KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

grunnie

I was down the road for the first time this week as the pavements have been icy and snowy and very slippery. Went in to M& c o while I waited for a bus and found a summer anorak jacket with hood which fitted perfectly and is in my fav colours. Joy indeed. £55 down to £16.20
Greyqueen I am enjoying the new MK book and it has the diagrams and the explanations much better than in the first book.

MidlandsGinger

Hello,
I posted a couple of times last year, but mainly lurked, enjoying all the stories and motivation. Thank you! I moved in with OH last year, so got rid of an enormous amount of stuff before then (where does it all come from!). I read the book just after I moved, and whilst unpacking clothes, OH stood amazed whilst I filled a charity bag. The same happened when I unpacked books. I'd already been through them, but that bit in 'the' book about books you'll never read struck a chord, and I ended up getting rid of another box full.

I tried to do it all by the categories, but really had to just attack each box as it was unpacked. I still have some boxes to go through, and sometimes the motivation is hard to come by, but I'm determined to keep going.

Picklepot

Hello
I too have lurked for a long time cheering you on from the sides never believing it could work for me. You see I'm a real messy who 'churns' stuff around the house moving it about but not actually getting it off the premises.
Have been very inspired by those of you that mention the clearing of your head and ability to get on with your life and not worry about things.I truly want that
Last year it started with the knickers drawer and then onto the cod I couldn't believe even I was able to do it.I didn't continue as I didn't think I believed I could stick with it but a year later those places are still under control.
Please help me with my wardrobe! Very few items bring me joy but if I cs them I would have nothing to wear!! I hate shopping because I find it difficult to get good fits ..so often I hang onto stuff or buy because it's ok ...at least it fits.
How do others get round this or should I just stop being a wuss and get on with it??

GreyQueen

Hi Picklepot, good to 'see' you again.

Clothes are something I struggle with as I don't have much money, hate clothes shopping anyway, and struggle to get things which fit.

There are websites devoted to editing clothes down to what you actually use and look good in. You might also try to play around with your lifestyle and say (f'rinstance) that you have Office Pickepot, Dog-Walking Picklepot, Housecleaning Picklepot, Drinlks-with-friends-at-the-pub Picklepot etc etc as if you were some kind of B a r b i e franchise.

What I mean is, don't try to copy what other women have by way of clothes, think about where you do and what you do and what kind of clothes you need for your life.

Working backwards from there, look at what you have and work out if there are any gaps which need to be filled to make several other things work for your life, and keep an eye out for them at the chazzers.

Also, think about items which look good on you and make you feel happy. Work out what about them makes them work (covers the bum/ good colour on me/ easy to launder and doesn't need ironing/ whatever).

I haven't got a great figure, being a tall pear shape with narrow shoulders and a small bust. Several styles just look atrocious, so I've learned not to go there. I've also learned what wins for me, in terms of the amount of effort I'm prepared to devote to apparel, and just go with that.

Hope you have every success in kondo-ing in general and clothes-wrangling in particular.

in_need_of_direction

Wednesday I got a bag dropped off to the chazza. Thursday I picked up some 70% off clothes. Two of the three items are being returned. I bought them because they fitted and one would have been worn on a night out tomorrow. However, they didn't inspire joy so thank you ms kondo, wardrobe space maintained and money saved.

mavvymoo

Evening fellow kondoites

Well I was so bothered about the leak.:o It stopped raining and I have forgotten about it today :rotfl:So will make an effort to look into it tommorow and see if the gutters etc are blocked.

Picklepot clothes ! I tried everything on and took it from there Thats about all you can do really if you cant chazzer the lot and start again which sadly most of us cant do :rotfl:Can you keep an eye out in the chazzers for a few joyful items which will lift the stuff you have got ?

Its a hard one really but you have got to do what you need to do.and keep what you must until you can get some joyful replacements.
Once you clear your head and you will going down this road it will all become much easier to make these decsions and you wont really care anyway :rotfl::rotfl:

Good luck and you will get there;)

Mav x

Siebrie

Hi Picklepot!

What I do once a year, is to try on all my clothes and match them with each other. Meaning: I put on a pair of trousers, and then one by one all my tops. Even when I am convinced it will not match, I still make myself put it on, and often find new combinations. I do this with all trousers, skirts, tops, jackets, t-shirts. It takes an afternoon, but sets me up for the whole year. If anything is faded (especially black clothes) I dye them again, in the machine. One tin of d.ylon and a pound of salt will spruce up a load of black clothes.

