The KonMarie method

maddiemay

Just a quick post to say that a couple of "thin lines" of cooking oil on a sheet of paper will work fine to oil shredder if no WD available. My shredder is at least 10 years old and belonged to work (before office closed) and had heavy duty use then:(

Dolly_Mixture

Hi, hope I can join in! I have read the thread from the beginning and have been inspired! I have read the book and passed it on to my sister. I have kondoed my clothes and helped my daughter roll clothes in her drawer and today I "burrito rolled" a duvet cover!


I found it took quite a while to do all my clothes and get them folded back into the cupboards (I did discard a lot!). So, although I am keen to carry on, I don't want to start books until I have time to do them in one go. I also think I will do one bookcase at a time. We have one in our living room and one in the snug and it really would take too much time to bring them all into one room. I also found that I needed to buy some storage boxes after Kondoing my clothes as I had plenty of shelf space but no boxes that were suitable. The shelves are really deep.


I would not have thought of myself as a hoarder as I have regular clear outs and am fairly organised but I am surprised at how much stuff I have got to get rid of since reading the book. As I read this thread and the book my first reaction was "I can't get rid of x or y!" and then as I thought about it, I thought "why not?" and I realised that my daughter will have to sort through all this stuff at some point. So I have found I have mentally prepared to get rid of a lot of stuff, before I have even got there. My frustration is in having the time to do it. However, I have got some time off over Easter so hopefully I will get it done then.


I have found the folding/rolling of clothes revolutionary - I always knew there had to be a better method of storing clothes and the folding/rolling techniques are great! Even my teenage daughter likes them!


Really enjoying reading about everyone else's kondoing adventures.

[Deleted User]

busybee100 wrote: »

Thank you grunnie for the previous link - here's a new one

Listen to it while kondoing, very theraputic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcim7Cvn-oM

Thank you very much for this, I did listen to the last one, well it cut out 5 mins from the end - but I do tend to listen to things a few times to get it really stuck - gonna start Kondoing tomorrow - gonna start with papers though, hope it does not matter too much, as that is the thing thats most pressing in this house.

jinny

Hi and welcome Save Dosh
It doesn't matter where you start just as long as you start somewhere.
I had got fed up with my overcrowded tiny kitchen. I had emptied it all into my dining room to only put back what I truelly used. Then I stumbled across this thread. When the pupil is ready the teacher appears was so true in my case.
Some people want to follow the book religiously but MK only suggests this. Really its not cast in stone.
For instance I will be storing away my winter clothes as I don't have a lot of hanging space or drawers to fold and put away. I was going to buy more clothes storage pre Kondo but with my ruthless cull of clothes I really don't need it. Marie says not to store away seasonal clothes.
I want to have my few in season clothes nicely folded and hanging with plenty space. At the moment everything is a bit crushed on my tiny 3ft hanging rail and with retiring I really don't need that many different categories of clothes now.
Good luck with your paperwork that category alone made me feel free and that all was well in the world. I'm down to 4 ring binders and 4 archival box files from boxes and boxes of papers

Have a great Eclipse day everyone whatever your doing
Please watch your eyes.8•D

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all
Got 3 big bags and 2 fruit boxes full of books to take to the CS at the weekend. I'm really pleased with how much better the landing is looking it doesn't feeling choked up with stuff now.
I'm planning to kondo the towel shelf in the bathroom this morning, there are loads of towels, some are looking a bit worse for wear. A couple of years ago I did roll them and they all looked so much better but they slowly drifted back to being folded and stacked.

Have a good day all

VJsmum

I've done books:T

Got rid of LOADS - even OH has agreed, and he doesn't throw anything away.

He has even got rid of a couple that were gifts

He did say "are we now one of those households that doesn't have any books" :rotfl:

No love, we are now one of those households where the books sit neatly on the shelves, rather than being piled up

oceanspirit

Save_Dosh wrote: »

Thank you very much for this, I did listen to the last one, well it cut out 5 mins from the end - but I do tend to listen to things a few times to get it really stuck - gonna start Kondoing tomorrow - gonna start with papers though, hope it does not matter too much, as that is the thing thats most pressing in this house.

I've started with paperwork as for me it was easier than starting with clothes. I think it was suggested in the book that you start with something that's going to give immediate results so that it spurs you to carry on with the more difficult categories.


