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The KonMarie method
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It is November 7th for me according to the mins game. I am pleasantly surprised by how motivating I am finding it, despite only being in competition with myself. Whilst sat on the loo
I found myself glancing up at the medicine cupboard wondering if anything lurked within that could be got shot of. I found a bottle of tea tree oil from one of my ear piercings, making it at least 11 years old.
I also seem to have an abundance of multi-vitamins which cause otherwise worthy items to overflow from the main storage arrangement. Must start popping my pills to use them up.know thyselfNid wy'n gofyn bywyd moethus...0 -
Happy 70th birthday iQueen.
:bdaycake:
:beer:I wanna be in the room where it happens0 -
Morning all
Happy birthday iqueen
Watched another DVD last night that can go war bride it was a nice enough film but a one watcher, will ring mum and if she has it it can go to work with Dh as someone there has requested some 'women's dvds' for his gf.
Did some knitting on neighbour's baby cardi while watching so hopefully will get that finished by the weekend to give to her.
Need to kondo the newspapers and weekend mags and mil has hospital for her foot today so with that and work I'll be busy. Hopefully some kondoing will be achieved.
Have a joyful day allSPC~12 ot 124
In a world that has decided that it's going to lose its mind, be more kind my friend, try to Be More Kind0 -
Oh, happy birthday iQueen! :T
I have been thinking about you this last few days. Hope you are well. Have a lovely day.
M
GQ, well done for getting the loft shipshape and, soon to be, cobwebless. Do you think starting the KM process with stuff that is out of sight is less challenging to our psyche (maybe because we are not immediately having to see our 'past mistakes' disappearing in one big hit?).
I remember when I started I did DH's drawers first, rather than mine, which I thought at the time must be significant :eek:.
I hold fast to the thought that the money is long since gone and the value of the stuff is totally irrelevant to me when I consider setting it free. The point of KM is to make my living space much easier, physically and mentally - easier on the eye, less 'noise' and less weight of possessions, easier to find things and to clean the place, easy to sit quietly relaxing
unfortunately DH still says 'but that cost £x', or 'So n so gave us that' and he cannot get past that for many items. Clothes and books he's not too bad, but still says, wistfully, 'but I've had that ages' before they go off to CS.
Right, breakfast then we have a large hedge to convert (Konvert) into the makings of a bonfireWe've bought some BIG fireworks which is making mum nervous (neighbours have a sort of poly-tunnel for their veg) but we avoided rockets, for that reason, and i reckon (hope!) the L*** multi-burst thingies don't rain down debris..... will let you know on the 6th!
MI have changed my work-life balance to a life-work balance.0 -
GQ, well done for getting the loft shipshape and, soon to be, cobwebless. Do you think starting the KM process with stuff that is out of sight is less challenging to our psyche (maybe because we are not immediately having to see our 'past mistakes' disappearing in one big hit?).
I remember when I started I did DH's drawers first, rather than mine, which I thought at the time must be significant :eek:.
I hold fast to the thought that the money is long since gone and the value of the stuff is totally irrelevant to me when I consider setting it free. The point of KM is to make my living space much easier, physically and mentally - easier on the eye, less 'noise' and less weight of possessions, easier to find things and to clean the place, easy to sit quietly relaxing
unfortunately DH still says 'but that cost £x', or 'So n so gave us that' and he cannot get past that for many items. Clothes and books he's not too bad, but still says, wistfully, 'but I've had that ages' before they go off to CS.Morning all.
To the bit I've emboldened, quite possibly.
It might seem a bit eccentric to faff around in a loft when the whole house needs kondo-ing but I have my reasons.
Firstly, it isn't my house and it isn't my stuff, so I can't be the maker of decisions. The log-jam of the whole process is Mum, most of the stuff is hers and she is the one with the damaged psyche from early trauma (very bad start in life, would give most misery lit a run for its money, nuff said).
The loft is the proverbial sorting cellar and garage substitute where things go to be hidden out of sight and not considered. Therefore a lot of the things up there have cooler emotions attached to them than the things downstairs. Which means an easier (although not completely trouble-free) route to discussions about getting rid.
There are also mobility issues to be considered which mean Mum can't do the loft any more, and my Dad, though limber and healthy, is still a man in his seventies. I can quite easily see the situation where the loft becomes terra incongnita for my aging parents and this means that there is a certain time pressure to deal with some of the most spurious examples of Stuff lurking up there.
Mum has also developed a serious degenrative disease, which is starting to impact her mobility slightly, and which will only worsen. To avoid falls, in future the living areas of the house will have to be considerably decluttered. This will be an ongoing project but the next session, after today's, won't be until the dead days between Xmas and New Year. I should have just about recovered enough to start again by then.Have made a cunning plan for today which will involve going up to the loft shortly to sort yarn, then a general tidy-through and consult to see if anything can go. Vac-ing will follow, then the loft goes to bed, the stuff which I pulled out is 'processed' for donation or disposal, and I spend a bit of time knittiing.
