The KonMarie method

dragonette

Atypicalblonde - do these things make you happy to have? Do they spark joy? Are they necessary for something that will spark joy?


I forgot to add - my mum has stayed to refuse to keep things for best, and we are both wearing pretty clothes and I even convinced her to buy herself new and gorgeous lipstick. Have been trying to persuade her to let me getting rid of my childhood things from my old bedroom. Not sure if it'll happen anytime soon, but I will persevere. I think I've cracked the whole not getting myself nice things too, not completely, but I'm replacing worn out things and getting better at buying things that help me pace my energy. A fantastic side effect of wanting to thin out things to make housework easier.

greent

atypicalblonde wrote: »

Good evening all,:)

I am a long time lurker, and read this thread daily. You are all very inspiring, I am a very uncluttered person by nature but MK has made me realise that there is still a long way to go.

As part of my job I deal in probate and often have to go through peoples paperwork to work out their affairs - no mean feat in many cases as people have paperwork going back 30 years plus :eek:

My own paperwork is in great order but my loft... Well. I've de-kippled it today of several things, but have hit a brick wall with some items - photo album of mum&dad's wedding (long divorced and I never see him through choice). I know mum doesn't want it and never would wish to look at it again, yet why don't I feel I can bin it? There are also several lovely laura Ashley dresses from when I was a girl, but I know I'll never put DD in them - what to do? I'm an only child and my mum has obviously kept all these things for me to evoke happy memories of my youth, but I don't need any of it. The feelings of guilt are immense but I just don't know what to do with everything, all my old school reports are up there too. DH hasn't got anything from his childhood and he things it's madness to keep it, but I just feel I should. Even though if I fell under a bus tomorrow I know it would all just be skipped without second glance.

Hmm, seems that's I'm some way away from the clear loft policy I wanted to adopt...

Best wishes to you all xx

Vintage Laura Ashley would probably sell well on ebay - I managed to sell girls dresses from BHS from the late 70s and 80s for ok money


I kept my school reports - my DD found them hilarious


The wedding album is a difficult one which only you know how you really feel about it and why - but how about keeping a choice (half?) dozen pics from it (maybe a nice one of the 2 of them and some larger family group shots?)and kondo-ing the rest? You can always revisit it at a later date

x

wort

hi great work GQ on your parents home.I have to say was at my dd2s home the other day and although she keeps everywhere tidy her bedroom is another matter :eek::eek: I was itching to get stuck in and sort it! I spotted at least 6 cans of deodorant,all half used,3 empty ones which I got her to throw,I picked up all her hair clips and put them together in a box.I have offered to go round later in the week when dgs is back at school.but didn't get a reply:p will ring tomorrow after work.
The only thing I've kondoed this weekend is copious amounts of wine :beer: its been a surprisingly dry few days,Monday being the rainy 1,and that was my detox day !:rotfl:

GreyQueen

atypicalblonde, I have some of my girlhood dresses featured in a patchwork quilt which I made about 20 years ago. There's even a very severnties sundress (black cotton with orange and yellow daisies on it) which was Mum's, incorporated into it. Happy memories contained and utilised.

Perversely, when at my parental home, I have more energy than at my own place as I'm not working my day job and as I don't usually cook or wash up, here. So have been deploying that into the decoration. I like to be able to see where I've been and what I've been doing, in this case the newly painted hall etc will memorialise my vistit.

Mum and I popped into her neighbourhood Liddly this aft and got some reduced bargains and as the sale went over £20 we were offered two small toys (wrapped in plastic) at the checkout, one for each £10 spent. I said no thank you as I knew exactly what would happen to them; floating around the house for years getting in the way.

Doesn't it sometimes feel a little churlish, turning down freebies? But we don't have any young children atm even in the extended family. I suppose I could have taken them and added them to the next chazzer donation bag but I really didn't want to spend my time handling them.

Have rounded up some of the magazines and am hunting the Spring/ Summer argossy book - found the Autumn/ Winter one already on the premises, but need to catch and recycle the other one before it settles in for the next ten years. Beats me why they have it, there are two desktop PCs in this house, they don't shop much anyway, and could easily just look online to see if argossy had anything suitable.

Righty, think the news is now over downstairs (I came up to hide from the sport, did you know the footie transfer season has just ended? Did you give a damn?). Will see if some of those mags can be rehomed somewhere like the GP surgery.............

greenbee

Maybe you could have an evening of going through all the old magazines? If people don't want to go through them then maybe they'll get that they don't need to keep them. Alternatively, if there are articles they want to keep options are to tear them out and put them in a file/on a pinboard, or if you have a digital/phone camera, to photograph them.