I asked a friend if she would help me with my clothes so that's going to happen next Thursday. Having started off a couple of weeks ago thinking there was no way I was going to be able to tackle them, I am now mentally ready to do them.


No kondoing for me today as I have several other pressing things that need to be done but am hoping to chip away over the weekend.

cydney65

So, sorted out my family history files into three folders depending on the family. I recycled SO much paper. I now need to go through each file separately, noting down any new information. I should then be able to reduce the paper by at least half again.

I have started to frame up all old photos of relatives and either hung them on the wall or arranged them on tables. I have also started to introduce GD to her relies. She particularly likes a picture of my mum when she was 18 in her WRAF uniform; she was so pretty.

All the cupboards under the eaves are relatively clear, they were literally piled to the rafters, all I need to redo is the family history paperwork and the cupboard of doom in the main bedroom.

So still some work to do, but on the whole the house is clear and organised. Will crack on today.

CydneyX

PollyWollyDoodle

A long-time lurker, I've never felt the need to comment on a post before which is why I've only just joined the forum. I'm a serial declutterer - started with Don Aslett about 30 years ago and I've tried everything since including Flylady. I've got good things from all of them, but nothing has worked - a few months later I am once again searching for the chequebook or stuffing paperwork into a carrier bag because 'someone is coming'.

I started reading this thread thinking 'I am NOT going to buy another book on decluttering'. By about page 10 I was convinced enough to download it to my Kindle. What I can't understand is why it works when all the other methods have failed. I've decluttered before but never, ever have I had empty drawers. All I've done so far is a few clothing sub-categories and I can't believe how much space has been created. I'm also astonished at the effect it's having on me - getting ready for work is so much less stressful, even though I would have said the bedroom was relatively tidy before. I'm also sleeping better.

I'm about to make a huge life-change, giving up paid work to become self-employed and I know that I need to be more organised, so this has come along at the perfect time. (Love that quote about 'when the pupil is ready, the teacher appears' btw!)

A little tip for those struggling with ephemeral stuff like cards and photos - I can't post a link as I'm a newbie but if you go to Amazon and search 'picture pocket' you'll see what I mean, it's a plastic sheet of pockets. I have one on my kitchen door, it holds not just photos but postcards, theatre tickets, invitations, newspaper cuttings, birthday cards cut down to fit - it's like a living diary and I add and remove things every so often to keep it up to date. Might help with those things you don't want to throw out just yet.

I have much, much more to do - paperwork is my nemesis and if I can overcome that problem it really will be life-changing. I will keep following this thread for inspiration and encouragement - thanks to all the previous posters, especially Jinny for keeping us updated as to life after Kondoing! There are bits of the MSE Forum that I wouldn't set foot in, but this seems a really friendly section.

mrs-moneypenny

Welcome pollywollydoodle I agree I am in the fly thread and the decluttering one and while flying keeps be generally on top of the house work it hasn't really fired me up to decluttering in this amount before, I've flirted with the decluttering thread and got rid of some bits but again it's only by reading through this thread and listening to the book that I think I've finally understood what I've been doing wrong, I don't actually need most of the stuff I have and by clearing what doesn't bring me joy I am making the house so much easier to clean and it just feels better.

had a great and really productive morning. Alough I did tend to flit from one thing to another.
DS2s bedroom was a tip. But I don't feel I can kondo too much of his stuff as he's almost 15 and will be upset as I don't know what possessions bring him joy(apart from the Xbox and games) so I took out and folded all his drawers, only binning tatty undies etc and a couple of too small and I've never seen him in tops went in the CS bag, the room now looks brill and I can see the carpet!
Next towel shelf, all neatly rolled and 10 kondoed into a bag to take to DD1 to use at work as rags. I've condensed them down into 1 shelf so the toiletry shelves now look tidier and I have spare shelf to put the loo roll stash on instead of storing that in a spare room.
Looks worlds better.
Tea towel shelf in kitchen met the same fate, and DH got a bag of old tea towels as rags for car washing they can go out into the garage.
Recycling men shouted thanks for keeping them in work as they piled the cart full of my bags of mags this morning, I told them I'll keep them busy for a while yet.

Have a good weekend all, not really planning much kondoing, but I have a Cs run planned so that will clear the bags and boxes and make room to see what else needs doing