KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

GreyQueen

I feel your pain, slinky.

China seems to survive in quantities. I had no idea Nan had so much. I remembered the oranges & lemons teaset and knew it sat on the shelf in the pantry, but I had no idea that there was so much general purpose china around, or so much glassware.

I think if Nan had known she would live into her nineties, and been very poorly the last 2.5 years, she would have decluttered some of the excess long before.

However, in fairness, the bungalow wasn't too bad, it was lots of little knick-knacky, doiley-type thingummy doodads which took the time.

I'd nagged my Dad about Big Shed for the past several years, as most of the things strewn around it were very obviously trash, like broken tools with worm-eaten handles, piles of broken bamboo bean canes and misc.

He said he didn't have time to do this as was gardening her large garden as an allotment but, with the wisdom of hindsight, 5-10 minutes decluttering per weekly visit was very achievable, and would have resolved the problems painlessly.

However, we got there in the end; knackered and battered and with other homes temporarily stuffed with Stuff in process of being re-homed.

mavvymoo

Morning all
Talking of Eternal Beau Dad still has the cutlery set.In its prime of newness it was displayed on a stand which I kondoed a while ago. But the full set of knives forks and spoons is still in daily use but the pattern has worn off the plastic handles years ago and now are just yellow/cream colour. He does have a lovely set which is saved for high days and holidays :rotfl:so the Eternal Beau stays for everyday

Its my friends moving day today so waiting to hear about times etc so I can meet them this end. They only exchanged yesterday PM due to a problem with their buyer (who speaks no English so its been difficult ) not signing something or other. So it was taken to the wire but all done now and they will start their new life later

Those horrible yellow and green village hall/school staff room cups have only just been kondoed from our village hall by me about 3 months ago.The thing I hated about them was how small the cups were.1 sip and the tea had gone :rotfl:


Mav x

Slinky

VJsmum wrote: »

Slinky, Donate ithe cup and saucer and say you dropped it....

Oh I can't do that, I'd feel really guilty about 'not having taken care of it' after she has for all these years. It's out of sight on the top of a dresser, she'll visit and see it at Christmas, then it can go. It's days here are numbered........... until about the first week of January!

MMF007

One of my first Kondo missions was to sort knick-knacks out (well out of the door!). The things I most wanted shut of was a pair of hideous glass goblets set on cheap base metal stems, engraved with our names and wedding date. They would have been bad enough if perfect but one of the goblets had been stuck to the stem crookedly! The glass was dark blue so there was no way you'd consider drinking from them.

I had raised the matter before KM but the gift/emotion/guilt thing was too strong for DH to overcome. He really thought he'd throw away the kindness and the money spent on them, and maybe even the memory of his parents a d of our wedding. There was no rationalising with him AT ALL.
I am ashamed to say that the only thing I could think to do was to 'accidentally' break the one with my name on (which, incidentally was the
crooked one). I told him it broke when I was dusting, which it had, but only because I had chucked it in a bag really hard! He knew I had done it deliberately but of course it cannot be replaced, being one of a kind (!) so that was that. Did I feel guilt? No way!!

Not exactly a stealth Kondo, more an act of open aggression

I still love the gift givers, even though they have appalling taste in
momentos:rotfl: :rotfl:

Siebrie

My parents are here for a fortnight, helping out with childcare and housekeeping now that dh is on an extended visit to his home country. I love having them here and having a bit of a vacation from household duties. They are very good at cleaning and clearing, and (especially Mum) will empty a shelf, dust the lot, put everything back neatly, and leave a little pile for me to decide what to do with. It's kondoing for lazy people!

Work is really hectic all day, and I don't feel like doing much of an evening. By the time we've eaten, dd has done her homework, we've played a boardgame, and dds are in bed, it's 9, and I only have one hour before I go to bed myself. I'm spending that hour doing admin, packing dds' schoolbags, preparing for tomorrow, chatting with parents, and reading (currently 'Why We Work' by Barry Schwartz).

VJsmum

Slinky wrote: »

Oh I can't do that, I'd feel really guilty about 'not having taken care of it' after she has for all these years. It's out of sight on the top of a dresser, she'll visit and see it at Christmas, then it can go. It's days here are numbered........... until about the first week of January!

You're nicer than me

VJsmum

My MiL is a demon for kondoing on to me. She asks if I want something, I say no and she gives it anyway - usually via OH saying "oh I think VJsmum said she wanted this, will you give it to her". I've a few things to still get rid of....

In fact, I have told a lie so often about what happened to one thing (the lie being I gave it to a work colleague for her child. The truth being it went to the tip), that I almost convince myself that it is the truth.

Pooky

My MIL has the tendency to hoard (5 hoovers in a 2 bed bungalow??) so every time she offers me anything I take it with the phrase "I'm not sure I need it but I'm sure I can pass it to someone who does" as I figure anything I can get out of there now is one less thing to deal with when we need to sort the bungalow out. She's got curtains in boxes from when DH was 8 and they lived in Peru....considering they then moved to Iran, then Australia and then 12 or so moves in the U.K. Since then, I'm gobsmacked that good money has been paid to transport these curtains all over the world.

I kondo'd some fabric into a quilt I'm trying to finish for Christmas and half a box of tissues dealing with this blasted flu.

silvasava

I've got to go into our local town this morning so decided to make the most of it with a visit to the CS. Tally so far - a drawer organiser thingy that never stayed in one piece as it was like tetris. A quick cull of my clothes - denim skirt, two long beach dresses, about 8 tops AND.... drum roll... a pair of matt black victorian vases decorated with roses - pretty in a kitsch way. They are impressed with BOW on the bottom but I don't think they are valuable so they're going!
I know I have a box in the loft with my Mum's blue Petalware.....will need visiting

Sayschezza

Slinky wrote: »

Pity me dear friends, I've been lumbered with a Royal Doulton cup and saucer given to me by my MIL which belonged to one of her many brothers (I think), or her mother, I've no idea, but it belonged to somebody I never met so means nothing to me. OH couldn't give a monkeys either.

I have a collection of china with strawberries on which brings me joy. They are mis matching pieces but have the common theme. MIL has decided that as I 'collect china', I'm to be the custodian of this C&S, which is green & white and has small pink roses on it........

I tried, I really tried, to politely dodge being lumbered with this. 'Forgeting' to pick it up and take it with me when first offered it. Eventually on another visit it got wrapped up and passed to me on the way out of the door and got as far as my car......... and spent several months under a seat....... still intact......... before eventually making its way, unloved, into my home.

She comes to stay once a year around Christmas, so this blessed C&S will have to be moved from the out of sight position it occupys, into sight. Once it's been seen here once........... perhaps I can move it along to a CS.

We did manage to dodge the Eternal Beau china from her, bought by OH's two sisters, neither of whom want it so she was trying to point it our way. I pointed out we had 3 sets of china already and I was downsizing that to two so didn't want more.

I wouldn't take it out of hiding. If she asks where it is show her and perhaps she will get the message that you don't like it enough for it to be on show and take it back.