The KonMarie method

iQueen

bossymoo wrote: »

I know, it's madness. As a child I had one narrow wardrobe, with a single door. It had everything from underwear to outerwear and I was always well turned out.

And yet it is the generation older than myself that supplies all this excess

DS wardrobe sorted. Top drawer has pjs pants and socks. Middle has summer shorts and tshirts, bottom has long sleeve and long leg stuff, neatly folded and filed. I've filled a Binbag with unneeded stuff and flung a rather yellowin school tee.

School uniform is boxed to go on the high shelf. I've kept 3pr trousers the right size and 3 the next size up. The rest can be donated. No child needs 7 pairs of school trousers :eek:. He needs one pair of PE shorts and 2 cotton tank tops. Then it's just shoes, later in the summer, unless his current ones still fit - they are in good Nick.

I can also see he could do with an evening outfit for our hols. He has a smart pair of shorts and a cute shirt, but another of each would be good. He's plenty of beach tees that can be ditched before we come home.

I'm tired now, I'm going to have a nap :T

Sounds like you've got this Excess Stuff licked! Well done! :T (The politicians will be quailing, if everyone follows suit, and the booming days of Consumerism-for-no-good-reason, dies! :rotfl:)

Oh, yes, the earler generations probably don't want our children to be as, apparently, deprived as we were! We were actually the lucky ones!

Enjoy your well-earned nap!

Susan1962

Oh, I'm having flashbacks to my youth! Two school skirts, two shirts, two jumpers plus Sunday best! Never had to worry about what to wear - except in midwinter if I spilled anything on the school shirt while the other one was on the pulley - yikes! Handwashed and, very, very carefully popped in the oven to dry!!

kazwookie

Iqueen your wardrobe sounds like mine...........one single and 3 draws and tat was it.

Mine even today is much the same

ChihiroSen

I loved the Konmarie book and have always aspired to a minimalist lifestyle. (child of hoarder and having hoarding tendencies myself)

So today I began my declutter, starting with my clothes, and immediately hit a problem.
I didn't feel any joy for 99% of the clothes I own, and the ones I did love, were things like hot pants I wore when I was seventeen....and sadly cannot wear anymore.

I do not have the money to buy new clothes, so how do I decide what to keep and what to throw away?

Has anyone else had this problem and found a way to over come it?

Thanks

GreyQueen

maman wrote: »

Totally agree!!:T


Still reading the book here. I must admit I am amazed by the number of items so many of her customers have, and that's just with the clothes. I thought I was bad....

I read it and thought to myself; call that a hoard, I can do better than that! Pah, bunch of lightweights!

My school uniform was two skirts, ghastly A line navy polyester jobbies, two sweaters and 4-5 white blouses. We'd come home from school and have to change into our scruffs right away. I can remember one or two party dresses but it was mostly jeans and jumpers, shorts and teeshirts, with photos confirming my memories.

I do remember that there was always a problem with the laundry. I think clothes were more expensive, relative to income, we were very skint, and probably could have done with more socks and undies. Can recall a few times when the items were washed but not dried and had to be laid over the oven shelves to finish off before dressing for school........:rotfl:

Never had scorch marks on my undercrackers since!

Have been to the allotment harvesting cougettes (pan of pasta thang on the stove as we speak) and crammed two Ikeya bagfuls of dried out weeds onto the bike and off to the tip. One good thing about having to leave them for a few weeks was that they'd dried and reduced in both weight and volume, so I could get more gone on one trip.

Tomorrow I have a hot date with my lovely dentist. 1.5 hrs in the chair, omg. Wish me luck, troops!

DawnW

ChihiroSen wrote: »

I loved the Konmarie book and have always aspired to a minimalist lifestyle. (child of hoarder and having hoarding tendencies myself)

So today I began my declutter, starting with my clothes, and immediately hit a problem.
I didn't feel any joy for 99% of the clothes I own, and the ones I did love, were things like hot pants I wore when I was seventeen....and sadly cannot wear anymore.

I do not have the money to buy new clothes, so how do I decide what to keep and what to throw away?

Has anyone else had this problem and found a way to over come it?

Thanks

Hmm what I did (I am slimming and between sizes, and am not about to buy all new clothes, at least until I reach my target weight, and then they will be second hand from ebay) was to get rid of the things that I never wore. Be honest, we all have things in this category, and it is an easy way to at least get started. If you never wear an item, what is the point of keeping it? If you are stuck on clothes then why not try this, then move onto another category (you can always revisit later?) I think the idea behind starting with clothes is that it is something judged to be easy to let go of. However, I don't think this is the case for everyone, and you might be better starting elsewhere.

