The KonMarie method

GreyQueen

Been to the allotment this morning for about 2 hours and decided to bottom out the shed. I don't like to leave it too late in the year as the spiders go from merely large to giganormous come August-September.

Anyway, as the weather looked steady for a while, the shed barfed some of its contents outside and I had a good sweep, de-cobweb, window cleaning and curtain removal. I have a piece of net which was offcut from a curtain in the flat which was the perfect depth and width for the shed window, so that helps with security by obscuring the contents somewhat.

I turfed out my trusty and much-mended leather gauntlets, very knackered and now replaced by a gift pair from the family. I held onto the old ones for a few months (OK, a year ) because the new ones seemed too nice to sully with gardening. Have given myself a good talking to, you may be sure.

Have also satisfied myself that I do have one orange cracker box with two lids and no idea where the second tub is, so the spare lid can go. Have also moved so stuff around, to make things I will be needing in the next few months more accessible, plus wiped down racks and surfaces.

Have done a dump run with some rubble, some cardboard and some other misc carp from the shed, so looking pretty tidy in there. Am now back home and running a washload which includes the net from the shed, and will get that back up there later. Meantime, I have freshened up with a shower.

One of the things which motivated me to declutter today was a re-reading of a blog called hoardingwoesandyou, which runs from 2010 to present. The blogger is a man in his sixties who has to cope with two frail nonagenarians (his mother and then her sister) and their two hoarded houses.

It's kind, wise, honest, heart-breaking and contains pictures both beautiful and harrowing. I'd highly-recommend it.

At least I've never unearthed a skeletal or mummified animal in my efforts...................!

Have also decided that a couple of things bought and never used can go, and that a wooden wine box, which I've had for about a decade, is really not best used up there. It has been de-spidered, washed up there, and will have a more detailed wash and brush-up down here, with a view to being shabby-chic storage. I'm thinking on the latter plan, but whatever happens, it isn't going back to the allotment shed.

PollyWollyDoodle

Gosh that blog looks interesting. Just started back in 2010 ....

I've definitely got my Kondomojo back, keeping all the carp in MY room rather than putting it back in the spare rooms has had an impact. I had slipped again, stopped asking the 'joy' question and was just being practical.

Got rid of a bag of craft stuff - some discarded, some given away and the rest stored in a box that handily presented itself. I may go back and review some of this and decide whether I'm ever actually going to do that craft again but that's for a future round of KM, at the moment I still want to be the person who does it! I think as my life simplifies, I may feel differently about it.

Your bathroom cabinet looks fabulous Judi. I think I may need to revisit mine!

katsu

Filled a large IKEA bag today and only hesitated about one top that I've lifted back out.

DH and I are identifying a number of things that don't fit
our current lifestyle so don't bring us joy, much as they used to.

bossymoo

Thanks ladies, I have read the book. I'm eager to start but need to get the next week out of the way first. So just trying to think things through.

Its probably already stopped me in my tracks of thoughtless buying- but I also have to contend with my MIL who is a very prolific bargain hunter and quite possibly supplies more than 2/3 of the kiddies clothes:eek:

Susan1962

I thought I'd Kondoed all my clothing but there's still the odd item, usually popping up as I fold laundry. So - a pink t-shirt that I like, but don't love and rarely use - into the donation bag. While I was doing a bit of dusting (not too much, don't want to startle the OH by unexpected behaviours LOL) I realised that there was a fair bit of komono in the livingroom. Now in the donation bag: 2 "decorative" (ie not in any way useful) bowls; 2 metal sweetie dishes; and a snowglobe. Oh and one large dried flower that had rolled into the corner when I Kondoed the pot pourri!

GreyQueen

Dunno if it's co-incidental but the ticker on the hoardingwoes blog which shows the country of readers is going UK-UK-UK-UK-UK-UK. Is that you, ladies? :rotfl:

Going to pop to the lottie to do some stuff now the sun is over the yard arm. May nip into a supermarket on the way to or fro for a treaty snack, as I'm feeling self-indulgent.

