KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

silvasava

Morning all - just catching up with all the posts. Second the comment about the quality of new SS sinks - they ain't what they used to be. My kitchen is well over 20 years old and when it was done I asked DH to put my old sink in the utility as it was a nice deep one. It's still going strong and looks like new when I give it a go over with a Scotchgard - in spite of boots, buckets & lawd knows what else being dumped in it!.
Woo woo Greenbee on the wardrobe - what a great find.
Did manage to tidy DH's collection of books & found two duplicates that can go back to the CS. We are total opposites as he keeps his books to re-read & I get rid of mine once read or have them on my Kindle. Sigh......
Last lot of buttons bagged for my friend for her dementia patients and DH actually GAVE me a shirt that annoyed him as the sleeves were too short!!!
Right - sunny & windy here so going to hit the washing mountain as we're away on holiday next Saturday. Does everyone else like their house neat and tidy and up together before they go away too?
Have a good day all x

Karmacat

VJsmum wrote: »

Do you get that thing where your vision goes all cloudy and you have to hold on to something till it clears?

I thought everyone got that, but apparently not....

I think last time it was 90/48 but it has been lower

I get that - my mother saw me wavering about last year and was horrified, but its normal-for-me, I'm afraid.

MMF007 wrote: »

When I cleared DH's pile of stuff up yester I stood looking round the room, small as it is, and thought we could use a little bit of vertical storage. It wouldn't stand much due to small dimensions but it definitely needs contemplating.

Ooh, me! My kitchen is big enough for a little table, but has a *lot* less storage space than it looks like. So when I looked at the weird little recess by the fridge freezer, I realised it was the perfect size for a CD tower - 9 little shelves, counting the top of it, and each one will hold 4 tins, plus two of the shelves will also take a double stack. Its amazing how much it holds! Clothes would instantaneously fall out, however :eek:

Tete_en_l'Air

:hello: Hello, may I join you? I feel as though I'm about to reach the point of no return in terms of clutter and mess, and that if I don't do something very proactive now, I'll be on one of those hoarding programmes in a few years' time. I don't say that flippantly - I recognise myself in those people and I've always been a bit of a womble, finding it hard to throw anything away. Although it sounds daft, one of the most helpful Kondo strategies for me is thanking items for their service before getting rid

Things started getting out of hand about three years ago when I retrained as a teacher. I had so little time anymore that I was barely keeping on top of laundry let alone paperwork. I quit that short lived career in July 2015, but then my dad, who had been fighting cancer for a couple of years and with whom I lived, got really poorly and died in November. Strangely, for the first couple of months I kept the place immaculate, partly to keep busy, partly because relatives were always popping in on me (although I'm 34, I'm an only child with no partner and my mam died in 2008, and I was really close to my dad, so my extended family have been keeping an eye on me).

Then once I got back into the swing of being at work in January, and the visits tailed off, the mess that had been contained in my room started to spread. I'm not quite at the newpapers-piled-to-the-ceiling stage yet but I can see that it's a slippery slope.

Every single surface is covered in clutter and I can never find anything. I only accept visitors with at least 48 hours' prior warning and live in dread of people popping in unannounced. The window cleaner came the other day and I'm going to be so ashamed when he comes to collect his money

I feel I've been in a bit of a fog of inertia the last few months, and it's a vicious circle of the mess making me unhappy, then feeling too depressed to tackle it (funnily enough I'm in the middle of a similar comfort eating cycle at the moment too). The light nights seem to have awoken something in me though and I feel ready to make a start.

I got about halfway through Marie Kondo's book last summer and actually got rid of seven binbags of clothes, so I will start again at clothes (obviously I've bought more since then!), then I desperately need to look at paperwork.

Anyway that's me. I guess we check in every day or so and say what decluttering and organising we've done? I look forward to it!

oceanspirit

Hello and welcome, Tete. So sorry to hear about your dad.

My clutter came from downsizing home plus long term illness and spells in hospital which lead to getting behind with everything and eventually became overwhelmed by it all and mentally unwell (comfort eating here too).

Been taking Kondoing slowly and it is really making a difference to energy levels, how my home looks and how I feel. Also eating a healthier diet and enjoying creative cooking again.

OH commented last night how things in my life are suddenly all dropping into place whereas it all felt such a battle before as everything I touched seemed to go wrong. It's the Kondo woo! So take heart and get stuck in, we're here to support you.

More papers left my home yesterday and planning for more to go today. I now have some space on my desk and piles elsewhere in the office are noticeably shrinking at last.

Tete_en_l'Air

Thanks Oceanspirit - yep a lot of what you say sounds familiar. I feel I'm getting into it mentally now, just need to physically put my thoughts into action!

