KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

GreyQueen

When we're all fully-kondo'd this probably won't be an issue but until then, here's a fast way to be company-ready:

1. Limit the places your company will see such as the hall, sitting-room, cloak room if you have one. Blitz these.

2. Untidiness is more obvious than dust or dirt. In a rush, tidy rather than clean.

3. If you can only do a little, walk through the public areas of your home as if you were your guest. Sit where they will sit, and look at what's in their eye-line. Tidy/ clean or dust that.

wort

Sorry to hear the sad news of IQUEEN , hope she is now at peace.

Tea_Lady

Rest in peace, iQueen. You will be sadly missed.

greenbee

Luckily these visitors are my parents. Bedrooms and bathrooms were all sorted, which is most important. And the house is warm (stifling from my perspective, but warm enough for my mother!).

My dad has restored a bedside table for me which he brought with him - he removed the nasty black varnish and polished the wood. It looks fabulous in my bedroom

Today we should get the rest of the house habitable (including changing round some of the underlay downstairs), and while they are here we may get some shelves and pictures up and possibly a few more decisions made (well, my mother will have an opinion, my dad will have a different one, and I'll decide when they've gone!).

Guess I should get up and find them some breakfast... I'm only working on Wednesday this week, so hoping for some rest as well as getting the house sorted.

oceanspirit

Took iQueen's advice yesterday and went out in the sunshine later on in the afternoon after the crowds had gone. Still plenty of people about - the sun seems to make everyone friendlier. Couldn't stop smiling as it was so lovely just to be there.

Dropped in to a pub on the way home, naughty Ocean! Only had a bottle of sparkling water though as keeping off sugar as much as possible in an attempt to reduce the middle-age spread.

Have been catching up with reading trade magazines over the last couple of mornings so I can get rid. I know I caught up with these once before but they have built up again due to there being still so much to do at home. It does mean I'm still Kondoing even though away from home for a few weeks.

Haven't started on the address book yet but it is on the plan for later this week as I wanted to get rid of the magazines first in order to avoid dragging them all home again.

Off for a massage at lunchtime which will definitely spark joy.

Have a joyous day all.

silvasava

Morning all - been MIA all weekend and done B all! I had what is called a 'Milestone' birthday on Friday and my friends and family have used it as a great excuse to party over the bank holiday! Friday I was taken for a meal with my DH, DS1, DS2 & DiL, DGD and her boyfriend, Saturday the ladies took me to a local wine bar and afterwards we went to see a trio play that we all know. I thought Sunday would be quiet but was told there would be. BBQ at DS1's - when I got there they had organised a burger van, the trio were playing in his garden and all our friends had turned up and during the afternoon some of our far flung relatives. It was a wonderful day with blue skies and I must admit I was completely overwhelmed. I feel so very lucky & blessed as I am aware so many people do not have the support of family and friends.
Today it is back to RL! So I am Kondoing some more clothes and bits and pieces to the CS and doing some batch cooking for the freezer. It's a grey blustery day here after such a lovely weekend. So glad that all those who work all week have been able to enjoy some sunshine - except GQ stuck in a cupboard and Greenbee shuttling from room to room!!

Tete_en_l'Air

Hello all!

Sorry to hear the news about iQueen, although I didn't 'know' her of course these things are always sad - I do love her last message though.

I haven't posted for ages as real life seems to have been getting in the way, but I have been getting my house in order slowly (very) but surely. For some reason I'm finding myself suddenly with more energy and motivation. Last week I even Kondo'd all my clothes (again) and filled up a charity sack of stuff that's lost its joy since my last decluttering spree last year. It's so much nicer having all my clothes put away and being able to walk almost freely around the bedroom. This afternoon I'll make a start on some paperwork.

I was wondering if anyone watched The Big Spring Clean last night on C4? I enjoyed it but was a tad disappointed not to learn anything new, and was a bit shocked at the £10k budget for putting in a few shelves and cupboards! :eek: Plus the whole thing seemed to be focused on adding more storage rather than streamlining... I can't imagine feeling joyous and 'woo' after their makeover...

mrs-moneypenny

Belated birthday wishes for your milestone event silvasava.

I forgot to watch it but after you've described it tete en l'air I'm not too dissapointed now.

I'm feeling rather woo, I'm an auntie again my brother partner had another little girl this morning, and he's asked me and our sister if we'll be godmums to all three of his girls.

Had to go Drs this morning for a bloodtest, I could have come home and done some tidying but I decided to pop in and see dd3 for a coffee as it was her day off. That was much more enjoyable.

Raining here but I'm looking on the bright side-it's watering the plants and filling the waterbutt up.

Have a joyful day all.

pavlovs_dog

Today I've had a second go at the kitchen whilst I spring cleaned. I've filled another bag for the chazza and played around with some storage solutions which weren't working.

Contrary to Marie's advice about acquiring new storage, I have my eyes on a set of ikea cereal containers to keep everything crisp and fresh. Simply changing the position of a shelf will offer us almost twice as much storage by making better use of the vertical height.

You may remember my knife block dilemma from ages ago. Having happily made the switch to an ikea in-drawer jobby, the knife block can officially go. I'm now questioning whether we genuinely need a bread bin :think:

The cupboard under the sink now needs something to keep everything in order as present system isn't working. Contemplating one of these to go on the back of one of the doors

mrs-moneypenny

Pavlovs dog, I'm just a bit worried that if I knew exactly what that was you've posted a photo of I might want one as well.

I did buy a back of the door storage pocket thing for the back of the bathroom door at the boot at the weekend as when we get the bathroom done we are losing the shelving rack behind the door. I'm considering making a laundry bag as we will lose the space the current old laundry basket sits. It is not partucularly joyful so I'm happy about that.