KonMari 2020 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying

Siebrie

I have a plan in place for when we have to have the house cleared for renovation, now I just need to put it into action. My problem is that I'm tired after a day's work, a quick dinner, checking dds' homework and doing some housework. DD1 is staying up later and later (her bedtime is now 20.30; she's 11), which encroaches on the 'me-time' that I really need.

Tonight I'm doing that sparks joy: we have been invited to the grand opening of the Brussels' car fair. Boss told me it was gala, so I bought a back-up gala dress, but now the invite says Cocktail Dress, and I have a very nice cocktail dress (and the underwear to make it look smooth and fitting ). Husband has his discounted black suit, and is borrowing a bow tie from my boss' husband. The most expensive part of this evening is the babysit, and even that is only €5/hour, though a babysit organisation, with vetted and trained babysitters, and insurance. It'll be a one-off, because I don't think we will ever accept such an invite again, but it's a fun new thing for husband and I to do together.


ETA:
ragbag: 1 pair of dh's underpants, 1 child's sock.
donation bag: 1 child's swimsuit
used up: 1 hotel shampoo
almost cleared: my nightstand. There are 2 of dds' crafts still on there I'm not sure what to do with, and dds very much appreciate that their crafts are on there, so I think they will stay a bit longer.

Hazelnutty

Thanks, Slinky. What kind of things did you take and then need to Kondo? I'm now at the stage where I've done most of the obvious stuff. I've emptied the loft and everything is now in archive boxes organised or has been sold/listed. I've done a first sweep of the kitchen and passed on extra glasses. mugs and other bits. Just feeling at a bit of a loss what to do next!

Siebrie

A month ago husband came home from a weekend at his sister's with 8 very large glass teamugs, hardly any two the same. He insisted we needed all 8, but I took just 4 out of the bag, and put the rest in the attic. I still need to see which shape he prefers, put those in the cupboard, and donate the rest somewhere.

GreyQueen

Hi, Hazelnutty (brill handle, btw) I'm recalling something I read from The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.


The author was describing how she was moving across Sweden, from a country house to a much smaller city apartment. As her several children all lived overseas, she was organising the work herself with paid help from removal me. As a lady who is over 80 and less than 100, she said she knew that furniture would have to be put in the right place first time, on removal day, as she wouldn't be able to move it afterwards.


She describes carefully measuring each room (particularly each doorway) and making a plan on graph paper. She used more graph paper to make a scale shape of each piece of furniture and played with them until she worked out what could go where in the new flat, and what couldn't go anywhere.


It's a bit of work, and you may not be able to get to the new home to take precise measurements, but possibly it's a helpful suggestion?


I wince as I remember some moves I have helped friends and family with over the years.


The one where we got a large wardrobe stuck in the stairwell, with one helper on one side and one on the other, and the staircase impassible. Memo to self; what went up a as a flatpack ain't necessarily coming down as an assembled piece.:rotfl:


Or the last moment before the removal van went off, when the lady of the house went to get a towel and realised she'd forgotten she owned an airing cupboard and hadn't packed that.....

Slinky

Hazelnutty wrote: »

Thanks, Slinky. What kind of things did you take and then need to Kondo? I'm now at the stage where I've done most of the obvious stuff. I've emptied the loft and everything is now in archive boxes organised or has been sold/listed. I've done a first sweep of the kitchen and passed on extra glasses. mugs and other bits. Just feeling at a bit of a loss what to do next!

We brought a bed and sofa with us that have had to go. We couldn't get rid before we moved in case the old house sale fell through and we needed to find a new buyer. We did sell some bits, a rocking chair, a mirror, a blanket box just before we moved which we knew we'd have no space for here, but the bed and sofa, we've had to choose between the ones that went and the ones we kept. There were several other bits we had previously moved into this house, admittedly they were kondo decisions delayed in some cases, as we owned this house (had it rented to tenants for a while) before we sold the other one, so some of the things were useful here until we moved in properly.

pavlovs_dog

GoingToDoIt wrote: »

One category I have never really addressed and want to start doing is digitising photos. How does everyone “store” theirs? In a cloud-based facility? I keep getting the “big brother” collywobbles when I think of it. Any tips?
Gonna

I started working on photos last year and need to come back and finish it at some point this year.

I plan on having a copy on the laptop, a back up on at least 1 usb / portable hard drive and will eventually invest in some kind of cloud storage to ensure I have a back up in case of proper disaster striking (e.g. house fire. Photos are something I would find irreplaceable).

my system was to have a folder per year, and then sub folders for events. Hopefully when I put them online I will also be able to 'tag' them so I can easily search by person / events etc

I was purging ruthlessly - anything blurry / of people I no longer see / places that can't be identified / multiple versions of same snap are all going

Hazelnutty

Thanks, GreyQueen! I managed to get in once to do some measurements but clearly made the estate agent late for his next appointment as he kept checking his watch then scarpered the second I said I thought I was done! So I have some measurements (the awkward chimney breast) but not potentially critical things like the stairwell and doorways! Storage is going to be at a premium so I'm most worried about where we can stash things. e.g I have a utility room in my current house and not in the new one - where does all that sh*t go?!

GreyQueen

It a bit pants when you're working with someone in a rush and haven't time to get all the info you need, isn't it?

From memory, was there a dropped ceiling over the stairs? If so, large pieces such as wardrobes and bookcases might be problematic.

Did any of the doorways seem narrower than standard to you? If they seemed about the same as you have at home, and your furniture passed them, they may well fit through the new home's doorways. It's also worth thinking about any sharp corners which big pieces have to be manhandled around.

It was (I think) General Patton who quipped that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and that is certainly true of a plan for moving house not surviving first entry into the property!

The best you can do, based on my own experience, is to remove the most obvious hurdles. Someone I know of could usefully checked that their removal van would have fitted under a low bridge on the only route to their cottage (it didn't) but that's a whole 'nother story.

If a piece won't come out of the old home, or fit into the new one, without dismantling it, best to understand that now and not have to knock a wardrobe apart with an axe while balanced in a stairwell, as me and a pal once had to do.:rotfl:


Re storage - it will take time to live with the new home, the new config of your existing furniture, and working out whether you will need different furniture. Unless you are moving with next-to-nothing, I can't see a way around that. HTH.

PollyWollyDoodle

Unless your new home is significantly unusual e.g. a period cottage, it’s been my experience over several moves that the removal men will know whether something’s going to fit or not - they are absolute troopers and have lots of experience and a good eye for things.

I remember moving into the house before this one, a Victorian terrace, and they were planning to lift the dining table in over my neighbour’s fence but managed to get it round an awkward corner. Worth their weight in gold, my first ever house move was a self-move with a hired van - never again!

GreyQueen

Yeah, you can't beat the professionals if funds allow.


Am limbering up for the day and the plan is to get the big cast iron pot out here and also a stainless steel colander.


I actually replaced the colander with a larger, deeper, better stainless steel colander from a chazzer a couple of years ago. I kept the smaller, shallower one because............ ? that rare set of circs when I might possibly need to have to colanders in use simultaneously?


Suffice to say, that need has not yet arisen and probably better go. I shall shed the other one. Fortunately, it doesn't weigh much, because the pot weighs a lot.