The KonMarie method

rosie383

mrs-moneypenny wrote: »

Haven't had a chance to pop in for a while but have just read all the latest posts, they really are motivating. I've done a little decluttering but no major kondoing as in the last week I seem to have acquired not only a much loved and wanted first grandchild but also a full time job seems to have fallen into my lap as well.
Not sure how long the job will last but kondoing will resume when I find some free time.
I prefer to donate my unjoyful items to the charity shop, we gift aid so it's lovely seeing what benefits they bring to the good cause we support and also it's confirmation that the items are bringing joy elsewhere after release rather than just gathering dust in my cupboards.

Congratulations! Enjoy the new baby. :T:T:T:T:T

drusilla

As the weather has been lovely today, OH and myself have doing the great outdoors of our home. I did the little playhouse that OH built for DS. The plan is to try to sell it on as it is in really good condition.

I have 2 tip runs and there is more to go. Chest of drawers that was beyond hope gone, old cot mattress - latterly used in playhouse as 'bed', big floor cushion plus lots of carp.

OH has 'done' his garage. It still has a go cart - to have engine added at some point for DS. He bought it 18 months ago. He also has a full size sit on road sweeper!!!:eek: oh an sitting at the side of the patio is an industrial jet washer that was being thrown out at work. Not to mention the Audi cabriolet that' just needs a few jobs'.

At least my Komono is small. His stuff takes up what would be about 2 rooms of the house.

At least it is going! At least it is going! Repeat to self until convinced!:(

Keep posting everyone. You help me keep going.

PollyWollyDoodle

A road sweeper? :eek: That's not 'komono'!

I discarded all my paperwork over the Easter weekend (or so I thought) but I couldn't decide how to file it. I'm glad I waited, partly as I've since discovered some more stuff that I'd overlooked. It has given me time to think about how I'm going to keep it, and to recognise that the filing cabinet has never really worked for me. It's hard to see what's at the back of the drawer, it needs a lot of space in front of it and it has a distressing tendency to tip forward if you open the top drawer. My fantasy that I could put a cloth over it and make it double-up as a bedside table has never been achieved.

I've now got pensions, endowment policy and stuff that I really only need to access once or twice a year for filing statements, in box files on a shelf. More current stuff (utility bills, tax correspondence, insurance documents, cat, car, health stuff) is in plastic wallets in a ring-binder as recommended by Jinny and demonstrated in the video clip many, many posts ago. Bank statements are in a ring-binder on their own.

I also have a box file marked 'Certificates' which includes exam certificates, birth certificate etc and my copy will. And there's a box file of mementos - my NUS cards, school reports, an article I wrote that was published etc - we all need a little memory bank. It's early days - it remains to be seen whether I'll keep this filing system up to date but nothing else I've ever tried has worked.

And, ladies and gents - I HAVE KONDOED THE FILING CABINET! :j

Igamogam

Clutterfree wrote: »

With regards to expiration dates on make up, I take it all with a huge pinch of salt. These items never used to have best before times on them and it is just a way for companies to make us spend more. If they think I'm going to throw out a £25 lipstick after 12 months :eek: then they can think again! It's down to common sense. You know if something has gone off by its smell or texture. I am sure none of us can afford to bin our make up after 6 or 12 months and buy it all again from scratch. It's just a marketing ploy! (Items that contain SPF I can understand, though).

Love that the CS had gift aid stickers ready for you!

Like I said I never wear the stuff........£25 for a lipstick:eek: Thats probably why!!!!

I am with you with the smell/common sense thing and IMO when it comes to food supermarkets have confused shoppers with their BB dates/sell by dates and use by dates.......nose eyes and common sense. We regularly eat stuff well past The Date. I have some colleagues at work who throw out anything with the days date on REGARDLESS. Makes me mad:D

lilahloo

Congratulations pollywoddledoodle.

I haven't made huge progress discarding lately but I did have a rejig of some kitchen drawers. I now have a drawer with just utensils tastefully laid out, no more rummaging around.

It now reminds me of a drawer I was drooling over in a high end kitchen studio before Christmas. I just need to update some of my utensils now and then my drawer will bring me even greater joy. But I'm in no rush.

GreyQueen

I had a LBM moment a few days ago when trying to use an A4 booklet style road atlas in a moving car (as a passenger, I hasten to add). As in, the print is pretty tiny, and now I've got my middle-aged varifocal vision, I can't effectively use it. I do have a very large road atlas which is on a much larger scale and easier to use, for the rare occasions when I need one, so the smaller one has now been added to the chazzer bag.

Funny how things keep crawling out of the corners, holding up their hands in surrender and going meekly to the chazzer, isn't it?

VJsmum

I had a similar LBM with a blouse yesterday. Actually it was inspired by you, GQ. I was putting it in airing cupboard to finish off drying, it looked like a bit of old rag and needs effort ironing, it doesn't fit all that well. It came from a chazzer - back it's going.:T

GreyQueen

VJsmum wrote: »

I had a similar LBM with a blouse yesterday. Actually it was inspired by you, GQ. I was putting it in airing cupboard to finish off drying, it looked like a bit of old rag and needs effort ironing, it doesn't fit all that well. It came from a chazzer - back it's going.:T

Excellent! I once gave away a garment which was attractive and looked good on me but was a PITA to launder and iron. The caring-for-it part of the equation was negating the joy-in-wearing part, you see.

Actually, I think some things are joy-negative, like positive and negative numbers. We can't eliminate every single thing which we have to do which we don't enjoy, or they'd be no housework done at all in many homes, but we can think about eliminating burdensome belongings.

Or perhaps there could be a PITA Rating Scheme?

1. It requires machine washing on cold. Nothing else I own requires this. Out it goes.

2. It makes me itch. That's uncomfortable, plus it makes me look like I have fleas if I keep scratching in public.

3. It belongs to a bigger, grander home than I have and I keep braining myself on it. Perhaps 8 ft 6 inch ceilings, a nearly 6 ft body and a 2ft chandelier isn't the best combination.........:rotfl:

What's your PITA List, lovely peeps?

in_need_of_direction

Not so much a PITA list but the only hand wash only items I will buy or keep are cashmere and then I will keep it until holes join up and it literally falls apart.

GreyQueen

I'd like to share a link with this article; http://www.becomingminimalist.com/blank-spaces/

I read it and its comments just now and was almost air-punching. Yes, yes. yes, I get this.

I posted upthread about slowly getting past the anxiety of having empty spaces, with my bathroom cistern's top being one case in point. But I did get past it, and it's so soothing on the eye. And when I need to clean it, it's a two-second wipe, not a fandango with moving stuff, wiping, wiping stuff, repositioning etc etc.