KonMari 2017 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

maddiemay

minnie2 wrote: »

So i am writing my list and a lot of it seems to be cleaning and tidying .do you think i should kondo first or do the cleaning first with the time i have available to me? Im a bit confused with the nitty gritty of the system. I havent totally managed to kondo the house yet.do i clean what ive already done or do i start on a new pile to be kondoed?

As I see it none of us live in the small apartments so common to Japanese life and so have to make the system work to suit our homes and our lifestyles, if stuff needs cleaning and food prepared, money to live on earned etc, etc then real life must come first and MC fitted in around it, could you really live with say a dirty loo and unhygienic kitchen, but have de-cluttered and tidy rooms?:D

ETA - not suggesting that you have a dirty loo, just an example LOL

maddiemay

A large bag of clothes, books and kibble (hopefully sale able kibble) dropped into the CS today by DH, somewhat negated by his chum, who is de-cluttering for an imminent house move, bringing him half a dozen books, I think that most of them will be looked at and moved on fairly quickly though.:D

PollyWollyDoodle

iMinnie I agree with maddiemay, do the essential cleaning, otherwise it'll be bothering you and take your focus off Kondo. Then just do tiny sub-categories where you can. Your boys' room may look a mess but I bet it will be really quick to clean up. That's the great advantage - once you've done the process, everything has a home where it belongs and it's so much easier to tidy up.

GreyQueen

I do live in a flat which, I am amused to note, has less than half square footage than some so-described micro apartments. Struggling to live in 500 sq foot?! I wish I was so lucky. Pah! Try 240 and I don't have the budget for whizzy adaptions, nor would my landlord allow them, if I did.

You have to deal with the daily drag-in, dishes still get washed, bathroom cleaned, the pick up and put away of everyday life. But, when you've decluttered, each of these tasks becomes a smidgeon easier.

Take a bathroom; fluff central with the humidity to glue said fluff onto all surfaces including any bottles and tubs and any decorative items in there. Nothing about a nekkid bathroom is difficult to clean; surfaces are ceramic and tile, all washable. What makes a bathroom time-consuming to clean? It's the stuff.

Sooo, try taking the stuff out and only having the bare minimum back in after cleaning. As a family, share one bottle of shampoo. Could you share one bottle of bath product/ shower gel? Think of the ease of wiping off your one shampoo bottle after use, as I do. Takes two seconds and I never have a gunky bottle sitting on the bath-back. If you have kiddos of the bath-toy stage, can you get a simple mesh bag to corral them between bath times and hang them up to drip-dry over the tub?

Aim to keep spares ideally out of the bathroom but handy, or if they have to be in the bathroom, in a container which is enclosed and itself easy to clean. And review any decorative objects in there - are they cleanable with ease or turrible dust traps?

That was just using the bathroom as an example, but you can do variations in all rooms. Kitchens and bathrooms have a lot in common in respect of being in constant heavy use and requiring a lot of cleaning to keep them sanitary and pleasant.

Everything we have at home requires some kind of cleaning, whether it be a flick of a duster across an ornament, a hot wash in the machine, or anything between. Everything you remove is something which doesn't have to be cleaned, or cleaned around. So, there's a lot to play for by achieving even a few subtractions.

MMF007

GreyQueen wrote: »

I do live in a flat which, I am amused to note, has less than half square footage than some so-described micro apartments. Struggling to live in 500 sq foot?! I wish I was so lucky. Pah! Try 240 and I don't have the budget for whizzy adaptions, nor would my landlord allow them, if I did.

You have to deal with the daily drag-in, dishes still get washed, bathroom cleaned, the pick up and put away of everyday life. But, when you've decluttered, each of these tasks becomes a smidgeon easier.

Take a bathroom; fluff central with the humidity to glue said fluff onto all surfaces including any bottles and tubs and any decorative items in there. Nothing about a nekkid bathroom is difficult to clean; surfaces are ceramic and tile, all washable. What makes a bathroom time-consuming to clean? It's the stuff.

Sooo, try taking the stuff out and only having the bare minimum back in after cleaning. As a family, share one bottle of shampoo. Could you share one bottle of bath product/ shower gel? Think of the ease of wiping off your one shampoo bottle after use, as I do. Takes two seconds and I never have a gunky bottle sitting on the bath-back. If you have kiddos of the bath-toy stage, can you get a simple mesh bag to corral them between bath times and hang them up to drip-dry over the tub?

Aim to keep spares ideally out of the bathroom but handy, or if they have to be in the bathroom, in a container which is enclosed and itself easy to clean. And review any decorative objects in there - are they cleanable with ease or turrible dust traps?

