KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

iamsalt

Hello.

Popped into my mums this morning and found that she had FIVE bags of clothes for me to take to the charity shop, it was amazing, there was no nudging from me at all. I a, so proud of her. It has inspired me to sort out some will for a village charity event this weekend. Only 10 odd balls which have been neglected but the will be heading out this afternoon.

I want to spend some time in the garden and then look some more at my stuff while I am inspired and motivated.
S x

elona

Middle dd has left me two bags of clothes to go to charity for when I next get a bag through the door.

One just came through to be collected on Tuesday so I will get it filled up. Joiners have got rid of my huge wood panel and sorted out my high back gate so I can now open it and get the wheelie bins and recycling bins out of sight and the front of the house looks much better.

It turns out the decking in the back garden is rotten so they will sort that out next week and then we will discuss built in storage for an upstairs bedroom.

I seem to be doing a good job in kondoing money what with all the repairs but it needs to be done so I might as well bite the bullet.

Painting a second mirror so it can be used upstairs and ordered a much nicer ceiling lampshade for upstairs as well as e-mailing youngest dd a dozen style of curtains to choose from for her room.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Marb, I am only cutting one thing out at the moment, to see how I go. I still had meat at lunchtime albeit with loads of veg. Its the scientific way to do it, one thing at a time. I haven`t read the link yet, I will

iamsalt

Working through whatever catches my eye this evening while I am feeling inspired. So i have sorted through about 3 inches of paperwork, and packed some DVDs ready for moving. We don't have a date yet but I want to get ahead as I will have to help my mum too.

Right off to see what else catches my eye.
S x

LizzieR

Been lurking lately and not posting so much, but thought I'd share a couple of minor victories from today.

I gave myself the afternoon and evening to do some housework and pack for a holiday - normally even allowing this amount of time I'd still end up getting up at the crack of sparrows tomorrow to finish stuff off before going away. Today, well, I found myself kicking my heels this afternoon as I wasn't sure what to do - there was almost nothing to tidy away so cleaning was sooooo quick. Packing - able to find exactly what I wanted and everything sorted in less than half an hour :j This is a revelation for me!

There is still a way to go (spare room and garage have lots of stuff to go through still) but the fact that I will come home from my holiday to a clean and tidy home and be able to unpack quickly and easily is amazing - I'm almost looking forward to getting back!! The day after my holiday I'm off to a wedding - I've made/altered an outfit and made my own jewellery for this as it has a particular theme - everything is finished, hung up and ready to go, so no stress the morning of the wedding. I've also done an online food shop to arrive the evening I get back, so I won't be trying to fit in a supermarket visit after a long drive home and healthy food choices have already been made :T

Also, had an unexpected visitor this afternoon - in the past I wouldn't have let anyone in without several days notice and frantic cleaning / tidying. Different story today - invited them in for a coffee :eek: They commented on how lovely and bright my lounge looked

This KM stuff really is life changing!

GreyQueen

:T Oh LizzieR, what a wonderful testimony to the wonders of a kondo'd life! That's what it's all about, isn't it, ease of living and confidence to be social without stressing about it.

:j My sink is sorted. A lovely chap spent over an hour here yesterday first thing sorting out the problem which was limescale in what's called a mini-stack, the three-inch communal stack which my sink, and all other kitchen sinks in flats above, feed into. We're classified as a very hard water area, according to the water company's website (no s**t, sherlock, being my reaction to that ) and it's had 40 years to accumulate since the block was built in the 1970s.

He did remark that how the plumbing in these places was designed is stoopid - if you want to design something properly, you should talk to people who fix things when they go wrong and find out what not to do, hey?

Anyway, am beyond happy. He also remarked (as someone who unblocks pipes for a living) that liquid laundry detergent is preferable to powdered laundry detergent and that caustic soda is incredibly dangerous and wouldn't have even resolved this problem. Once I have used the remainder of my powdered detergent, I shall switch over to liquid.

I always like to take advice from people who do jobs like his, because it isn't tempered by them being salesmen for a product.

On a kondo note, because the undersink cupboard was very well-organised, it was a breeze to empty it out for him to work. I also had a thought regarding the top shelf, just under the U-bend. I shall purchase a shallow plastic tray - probably a cat litter tray - and keep it under the U-bend on the top shelf. There's only a very small clearance above the shelf so it will have to be something no more than a couple of inches tall.

I'm sure someone else on this thread said that they do something similar, on advice from a relation of theirs so that any drips or leaks will be contained and not end up rotting out the shelving.

