KonMari 2018 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Slinky

Had a good result yesterday. We have brought a bed with us from our old home which we weren't sure whether we could fit in, but we can't. It has an old mattress which whilst perfectly comfortable, has an odd brown stain where some central heating protector got sprayed on it from a leaking radiator. We're trying to sell the bed, but knew the mattress would be difficult to shift.



Yesterday I spotted a neighbour was loading up a van with stuff which looked like it would be going to the tip. I went out and introduced myself, the mattress went in the van and OH went with the neighbour to help him unload everything at the other end. A win all round. That saves me having to pay somebody or the council to take it away. Council collections here are much more expensive than in our old area.


We've spent the weekend putting artwork up on the walls and I have decided reluctantly that my beloved leather sofa will have to go, sob sob. It's in good enough nick that a charity shop should be able to sell it, so will try an arrange for one to collect.


Finally beginning to feel like the house is getting liveable, there are no cardboard boxes in the house now, although plenty to sort in the garage still. I need to sort through my cleaning materials, keep only what is needed in the house and put the rest in a crate in the garage we can 'shop' from as stuff runs out. Hopefully it will run out more quickly in this house now that I have more time for cleaning, having given up the business. I want to live a cleaner and more clutter free life.


I dread to think how much more difficult it would have been to sort this move if I hadn't been ditching stuff for the past couple of years. It's been bad enough as it is!

Siebrie

:TWell done, Slinky!:T

I had another rummage through the attic: dd2 tried on the African dresses and fits 5, dd1 has zero left that fit her. Husband has 3 African suits (the shiny lightblue ones), that he had completely forgotten about. I am sure he was planning on having another suit made, and the ornate ones are rather expensive, so I am glad I can show these to him.

Another bag for life with miscellaneous toys found.... I put two dolls in the landry bin, put some hairbands back with the hair items, and threw out all the loose beads and the half used craft item.

Donated 9 children's books to the village's little free library, and have found another three books to donate.

Bin liner is now full, and I seem to have run out! Where do I hide my discards now? Our local supermarket sells the correct binliners, but is often out of stock, recently even for three weeks, because the council forgot to send them new stock! (We pay €2 per binliner, so the more you throw away, the heavier you are taxed. There is a free recycling centre in the main village, where you only pay if the boot of your car is over a certain depth, or if the trash is unrecyclable.)

Siebrie

I have put another 6 books in the little free library.

I have cut down the lovage and the chives, removed a lot of weeds from our gravel drive (no use adding gravel if the house renovation will happen within 12 months),

Slinky

I've been kondoing in the garden today. There is the most enormous multi trunked yukka just outside my patio door surrounding the small pond. It's got to have been there 40 years or more I'm sure. The 'rockery' it's in shows all the same charm as the one in our previous house. Random rocks, lumps of concrete, paving slab and any old other lump of something solid, with this beast sagging all across it. It appears to have at least 6 active trunks. I've cut off all the green leaves off of two of them and have filled the rest of the green bin with other stuff. The garden hasn't been well tended for over 4 years at least. It's gone a bit wild even since we bought it and had it rented out, comparing the sale photos with what's on site today. I'm determined the green bill will go out full each time as it's collected fortnightly and we're paying for it, so I need to get my money's worth! The rest of the yukka is going to be more difficult to reach and the trunks are going to have to go to the tip in the car as they exceed the allowable diameter for the green bin.


No more success with the rat trap yet, but haven't seen anything since the first one was despatched. Don't believe there is just one of them though.

Siebrie

I have found a small pile of sunflower seed shells in the garage/pantry/laundry room, and have deduced that we have once again a mouse

Husband has started packing for his monthlong trip to his relatives in Africa, at my insistence (the early packing, not the trip). He is leaving on Friday and can take 2x23kg + 13kg hand luggage. The suitcase we packed today weighs 18kg, fully KonMari packed = rolled, and items that no longer spark joy (3 suits, 8 trousers, an old laptop) to be given to friends and family. For handluggage he will take a small (laptop) rucksack; our large suitcase is currently at camp with dd1, who returns on Wednesday.

The two suitcases are part of a nesting set, so he can pop the smaller one into the bigger one for his return .

Siebrie

DD2 and I have retrieved all the framed art, artwork and pictures, distributed them around the house where we thought they should hang, had dh do a quick tour to confirm he is okay with it, and put everything up today :T

We have cleaned the glass fronts, reframed a few items where the frames were no longer nice, swapped some pictures around to make them more interesting and, voil!, a nicer home . We had taken everything down about three years ago to accommodate 'the renovation', but that is unlikely to happen for another year, and I have had enough of living in limbo!

Slinky

Finally got rid of my old computer trolley and chair, gave them away free on facebook, took 3 attempts after 2 no-shows... gaps are beginning to appear in the garage.



Took a trolley load of stuff to the charity shop this morning.


Am awaiting contact from the removals company to come and collect their boxes.




Still no more success with the rat trap, but we haven't seen anything either.

grunnie

I turned my old computer trolley in to a dressing table. The pull out bit underneath holds a box with my makeup and also has room for my diary. A few bits on top and a mirror and that was me sorted out.

Igamogam

Dived into my filing cabinet 4 days ago....still swimming....not drowning:eek: Went through it once and then thought it is arranged in a really inefficient way so pulled it all out and started again... and I thought I had been good the first time round:D Found £43 in cash and a chq for £50 . One of the £10 is an old one but I will take it to the bank to exchange. Now going to persuade OH to go through their filing cabinet.........think there is more on top of than in it:mad:

Also made the mistake ( possibly) of starting another clearing project.....I can't work KM style I am afraid. 2 bin bags, mainly clothes and books, to CS already this week.

Having a bit of a break as I have cakes to bake for and event tomorrow...wishing I hadn't promised but once I get going I will be fine!

Slinky

I'd gone my whole life without a dressing table so when we extended our last home I bought a lovely one which matches our bedroom furniture.


A whole large wheelie bin of recycling is going this morning, green bin has already gone. Refuse bin containing bagged up dead rat is beginning to get particularly honky, with a week to go before collection...


I will be dropping some excess towels off with the RSPCA today, so that's a tad more space developing.


Also sending some paperwork relating to our old house back to our purchasers, which has cleared half a box file.



It's market day in our new home town so will go and see what delights they have in store for us.