That was just using the bathroom as an example, but you can do variations in all rooms. Kitchens and bathrooms have a lot in common in respect of being in constant heavy use and requiring a lot of cleaning to keep them sanitary and pleasant.

Everything we have at home requires some kind of cleaning, whether it be a flick of a duster across an ornament, a hot wash in the machine, or anything between. Everything you remove is something which doesn't have to be cleaned, or cleaned around. So, there's a lot to play for by achieving even a few subtractions.

An excellent explanation as usual, GQ!
BUT (deliberate grammar faux pas for emphasis), as a home help I have to say that 'time is money' and when I have to move millions of bottles of potions to clean the bathroom surfaces (think every type of moisturiser in duplicate) I dispense with my instinct to be annoyed because i am getting paid to deal with it :rotfl: In my defence I have tried to suggest the duplicates are put in the cupboard to save all the palaver!

Confession of anti-kondo-ing - I have just ordered a few toiletries to complete my small stock. I use a particular 'stick' deodorant that is hard to find because it is infrequently stocked in shops (no idea why, it is a common brand, not expensive, must be less popular flavour!), but found it online in a 12-pack.
I have mentioned before that I have a small cupboard for ambient stocks. Any good offers on ambient stuff are taken advantage of to a small degree.
I never buy trays n trays of things but happily store a few jars of coffee or other items where the savings are significant and the product lifespan is sufficient. A few months ago I bought a plastic basket that exactly fits in the cupboard and acts as a sort of pull-out shelf, iykwim, so I can keep it all tidy and readily accessible.

silvasava

A friend of mine used to run a cleaning business & she told me a very untidy customer had complained about what was being done in the time paid for. My friend then took her round her house and explained what had to tidied or cleared away before they could clean properly!
Trying to Kondo a nasty cough that won't take the hint and go so energy levels are low and not much apart from essentials being done. Local hospice coming tomorrow afternoon for my dining table and chairs. I need to sort the small bedroom too as I'll be storing my boat cushions there over the winter - the bed will look like something from the Princess and the Pea!

Karmacat

Great posts sparked by minnie's queries! Thank you, all concerned, including minnie

I put my plastic bottles and tin cans into the recycling wheelie every few days, but I save the paper inside the house, so that I can put *all* paper in, not just big stuff. I put it in the cardboard boxes that dishwasher tabs come in, for example. And I just had a big clearout of *everything* last recycling day ... then found a whole bag of the security type paperwork - addresses, account numbers etc, that I've torn from paper that can be recycled, because the security stuff has to be shredded. And its a whole supermarket bag - I've no idea how long its been cluttering up my storage space by the front door but its going on Friday, which is general rubbish day!

Save

greent

VJsMum - will DS possibly need the cod next year when not in uni halls? DD is in y2 and needed some bits for her furnished flat this year, inc cod.

Currently in Portugal and hoping the debilitating cough I came with will 'do one' - am feeling run down and have no energy, which is no fun for the kids. My ears are also playing up Will be leaving some clothes behind (deliberately brought some summery clothes which are past it) in the bin. Have brought hotel toiletries with me to use so less small bottles also going back And also brought a spare car booster seat in a suitcase for ds3 to use - much cheaper than hiring one with the car (Ok - was free but even buying one is cheaper!) and I know it's ok. Will leave it with car - have done this before and it works well.

Will also look to use up the part bottles of sun cream but will bin if not finished (Will only be a tiny bit left and would rather start anew next year) I will, however, be bringing back any unused nonperishable foodstuffs
X

MMF007

greent and silva feel better soon.

Greent, that holiday kondo-ing sounds just like we do. Funnily enough i was just doing an inventory of things for next trip away (visiting friends in very sunny climate ) and wondered why I had an empty suncream bottle stashed. Took me a mo to recall that I can decant the bigger bottle into small one for taking to the beach. Saves DH carrying [STRIKE]even[/STRIKE] more.

I have rejigged the toiletries drawer and shall be able to fit the new arrivals in perfectly. Phew!
Also did a check on DH's porridge stash (bought on offer) and txtd him to make sure he doesn't buy any more cos he has a mountain of it.
He replied that it will last him till Spring. I agreed, Spring 2019!

Have kondo'd various bits of komono and some cardboard packing that was surplus. Also a pair of sunglasses that were in a mahoosive glasses case. Nothing wrong with the sunnies but I have 2 prescription pairs (one of which is an old spare) and an ordinary pair so i don't need another ordinary pair. Off to CS they go. Other stuff will make itself known later I am sure.

Wednesday2000

I can't remember if I already said this, but I've used up a few jars of moisturiser and now I have a day cream and a night cream to use instead of lots of different ones.

I have a big bag of clothes for recycling as my husband seems to rip holes in his clothes so he had quite a few things to donate. That will be leaving later this week.:)