KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Igamogam

grunnie wrote: »

I got an email from M&S sparks with my offers this week. 1 of them is 20% off towels:rotfl:No thanks I have just dyed my cream ones deep pink.
Can I pick your brains girls. I have Km the whole house but my kitchen has an echo. I have put a large rug under the table and chairs and cushions on the chairs but it still echoes. Any thoughts. I still have lots of stuff out on the worktops and I have a huge dresser on 1 wall with a shelf of books so don't know what else to try.

I love that echoey sound........for me it feels as if the house is breathing again! In time I get use to it and it doesn't echo anymore..........time to kondo some more:rotfl::rotfl:

mrs-moneypenny

Haven't been in all day because I've been kondoing the attic, I only went in to clear the space over the bathroom but paper started calling to me. There are now 32 yes 32 recycling bags full of paper and card ready to be recycled as well as two black bags of rubbish and 3 more for the CS the Land Rover is now full ready for tomorrow's drop off. I'm sure I heard the rafters breathe a sigh of relief as I was coming out wit the last load.
Still more to do but feeling so much happier about the pile that's waiting to go and the space I've cleared
I did find a wasps nest but thankfully it was only a small one that seems to have been abandoned so I've removed it.

Wine and a book tonight I think.

Mavvy hope your fund raiser is successful tomorrow, I'll be thinking of you.

GreyQueen

hebwood wrote: »

Also the GQ comment, highlighted by Karmacat re circulating inventory, especially of towels, has just been a lightbulb moment for me. Wow!


I learn so much on here, thanks guys.


H

It took me the best part of three decades of adult life to cotton onto that concept, believe me.:o

What's quite extraordinary is how very long it takes to wear something up when you're actively trying do so. Makes you realise that most of us are going to be survived on this mortal coil by no end of Stuff. And, unlike the family silver or rare and valuable antiquities, most of what we are holding onto will be of very little use or interest to our heirs and no one else will be much interested, either. And, indeed, might well die in our storage areas.

So, we're killing some things just by holding onto them. As someone who hates wastefulness, that's a sombre thought when I reflect on my own life and holdings, and those of people I know well.

Whilst we're discussing textile-y matters, I have been thinking about curtains. Actually, I've been thinking about them on and off, particularly since one of my parental visits earlier this year involved mass curtain-wrangling and several pairs going to charity shop and one pair to a pal.

Universal Curtain Lore;

1. No matter how many pairs of curtains you store and drag from home to home, you will never have the right ones. They will be too short, too narrow, too wide, too thick, too thin, too light, too dark, too floral, too pink, too Tr@nsformers, too sunfaded or too old-fashioned to be tolerated. So, you'll end up getting new ones anyway, and might as well have not bothered hoarding the old ones.

2. You can shorten and narrow curtains but it's tiresome. Lengthening and widening them is almost always possible and almost always looks very Little House on the Prairie. Given the cheapness of new-to-you decent secondhand curtains, it's better to release and then buy right-sized ones. One only lives once, after all.

3. IKEYA plain cotton curtains shrink spectacularly on both length and width. I have shortened them for a friend and had to pre-wash them all and still couldn't believe the shrinkage. These things are cheap for a reason.

PollyWollyDoodle

Oh, GQ. All so true but especially point 1!

greenbee

I beg to differ on the curtains GQ... I've reused 5 pairs of curtains and one blind from the last house. So only one blind and one pair of curtains NOT reused. And one blind and one pair of curtains from my parents' house. The blind needs lengthening and there is the remains of a valance and spare fabric that will be used to make a second blind and a valance for the spare bed.

I've also got the unpicked, washed and ironed fabric from their kitchen curtains which will make the blind in my bathroom (eventually) and probably my kitchen too. There's another set of curtains due to make a blind for the downstairs loo, and the fabric from my old kitchen curtains (which is older than me, as my grandmother bought it to make the curtains for my parents' first kitchen) for the utility room blind. The only thing I can't currently identify old curtains for is my ensuite...

My parents have made most of the curtains and blinds in their new house from ones that were in their previous house - only the kitchen and one bedroom got new curtains. So it can be done.

There are still a few spare curtains and some fabric available for my brother and SIL

milasavesmoney

My mechanic likes old hand towels and wash cloths (face cloths in Britspeak). Any one with some to Kondo might find their mechanic does too.

