KonMari 2017 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Sj62, well done! :T

It is soooo worth it, isn't it, doing the MK tidy?!

A cool, sometimes rainy day here today. As I am away this week I can't kondo much! We have been enjoying a quiet morning in front of a log fire. Bliss. DH is reading and I got my painting gear out of their neat shoulder bag and one smallish plastic tub ( am really proud of myself for not impulse buying a tonne of stuff for this new hobby).
I bought a short book offering a sort of step by step in painting techniques in a CS so have dipped into that this morning . A scene of sunny sea and fishing boats on the shore is materialising, slowly! Very basic but pleasing to see I have improved a bit and there is actually some depth to the items and the scene as a whole.

Right, off to kondo some leftovers from last night's soir!e into lunch

house hunting has started and reality quickly set in re grotty homes in grotty areas, so am having to re-vamp my projected outlay

large load to tip and cs this morning and I am just about to get changed into scruffs to make another pass through the outbuilding. I know exactly what I will throw out, sigh, all the foods that I dehydrated in the past, so I can wash and pack the lock n locks into big really useful boxes. Its another chapter starting soon and I have to be ready

I didn`t do any outbuilding stuff yesterday, I needed to de-stress and become calmer, so just did a relax tape instead and wrote lots of e mails and phoned sisters and in-laws, Speaking and writing offloads stress nicely

So a new day today and am energetic enough and back to normal, psychologically. Garage today and am working top down, clearing high up shelves, leaving them empty. I have some packages of enviromesh etc and will pack those into empty really useful boxes that are taking up space. I will probably get another load for the tip but slow and steady as even wood offcuts could be useful for my wood carving scrollsaw future. Trick is to label all boxes clearly and you can see a sharpie written label through them, that is how I label these large boxes

Eirlys, I had a similar china dilemma once and didn`t want the cs to sell them for pence so I gave them to oxfam, who seem to know the value of items and sell them appropriately. There is a sense of guilt at first but just say `thank you and goodbye` they will be re-homed and not destroyed. Once they go then it is easy to forget about them

Hi all! I hope you don't mind me joining this thread. I read KondoMari's Spark Joy over the weekend and have now pretty much finished decluttering my clothes. I think I ended up only keeping less than half the clothes I've had sitting around taking up space.

I do have a question for everyone though, does anybody else find that folding things the way she suggests takes up a lot more room than 'traditional' folding? I feel like the bundles are just so bulky that it makes it hard to fit everything in my dresser. Of course this could be because I'm using the dresser from my dad's teenage bedroom, so it dates to the late 50s and has much smaller drawers than most modern ones. However it's so well made, has sentimental value, and fits more perfectly into my tiny bedroom than any other dresser I've used in the past so I'm hesitant to look at replacing it. I've used a variety of folding methods in the past but none have really 'stuck' - does anyone have a non-Kondo method they swear by?

Eirlys wrote: »

Most difficult items? China and items from grandparents and parents. Offspring don't want them. I intend to take photos of many and then give them away. Hope this relieves my sense of guilt.

Eirlys, can you look into seeing if there are any organizations in your area that help resettle refugees, the homeless, or victims of domestic violence? Many times those sorts of places want homegoods that they will use to help a family furnish their new home. I'm sure they would appreciate them and you know they would be used and making a new family very happy. Plus they won't just be destroyed or sold off for pennies.

Eirlys wrote: »

Love the Marie Kondo book. Have disposed of 11 bags of clothes to daughter and her friends. (was pleased to learn 7 items of "my" clothing went on holiday to the US).
400 + books given to charity shops. Am now re-reading books " for the last time" before thanking them and giving them away.

Most difficult items? China and items from grandparents and parents. Offspring don't want them. I intend to take photos of many and then give them away. Hope this relieves my sense of guilt.

Vintage china is in much demand for those that do traditional afternoon teas. Apparently, though I have never looked into it, you can hire them out.

I have a non-sentimental vintage tea set, it was my great grannies, left to an auntie who left it to me "because you won't sell it". When Mum told me that was why I'd been left it - after auntie had died - i said "then i don't want it. if i needed to feed the kids, i'd sell it". Mum assured me auntie would understand that. But... it means nothing to me, i don't like it much. I have no idea of its value (though Auntie thought it was worth 'something'). it sits in a box in the loft....:(


MarieMac - welcome to the thread. Most of us have found that kondo-folding takes less room up, not more. Though, personally i like that way of folding cos you can see everything without rummaging...