KonMari 2018 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

a_silver_lining

Slinky wrote: »

Sparking Joy this morning.


On our last trip away we were late arriving back at the airport (1.30am) only to discover that our suitcase had been damaged by the big orange airline. There was nobody at their desk to report it to at that time, and although we left a message on their reporting number, nobody ever called us back.



The pull out handle on the suitcase had been pulled out and got bent. Bending it back didn't sort the problem and it is permanently stuck out. I got in contact with the suitcase manufacturer, who still make this style of suitcase, but they said they couldn't supply spare parts.


Dismantling the case, inside we discovered a small sticker on the handle mechanism, and located the manufacturer as a company in Vietnam. We contacted them by email, some photos and measurements were sent, and these kind people have made - not dragged out of a box off the shelf - made to measure, a new handle that they are sending to us. I've enquired several times how I pay, and today they said they are sending it to me by courier, as a sample.


How unbelievably kind is that.

Slinky that's fantastic

So glad you didn't need to bin it!

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I've photographed pretty much all of my 'to sell' items.

Listed all but the clothes on Gtree. I will list them this evening.

I have pilled alllll of my paper onto the floor as that is the next category, and a major one for me. I was all for tackling it yesterday, but not feeling it today.

I have put things very cheap on Gtree in a bid to shift it. Listing items for £5 etc on Gtree, the value of it all on there is around £60. I'd like £60, but it puts it into perspective how long I want to hold onto it all. Clothes are designer designer things and again I will list at £5 each. I don't think I fancy ebaying, though I have done well with it in the past, so if I don't get a spur of motivation it will probably be a very nice charity shop I pick after this that gets it all in a few weeks.

Slinky

Argghhhh..... kondoing more money on my car, which is without doubt the biggest moneypit of a car we've ever owned, starter motor stuck when I needed to go out, and it won't start. The AA were here in 20 mins and got it started, so OH drove it to the garage to leave it for them to repair.

Karmacat

Kondoing in the literal sense, getting packaging materials together to get rid of some, pretty successful, actually - I need the space now that the kitchen renovation's going to go ahead.

tibawo

Have to chuckle... i have put a huge pile of stuff next to where I sit in what I call my room to sort while i watch tv. In the adverts I then shred, put in recycling pile or put back in their proper home. Where am I currently sat... in the other room!

Siebrie

One bottle of wine Half of it went into a stew I made, some of it went into a half glass that I drank, the rest went down the sink! It was a work birthday gift from when they still gave alcohol (until too many people protested and they changed to chocolates). My tongue was black after my half glass, and when I emptied it in the sink, there was a lot of black sediment that came out.

Husband has decided that with me in York for the weekend, he will take dds and visit a friend in Paris. She had a baby two months ago, so I went through some basic babyhandling moves with dds using their dolls and through some basic French sentences. I will check the attic to see if we have any baby items left to give to her. At least one white woollen blanket, that I remember. I will also prepare one bag of drinks and snacks for the trip there, and a similar bag for the return trip (4 hours). Husband had to bribe them with promises of mcd and ikea, so the trip will be slightly more expensive then it could have been. I told them they need to go up the Eiffel tower. Knowing husband, he will just leave them with his friend, while he goes visit other friends, so I am planning their weekend in addition to my own

silvasava

A good friend has had a wardrobe clear out.........and given me a large bag of clothes that I can take my pick. I've selected 3 tops and a cardigan. Luckily most of them were in colours I do not wear. Bag has been repacked to pass to another friend on Saturday. It did spur me to have a cull of my own clothes so 6 tops and two pairs of cut offs packed up for first friend & anything remaining goes to a CS.;)

Frugal_Freda

It has taken ages for me to get rid of my late mum's vast array of sewing stuff, threads, buttons etc, as I couldn't bear to throw them away. I finally decided that an old friend who is heavily into craft would be the best place and am happy that she has now taken delivery and they will go on to have a new life with her sewing circle. I kept delaying by saying I might need them, but sewing the odd button on doesn't require cotton in umpteen shades and a book in the library suggested a basic sewing kit which I now have.

PollyWollyDoodle

I'm still Kondoing £££ having the new bathroom fitted .... but clearing it was fairly painless, as was making space for the plumber to store his tools in the small bedroom opposite. When he needed to run an extension cord from the other bedroom, while it's not super-tidy, I wasn't embarrassed to open the door. And when the plasterer asked if I had any bulbs for the light fitting, I was able to go straight to the box and find them, no searching in different places. All little things, but all KM wins that wouldn't have been possible before.

kittydfw2012

I know some people are doing the Konmari method over time but I definitely found it therapeutic to blast it over a few weekends rather than months and years. It's a much more intensive and I would argue meaningful process to challenge yourself. I never regret a minute of the time invested or any of the things that I let go because a) I got to keep everything that was precious to me and b) really really good things came into my life - remember the name of the book is the 'life changing magic' of tidying, not just a bit of decluttering. I believe there really is magic in it if you embrace the process. It definitely has allowed me to make some seriously positive changes in my life and I've never gone back to the untidy, disorganised stress monster that I was before (OK maybe occasionally, I let work stress affect me but now my 'stuff' doesn't add to it.

If you're unsure, I would really say to go for it, get the whole process done and wait for the magic to happen. Follow Marie's advice to the letter.

omgaechylus

I'll admit I got into this via Netflix....!

Me and OH have perfected the clothes-folding (we just need a wardrobe to put them in) and are working on decluttering one area at a time.

I'm wary of throwing out too much when it can be sold/donated - which is fine, but we've come up with two main areas of difficulty:
-Underwear. We both have plenty which no longer Sparks Joy. We don't need any more rags for cleaning around the house. They're not something that can be donated. We've come up with a few patchwork-type ideas but really we're both too time-poor to ever get round to it. Is there anything more beneficial than the bin for old pants and socks?

-Makeup. Again, we've both got items we've used in the past but no longer use. Some are mostly full and it seems pretty wasteful to just throw away. Anything that's gone bad (e.g. separated nail polish) has been binned - but is there a better use or place for used makeup?