I'm taking advantage of the beautiful weather today to get the washer on and hang stuff out. Not decluttering as such, but it will help with the tidying. I've also opened all the windows! Small steps....

brizzledfw

Well done on taking the first steps Tete.

Xx

Karmacat

Tete en l'Air - so sorry to hear about your situation, especially with how recently your dad has died.

Totally understand what you say about thanking the things before you let go of them - I think thats the difference with the Kondo version, that it isn't a prescription about how much you should or shouldn't have - its about your happiness.

And you're right - clean clothes, and fresh air circulating, will make you feel better.

I haven't done things strictly to kondo recommendations - the first thing I tackled, before I even knew about Kondo, was the monthly journals from my professional organisastion - 20 years worth taking up a whole full height bookcase. I can't bear to think of it now! Nowadays, I scan any article I need for professional purposes, and the whole journal goes into the recycling straight away.

If clothes are the right place for you to start, then go for it - and you can come back here as much as you want, not just once a day. I work from home, and I have chronic fatigue, so mse is a lifeline for me, and I'm often on several times a day

Tete_en_l'Air

Thanks Brizzled and Karmacat for the welcomes. Clothes are definitely the first step for me, they are strewn all over the place! They are the 'top layer' andtake up so much space that I know the place will look and feel so much better once they're tidied away.

I'm about to start a new role in which most of my work will be done from home and I think it could go either way, mess-wise! Hopefully it'll make me want to keep the place nicer as I'm spending more time there. And I'll be able to do little and often too I guess (wash the dishes after each meal so they don't pile up, etc).

Aside from two loads of washing I haven't got very far today although I did clean my grandma's kitchen... Off to look at my own now!

mumps

Had a result today! My late MIL bought a glass display case and some ornaments she liked. We put them up to be polite but I never actually liked either. The case has a fancy carved frame and it a !!!!!! to dust. Anyway today I have taken them down and the case is going to the charity shop tomorrow and I am going to sell the ornaments on e bay. I have checked and they do seem to sell well. It makes me hall look alot brighter and wider, it is a fairly narrow hall and the frame was a very dark wood.

greenbee

It's taking rather longer to empty the bedroom and ensuite than I'd anticipated - partly because I'm going to need a lot of the stuff over the 2-3 weeks it takes them to gut them, fit the bathroom, put the new radiator in, do the electrics, do the pipework for downstairs, redecorate and put the floor back down...

The new wardrobe will hold about half of my work wardrobe, which is good news. I'll have to clear a bit of space occasionally for visitors but I expect I can cope with that!

Like Tete en l'Air (welcome BTW) I've managed a couple of loads of washing but not much more productive.

On the point of working from home, it can result in making more mess as you tend to get caught up in work and think you'll wash up/tidy up/hoover later (and then you don't). However, I find that the mess stops me working effectively, so I really do need to keep it under control

If you're going to be working from home there are a few things you need to consider:

1. Dedicated work space. Somewhere you can keep all your stork stuff and shut the door on it at the end of the day. No non-work stuff in there (although personal admin and files can also be kept out of the way there as well), and treat it like 'going to the office'. I'd also recommend that it is as far away from the kettle and biscuit tin as possible to ensure that you get some exercise. Kit it out properly as an office - phone/IP phone with headset, decent chair and monitor, plenty of room for files/books etc that you need for work. If you're going to do video-conferencing you also need to think about your background. It needs to look professional.
2. Clothes - again, if you're doing video conferencing these need to look professional BUT you will find you can cut down on your 'work' wardrobe quite considerably. I don't recommend throwing stuff out straight away, but certainly packing up the majority of your office-wear may help you clear some space. However, DO NOT work in PJs. You need to get up, shower, ideally take a quick walk (I think of my walk to the village and back as my 'communte'), eat breakfast and dress properly before you start work.

3. Routine. I have a bad habit of getting up at 6.30am, making coffee, taking it back to bed to do my emails and then having a mad rush to get ready before my first meeting!

There is nothing to stop you doing some of your work in different parts of the house - I find planning works best in the dining room where I have most space to spread stuff out. Writing often works well on the sofa by the fire. Editing and conference calls are best done in my office. But everything goes back in there when I finish for the day. Even if my last meeting finishes at midnight (I will admit that the late internal meetings may happen in front of the fire too).

So as a start to your Kondo-journey, I'd focus on the work clothes and the work space. That way you're also preparing for your new role.

Better get back to moving stuff. The new bedroom looks fabulous, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy my stay there. The kids room is slowly filling up with the excess. ANd the 'done' bathroom is starting to look rather cluttered!