DawnW

GreyQueen wrote: »

I do remember that there was always a problem with the laundry. I think clothes were more expensive, relative to income, we were very skint, and probably could have done with more socks and undies. Can recall a few times when the items were washed but not dried and had to be laid over the oven shelves to finish off before dressing for school........:rotfl:

Clothes were certainly expensive relative to income in the past. And the only source of second hand clothes available was jumble sales, as there were no charity shops or car boot sales where I lived, and certainly no ebay!

maddiemay

ChihiroSen wrote: »

I loved the Konmarie book and have always aspired to a minimalist lifestyle. (child of hoarder and having hoarding tendencies myself)

So today I began my declutter, starting with my clothes, and immediately hit a problem.
I didn't feel any joy for 99% of the clothes I own, and the ones I did love, were things like hot pants I wore when I was seventeen....and sadly cannot wear anymore.

I do not have the money to buy new clothes, so how do I decide what to keep and what to throw away?

Has anyone else had this problem and found a way to over come it?

Thanks

I think that I would start by identifying which parts of my lifestyle needed what clothes, I don't have to go to work any more so mine would probably be scruffy (garden and potentially muddy dog walking), casual (caravanning in the country), smart casual (daytime and evening social stuff) and nice going out clothes (party, dinner, weddings and the like).

See what you have which would fill each roll (probably some cross over here). Then have a mammoth trying on session and discard the downright unsuitable/non repairable/ill fitting things and see what is left. You may have to settle for looking the best that you can in each area of your life for now, keeping in mind what you will need to buy to bring you joy as and when your budget allows and don't rush into buying anything until you know what will create "joy"
When I had to wear boring dark work suits it would be my shoes and some jewelery to show my personality.

Good luck, whatever MC says, we have to adapt to suit us:D

supersaver1000

ChihiroSen wrote: »

I loved the Konmarie book and have always aspired to a minimalist lifestyle. (child of hoarder and having hoarding tendencies myself)

So today I began my declutter, starting with my clothes, and immediately hit a problem.
I didn't feel any joy for 99% of the clothes I own, and the ones I did love, were things like hot pants I wore when I was seventeen....and sadly cannot wear anymore.

I do not have the money to buy new clothes, so how do I decide what to keep and what to throw away?

Has anyone else had this problem and found a way to over come it?

Thanks

I started a new job and found I put on a stone. Luckily my new job was in town so used lunchtimes to shop in the charity shops where I found a couple of really nice work outfits. I realised that when I teamed those separates with a couple of tops from my old clothes I had enough to be getting on with for work a while plus my old stash included a decent pair of leggings, two long tops and a pair of long boots I could wear for the evening. When I kondoed I found that the only clothes I really wore were the above. So everything else went. I've still been CS shopping regularly and am finding that picking up the odd item keeps my stash fresh and up to date. I've since given loads to the CSs and have returned items I shouldn't have bought in the first place without any guilt because it's going to a good cause and I didn't pay much in the first place.

It's really been a revelation, because rather than wanting outfits that would cost hundreds of pounds I love my CS 'finds' (which look brand new) and cost a fraction. I bought a decent pair of shoes off a friend the other day and then a cheap pair from Asd@ and I will probably save for a nice pair of shoes or boots for winter. I've got less clothes than I ever had but feel like I have so many wearable ones and I love mooching the CSs to keep my wardrobe fresh and topped up. It's really satisfying. I had a lovely ball gown for well under a tenner which I think looked better than everyone else's. I'm In need of a wedding outfit so hope to find something in the next couple of months. Fingers crossed.

Sorry for the long thread, but I've turned from someone who hated shopping into someone who loves it because I now know what I don't need and won't buy. I've learned that if in doubt leave it, even in the CSs.

peaceandfreedom

GreyQueen wrote: »

One thing I learned by experience is not to wear beige near my face - makes me look like I'd died the previous day and somehow failed to notice...........:rotfl:

Me too, when I wear beige I seem to kind of, disappear somehow. I don't think any kind of pastel colour suits me but beige is definitely the worst.

I think my colouring is like your friend at work - pale skin, blue eyes, dark hair (dyed now of course ). Red suits me very well, don't have anything burgundy.