on a regular basis then why are you going to suddenly start ? Or rather, why are you going to start so suddenly that you don't have time to go to a 24 hour supermarket and pay £12 for a new one ? You can easily iron on the floor on a towel or as other people have said on a kitchen bunker however if like me you iron once in a blue moon but it is sewing related then it is easier to keep the board for example I have just made curtains for my treatment room so was ironing long bits of cloth yesterday - if i ever needed to do a shirt I can do that on the floor, 2 yard long bits of cloth not so much.

It's easier though to hang a shirt on a hanger to dry buttoned up then put it straight in the wardrobe ready for its next usage. It's sitting for a week in an 'ironing basket' that crushes it.

this may work for "easycare" type shirts, but I can assure you the 100% cotton ones worn by MrEH can be removed straight from the machine, shaken well, and hung up right away, and they will STILL need an iron before he wears them to work. I don't care though - he does his own and usually any oddments of mind that need doing too - which suits me a treat!

ps - to the person who said they had nowhere to store their ironing board - try behind an open door - ours lives behind the spare room door in just this way at weekends. the iron, however, has no fixed abode and lives on the dining table...

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KonMari 2017 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

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