:beer: Happy Birthday, iQueen! I tried to give you a 'cake' off the smilie menu but I'm getting a server not found message. Have a virtual cake instead.
Onwards and upwards, the loft awaits.Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
John Ruskin
Veni, vidi, eradici
(I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
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Happy birthday iqueen :bdaycake:
I am still reading and kondoing just not managing to post very often.
I have had a few breakthroughs recently:j
Yesterday DH took his walking boots back to the shop he bought them from as they were leaking. As we were walking out of the door I said "have you got the receipt". no he said. I have a tin with a few receipts in and there it was. DH was very impressed. I haven't finished paperwork yet (still a long way to go...) but there are a few things filed away that have been found straightaway when needed:T
DH was off work yesterday so we tackled a couple of cupboards - one in the kitchena dnone in the dining room. 2 boxes for the CS and 2 for the recycling/bin. I can't believe how much has left the house so far. DH's attitude is changing - we found a few boxes of cutlery his parents had given us (not sure why or when), at first he said "we ought to keep these", then as we were finishing he said "what are we keeping them for, get rid!" He also said "I do like the space in these cupboards"
I have just kondoed the medicine cupboard - it is shocking how much was out of date. It is now rearranged it boxes and nice a tidy:j
grey queen well done on kondoing the loft. I am loving reading what is being found up theresaving for ds2's summer international scout camp - £200
£60 deposit paid :j £100 paid:j £40 paid:j0 -
I find our attic is a sort of holding pen for things we don't really want or need but don't want to admit that to ourselves. I was actually pleased to see that 90% of the clothes mound is in bags labelled "DS3 clothes do not tamper" as ds3 has promised me that she will tackle these before Christmas and decide what is anything from these she does actually want to keep. We have an electric fire up there that is a bit of a sticking point between me and Dh. It's one of those plugin coal effect fires with the naff plastic coal with a light bulb under in a rather rustic looking cast iron frame, we got it when we got married but because it used so much leccy it was rarely used. When dd1 was a toddler it scared me that she would stumble and fall on the metal pointy fleur de leys so up it went. I want to rip the gubbings and coal effect naffness out of it hammerite it and put it in the garden around the red hot poker plants, Dh thinks it would be a shame to do that as it was such a lovely fire and kept us warm. "There can't be many of those left now" is a popular phrase when trying to justify its keep. My inner voice is screaming yes for a reason, it looks naff cost a fortune to run and is by ow probably dangerous to use. So it sits in the attic looking rather smug at me but unable to justify the space it takes up.
One day I will win this battle.SPC~12 ot 124
In a world that has decided that it's going to lose its mind, be more kind my friend, try to Be More Kind0 -
Happy Birthday IQueen
This KM process has strange effects on psyche. Sitting here last night reading rubbish book on iPad having given up on TV when I suddenly thought - I meant to sort the fridge at weekend. One hour later huge pot of vegetables (most past their best) ready to boil up this morning for stock. A solitary Bramley Apple chopped up, cooked and made into Apple Sauce for freezing this morning. Dried up looking lemons squeezed for juice and made into ice cubes. Fridge emptied, cleaned and reorganised with items clearly identified for use today.
Stock put on at 6.30 am and smells rather nice - quite a few tomatoes in it so think I may add tomato pur!e and herbs and make into soup rather than stock. That's for later as need to take small people swimming this am.
I think I am ready to carry on with paper/photo Kondo - do want to check Christmas stuff in loft and make a proper list as well. I have bought quite a lot already but birthdays this month as well.
A few bits to do in study then I think I will get one box at a time down from loft. I think I need to have a pre sort plan eg memorabilia, photos, business letters in piles/boxes and then do final sort when all,categories are together. Hopefully some things will just go at the first sort.2025 Decluttering Campaign 635/2025 🏅🏅🏅🏅(🏅🏅) 🌟🌟
2025 Weight loss target 13/16 lbs
2025 1p Challenge 195/3650 -
:bdaycake:
Happy birthday, iQueen - from one Scorpio to another! Hope you have a lovely day.Life is mainly froth and bubble: two things stand like stone. Kindness in another’s trouble, courage in your own.0 -
Happy Birthday, IQueen! Sending you some coffee to go with all the yummy cakes
:coffee:
GQ and all who are excavating in lofts - I'd just like to say you've (probably) got a long way to go to catch up with the guy who sold 20,000 items from his loft in 2010. Mind, he did have a big loft ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-11499030“Tomorrow is another day for decluttering.”Decluttering 2023 🏅🏅🏅🏅⭐️⭐️
Decluttering 2025 💐 🏅 💐 ⭐️0
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