Later today, I shall go back to the allotment and dig up the courgette seeds planted a few days ago - I have disturbed rats in that bed (probably one rat disturbed twice) and I think that it may have eaten or be about to eat, some of my precious seeds. I will start them off in pots in the cold frame.

I think ratty is living under the next-door lottie shed which she chose to put up on pallets. I've seen it scarper under there. I was advised it's best not to chock sheds up like this as rats can den under them. My own shed sits on concrete slabs from the reclaimation yard and good luck to any vermin trying to tunnel through those.:rotfl:

VJsmum

Glad it's sorted, GQ.

I have a feeling i read somewhere that powder is better for the machine. HO hum, you can't do right for doing wrong these days..
I use both - my eco stuff is liquid but the pers!l i use for my whites is powder. Using vinegar in the rinse should help with soap residue in any case.....

Don't speak too soon, but i am at dad's. It seems my brother has been doing some sorting and stuff has left the premises. I repeat Stuff has left the premises :T. Though there is a LOOOOONG way to go. And the place is a lot cleaner than its been for a couple of years.

Now, I'm not saying that it is down to me starting to Kondo here - and putting in some mild threats - but i am not saying it;s not.....:p

GreyQueen

Well done on inspiring/ frightening the relations into action, VJsMum. Hope they maintain momentum.

Have just put An Item into a chazzer bag - it fills a bag in its own right - and will take it up the road in a few minutes. I am going to the pal's shop to assist for a couple of hours with some kondo-ing. It's the ripest field for my talents ever and the junk is just so random and interesting.

Have also had a LBM and recalled that I have a cat litter tray in the lottie shed. It was bought from the £store years ago and used in a mini-greenhouse I had up there once for dunk-watering seed trays. It's just sitting on a shelf doing nowt, so will bring it down this afternoon to use in the undersink cupboard.

Tiny amount of space saved in the shed, tiny amount of cash saved in general. Winning!

[Deleted User]

oh I am so happy for you GQ. Maybe that now exonerates all those who put a little vinegar in the rinse stage. Powder is best for fleece btw and conditioner must make the machine pipework a whole lot worse, all that goo, sticking to all that build up on the pipes

iamsalt :j that inspired feeling is what got me through, as soon as I felt uninspired, then I stopped for the day

Like Lizzie, I mostly do one room at a time, not strictly kondo but our ethos in the uk is different. Whatever gets us through is what counts

Pesky rats GQ. I had one on my patio last year, it ran from the bench to the bird feeder, was not at all scared of me. I watched it go back and forth and ordered all the usual rat catching stuff, still unused as marauding cats came into my garden that night. I heard a very loud cat fight that night and haven`t seen rat since. Learnt my lesson though and moved the bird feeders as far away as possible but still in sight of patio window. Was a good move anyway as different birds come down and eat the fallen birdseed. My lottie shed is also on a concrete base, next door is on a wooden base with spaces so I am watching my compost closely

I am managing to keep kondo turnover in equilibrium, I do have a few more books but will soon remove others. New ones are by conn iggulden, to be read and given away. Bought plug plants are going straight into prepared spaces, instead of me bemoaning the day I ordered them. Cleaning is massively easier and way down the list now as it just does stay clean

MMF007

DH accidently kondo'd a suncream bottle that was still full, into recycling. Apparently it was all my fault because, a), I distracted him while he had said bottle in his hand, and b), I usually do the recycling and 'should' have done it yester :mad:

So we will be £6 worse off and DH has a slightly sunburnt forehead from our outing yester :rotfl:

I have some errands to run this morning (just having another brew before I tackle today!), then I shall do kondo of some komono in my bedroom COD. I notice a little build up has occurred and it needs doing now, before it gets silly. Plus, I am feeling ruthless so Stuff WILL go into CS bag.

I have some YS pork&beef meatballs to make an Italian themed meal for later and HM soup for other meal of the day so no demaning cooking to do! I plan on clothes kondo this afto, again ruthless will be the adjective to apply!

As DH is working tomorrow, *drum roll*, I WILL sort and defrost the freezer. I had planned to do this a week ago but never got round to it..... I have also been inspired by many of you to do a proper stock take and write a list of what is in the freezer.
When i worked full time we did a big shop every 2 weeks and rotated frozen food very efficiently. Now i can shop several times a week and we eat much more fresh stuff as I get it. The freezer is more for batch cooking, saving leftovers and the odd joint bought on offer or YS.
I have somewhat lost track of what is in there, even though it is only a small 'under-counter' one!