Good luck GQ. You're an inspiration!

ivyleaf

dragonette wrote: »

Came on to try and garner some oooh
ooomph, and have not been disappointed. GQ - 2 steps forward and 1 back is a considerable victory when helping (hopefully this isn't offensive to you!) hoarders. Having lived with one, sometimes it's an achievement getting to touch possessions!
Also a lil jealous of your energy - having a bad fatigue episode atm.

VJ - I have little to no clear space yet, it had felt that I had reached a tipping point but now it's not clear enough now.

Can't remember when I last posted, poss about my aunt having decorative but ancient toiletries. I've managed very little since I got back. Barely been able to leave my bed today, so sitting up and kondo-folding laundry. Even feeding the cats drained me, so any item dealt with is a success today

A huge WELL DONE for managing to fold the laundry! :T :T when I'm having a bad ME day my arms don't tend to be co-operative. well, they're not that co-operative at the best of times, but hey. Hope you manage to have a good rest tonight and feel a bit better tomorrow.

GQ Huge kudos to you for all you've achieved, even though you may feel it's less than you'd have liked to :T :T

My OH is still bringing stuff into the house and not sending anything out Today's addition is a low step, to make it easier for our elderly neighbour to climb into and out of our car when we give her a lift to church on Sundays, which is a sweet thought, but I'll have to persuade him that the step he was using to get in and out of the bath, which he's just replaced with a more suitable one, needs to go to the CS this week. Preferably tomorrow.

ETA It just occurred to me, at least the new step will be living in the car rather than in the house!

Siebrie

My parents are slowly decluttering their home. They have lived there for 40 years, and accumulated so much stuff! It was all neatly packed away and did not look like much, but they do not want to burden me with it when they've gone, and they are toying with the idea of moving into an apartment in about 5 years' time. Although, if they manage to keep everything simple and easy to clean, find, and put away, they won't have to move out if one of them needs care. They are 79 and 73, and both treated for cancer, both types with good survival rates, but you never know.

I've kondoed my 10 memory boxes, and have only 2 left. One has a snowman I made in Kindergarten, that I still remember making and thinking at the time 'white crepe paper balls on a black background - how is that ever a snowman?'

atypicalblonde

Thank you for your replies, lovely peeps. I think I will hang onto the album and reports for now, and will investigate eBay for the dresses. If no luck there I love the idea of a patchwork quilt

I still have some teenage memory boxes to go through I must must achieve some more headway with the dratted loft this week. My grandparents have starting dehoarding their home and, at nearly 80 years old apiece and grandad with an Alzheimer's diagnosis, it's really tough going. They still have every single birthday card ever given to their 4 children in the loft. I have been helping as much as I can but with a 3 year old & 17 month old in tow it's logistically tricky at times. No-one else in the fam is helping much, so it's down to little old me to do tip runs, heavy lifting etc

When I shuffle off this mortal coil I want to cause those I love as little fuss as possible in dealing with my possessions & finances. Keep up the great work everyone, this thread is wonderful xx

supersaver1000

maman wrote: »

I can see the point but I'm not sure I ever had containers for some things so really thinking hard. I find if I keep manicure bits (hand cream, buffer, emery board, nail oil) by my chair in the sitting room I look after my nails better. Previously they were just scattered over a table top but haven't returned since we decorated. I want something that looks better than a mushroom punnet. Any advice?

Also moved all sewing stuff to a new home with other crafting bits but realise that it'll be a faff to go upstairs to a cupboard every time I need to sew on a button. I used to keep a (joyful) box with basic threads, needles etc in the sitting room on a shelf. What do others do?

Do you have any PVA glue and fabric? I saw someone on Pinterest had covered a plastic container with cute fabric. I've got a little icecream tub in the living room for our 3D glasses so may try it.

I've tried various options for storing things and am still moving things around. For example I put a small vase in the downstairs cloak for DDs toothbrush but now it's in my drawer with tweezers etc in. I've also used old iPhone boxes etc for bits and pieces.

My best buy was a lovely doulton plate from the CS that I was going to use as a fancy biscuit or cake plate. But then I decided it fitted better on my deep bathroom sill and holds all the face washes and other bits.

chaliepud

VJsmum wrote: »

Question - how many fruit bowls does one household need?

I am pretty sure it isn't 5! :eek:

I gave up on fruit bowls a while ago, I just grab any suitably sized bowl or container and keep them dotted around the kitchen or in the fridge, I find it's better to keep different types separate as some speed the ripening of others and they don't last as long.