MMF007

Hello All, lovely to find some de-lurkers/de-cloaking.
We are still in far off sunshine and I am loving my tidy- and- easy- to -see -what's-what drawers in our temp accommodation. Given the heat and the variety of activities (ooh, er, missus) we are participating in this fortnight I am changing clothes 3 times a day, so keeping on top of hand-washing, drying and folding neatly away is VERY useful.

I can honestly say that as I MK fold tshirts or skirts, undies or beach wraps I get a little buzz. As a few folks have said, just opening a drawer and seeing the lovely little folded 'parcels', in colour order, is just so JOYFUL. :j I should say, for those of you starting out on the journey or having some doubts about doing it..... my DH is still astonished that I can be tidy at all and yet the magic is working for me :T

unfortunately we have just had to kondo some money on first aid supplies as DH took a tumble on a rocky seashore and is badly bruised (it rather looked like a broken thumb too but closer inspection reveals a very bad sprain and a ripped nail). He won't be swimming for a few days but we can happily bob in the warm sea as he nurses his wounds. Luckily he is a brave little soldier, if a bit embarassed about the fall.

For some reason this relatively minor incident did make me pause to reflect just how life can be turned around in the blinking of an eye. It gave us chance to reflect on the joyful things we have and do, and to be thankful. We have never had lots of money, (but don't mind that some do), are
lucky that at the moment we have enough and can afford a nice holiday (self catering mind you!), and we have our health. Sitting looking at a beautiful turquoise sea, with a little breeze blowing and lots of sun has got to be one of the most joyful things and IT'S NOT ' STUFF' :rotfl::rotfl:

Have a joyfull weekend everyone,

M

Igamogam

Konoed OH and DD2 before daylight.....they have gone into the mountains for the day for a play/climb/walk in the snow and ice. I would have liked to have gone too but relished the idea of a non stop KM day without interruptions so I used the excuse 'I have work to do' I think they thought I meant 'work work' so have left me to it:D I am hoping to get some semblance of order in the office/study as I really do have some 'work work' to do but that can wait until tomorrow. Also need to go through kitchen again and freezers. I am hoping that at 4.30 I will have a couple of bags to go to CS. If so I will pop into The Town and drop them off as I can pull up outside the shop at that time.

As much as I would like to have a day in the mountains - first bit of bright sun we had had for months and there is lots of snow:j - I feel more joy will be found in attacking the house. After all the mountains will be there another day and I will be able to enjoy them all the more as I wont have the weight of guilt pressing down on me:)

So........first things.......fill the bird feeders as they are all looking very pathetic fluffed up lined up on the branches of the trees!

tibawo

Just spent the last forty minutes skim reading the posts since I last checked in. If I read them properly it would probably be double that. It is great to see how well people are doing and pick up tips along the way but I think if like our stuff that if we don't keep on top off it it soon mounts up. I think I am going to have to add reading the thread to my daily activities as leaving it to once a week means I might miss something!!

Anyway, during my reading and your sharing, I have something to try out in the kitchen. Last year I started using some of the wine rack holes either side of cooker for rolled tea towel and have found some small tubs I had fit neatly in so I have one with pocket tissues in, another with scourers etc. this meant I freed up a drawer. Someone (I did thank you for your post) was talking about their baking drawer. So I am now going to see if I can collate all my baking stuff into the deeper drawer. Also means the girls can easily access everything without having to get the chair to get the flour from the top shelf!

I also noted a post on knickers. As money is not growing well on our money tree at the moment I tend to buy the things the girls need and just make do myself. Sadly I can tell you exactly when I bought them new undies but when I last got some for myself remains a mystery! DD1 needs a new blazer. So once again I will make do and will not be kondoing them yet! However, with regards to the blazer the assistant was telling me that some people join a uniform savings club he runs where you can put money in, whenever you can and whatever you can spare so you can dip into that.

We also went through the sticker drawer, a drawer that was 25cm wide, 20cm high and about 30cm long rammed full of stickers. Some still new in packs. All for that rainy day. I got the girls to go through them whilst watching TV. They want to keep four sheets. I told them once they are gone they won't be able to rescue any to which they rolled their eyes! I was going to whizz them but as I have a pile of eBay things I am going to see if I can get some money for them.

Aim for the weekend is to finish the pen, pencil drawer and investigate the baking drawer idea. I know I don't always KD in order but sometimes I don't have loads of time and get frustrated with things lying around tackling smaller things gives me a buzz. My theory is that by doing this when it comes to the bigger tasks my mindset will be a lot tougher.