Gonna sling that jacobs cracker box lid into the recycling on my way out and rehang my freshly washed shed net curtain when I get back up there. Flat's a trifle untidy but my shed is spotless, dahlings.

Laters, GQ xx

MoonJelly

GreyQueen wrote: »

Dunno if it's co-incidental but the ticker on the hoardingwoes blog which shows the country of readers is going UK-UK-UK-UK-UK-UK. Is that you, ladies? :rotfl:

One of them people is definitely me. :rotfl:



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bunbun2

grey queen I did have a quick look at the blog...

today OH and I have kondoed the fridge - the contents not the appliance:) Everything was just chucked in and we couldn't see what we had. There were also loads of nearly empty jars that had been in there ages. it is lovely now, so tidy and easy to see what is in there. I keep looking at it, it makes me so happy:rotfl:

oceanspirit

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

I had slipped again, stopped asking the 'joy' question and was just being practical.

That's the key to the Marie Kondo method, isn't it? I have been working on the paperwork category for so long now that I too keep forgetting to ask the 'joy' question because a lot of the paperwork has to be dealt with from a practical point of view. I am grateful for the reminder, thank you.

Struggling with clothes because many of the older items which I love are looking scruffier than I thought however I don't want to spend precious energy going shopping at the moment as I feel that finishing the Kondoing is my top priority right now.

The results of Kondoing so far (even though my home is still looking very messy) are starting to spill over into other parts of my life and I am starting to feel positive about the future. It has been so worthwhile sorting out the piles of papers and I'm glad I started on the filing cabinet because many loose things should have been put away and couldn't be because the cabinet was full. It makes everything so much easier to do now that things are where they are supposed to be.

Can't wait to move on to books and then the remainder of my bedroom however the office still has a few more boxes still to go through so will continue plugging away at those. Am now completely caught up with (non-book) reading so when each new magazine appears (trade one is monthly) I shall be able to read straight away and let it go before it has time to become clutter. Soooo exciting.

Hollyboll

Evening all

Thanks for all the Drawer Lining responses (didn't pass me by either - I originally had in my post "oooooo-errrr" after "my drawers are clean and bare" but deleted it!) :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Anyway, it's actually made me realise something - PollyWollyDoodle you are spot on again - love the story of your mum's 21st presents … as immigrants there's no heirlooms around here (nor in parental homestead), in fact I was quite shocked to realise after reading your post that apart from my bed pretty much everything in my flat is from Ikeya. Bit sad, although I'm comforted by the memory of someone very early posting in this thread about Conran saying Ikeya is the new habitat. Still ….

Mav, could we have a pic of the baby bunnies?

Greyqueen, now just be careful that all those things out of the parental airing cupboard don't start speaking to Gary and his agent and getting ideas about unionisation, or collective bargaining, 'cos you'll never then get rid of them.

On the book, for whatever it's worth I think it helps, but not essential for starting. The principles are pretty straightforward, and actually the style pretty oddly translated into English. There's masses on t'interweb and as many here have said, most of us do our own variation on the core rather than Purist Kondo. I'm in a small flat with loads of storage (which someone said a while ago was what MK is in) and there are still bits of her method which honestly can't work for me. So not discouraging anyone from reading it, definitely worth doing at some point, but as World's No. 1 Procrastinator my suggestion would be don't let that be the reason not to start (especially if you are waiting on library and there is a queue - if you are buying it, just do it - it'll only take a couple of hours to read).

I've had a rubbish day on kondoing front. Bought some clothes this morning - all bargains and needed 'cos I start working again in a fortnight, but because I had to buy them in sale with current circs, and 'cos they are work clothes so 'needed', not all of them are exactly joyful.

This afternoon I had to be outside - I am such a sunlover, could not resist. Not yet really worked out what I can kondo sitting in the sun, need to give some proper thought to this!

But going to eat something and then do at least some kottering, if not full-blown Kategory