Hoping for pretty weather for your big do today Mavvy...and people with lots of money to spend.

mavvymoo

Morning all

Hebwood thank you I am still at the remote request stop on the line. But am ready to jump back on board on Monday I quite like wandering round here but know in my heart I have to:)

The bric a brac is piling in for the fete and there is a lot of carp so sadly that has already been sorted and has gone and been dumped it was bad so nothing else we can do with it really.:(

But loads of new stuff that people have had for gifts and just want to palm off to someone else :rotfl:The reason I no longer buy gifts of that type for anyone.

A lady came in with about 10 brand new really smart and expensive (jacques vert) wedding type outfits with tags on all covered in the plastic covers and all on hangers.

I said why havent you worn them ? She said just never have always found something else I want to wear more and kept them justin case I ever did .But im not going to wear them now. I looked at her in what must have been a disaproving way :rotfl:She then said lesson learnt. and we both just laughed.

We are all guilty of this me more than most. I took a load of my clothes down and my friend came down and started saying you cant get rid of that or that :mad: That might come in handy if you get invited to XYZ :rotfl:They ended up back in my car But they are going back today and I refuse to listen to anyone again


Right better getting moving I want to start on that £2k total that would be amazing

Cats are all fine and kits getting much more brave now when I feed them they all look at me from under the shed with their little heads sticking out :rotfl:All in a row with Lola How can you have a bad day seeing that first thing in the morning


Mav x

GreyQueen

:T Good luck with your fete, mavvy, please update us when you can, I'm dying to hear how it goes.

Anyone else had a read of the article on the DM website about that hyper-organised American woman? Aspirational or a sign of not enough to do?

I like organising, I will admit (:o) but know it can be tempting go beyond productive in my own life. I like to remember that I organise for a purpose, and it's best to organise things not needed out the door before I start.

Golly, that woman's walk-in closet is about half the size of my flat. If she was hard-up, she could probably rent it to a lodger.:rotfl:

greenbee, point acknowledged. If you're using them, it's good. I suspect a lot of moved-with curtains don't get used, though.

ETA; some beggar has just shoved a shopping trolley past my window and abandoned it on the grass outside!!! I shall email the supermarket - cheek of the guy!

ETA v2, have emailed the store to let them know I will bring the trolley back myself. It's only a few mins away but I don't want anyone to assume that I was the person who took it in the first place! Still spitting tacks over this, !!!!!! shoved that right past people's bedrooms and just dumped it in front of someone's flat - mine!

mrs-moneypenny

Hope the fete goes well, wish I was there this week I've got dd3 getting married next year so need a mother of the bride outfit. But far to come for a day.

Clutterfree

GreyQueen wrote: »

Whilst we're discussing textile-y matters, I have been thinking about curtains. Actually, I've been thinking about them on and off, particularly since one of my parental visits earlier this year involved mass curtain-wrangling and several pairs going to charity shop and one pair to a pal.

Universal Curtain Lore;

1. No matter how many pairs of curtains you store and drag from home to home, you will never have the right ones. They will be too short, too narrow, too wide, too thick, too thin, too light, too dark, too floral, too pink, too Tr@nsformers, too sunfaded or too old-fashioned to be tolerated. So, you'll end up getting new ones anyway, and might as well have not bothered hoarding the old ones.

2. You can shorten and narrow curtains but it's tiresome. Lengthening and widening them is almost always possible and almost always looks very Little House on the Prairie. Given the cheapness of new-to-you decent secondhand curtains, it's better to release and then buy right-sized ones. One only lives once, after all.

3. IKEYA plain cotton curtains shrink spectacularly on both length and width. I have shortened them for a friend and had to pre-wash them all and still couldn't believe the shrinkage. These things are cheap for a reason.

You are so right!
From our last home we took all the curtains. One pair we made do with until we changed them and only one other set was kept.
As you know, we hope to move in the next few weeks and our buyer asked if we were leaving the curtains.
We said probably not.
Anyway a few days later we realised that all the windows at the front were altered to fit the unusual sized windows and of the ones at the back the only pair that were newish cost about £45.
We decided it really wasn't worth the hassle of taking them down.
I also think homes look quite sad once empty and at least it may look a bit better when she moves in if the windows are dressed.

Our vendor is leaving her curtains which really aren't to our taste at all but the property has sash windows so will probably be expensive to replace. They will do for practical not aesthetic reasons until we decorate.

Mav, hope the fete goes well and exceeds your expectations. Good luck and may the weather be kind to you xx