Tidying up and KonMari

[spotty_dog]

[MENTION=985]spotty_dog[/MENTION] If the yarn brings you joy, and you feel inspired regularly (defined however you want) keep it. I think it's good you're going through it all though. Keep only skeins that bring you joy. I'm all about ditching the obligation crap though.

This is why Konmari speaks to me, I think. It's not about minimalism per se, but about living the life you want to be living. I want my yarn stash, but I don't want to struggle to get it out and put it away, and I want going through it to be a happy anticipation of "what can I make next," not "Ugh, I still haven't used that yarn that I bought in 2004 when that $100 was a really, really big deal."

Speaking of which, [MENTION=894]BonBon[/MENTION] 's description of how she feels relaxed in the simplicity of rented condos and wants to replicate that in her home, reminded me that Kondo wants you to explicitly articulate your vision of the lifestyle you want to lead. I think I need to put mine into words too, to help guide me as I move forward.

[spotty_dog]

Bought myself some Sterilite dresser drawers today. To make room, I moved the huge ugly Rubbermaid tote out of my closet. It contained my drum carder and my (minimal) fabric stash. The drum carder is now in with the uncarded fiber stash (awaiting a more permanent storage solution) and I am going to do a quick and dirty KonMari of the fabric -- I think what remains will fit in a plastic shoebox. My closet makes me SO SO happy now.

[civilspouse]

This thread had been making me think more about areas I want to tackle this winter. We are pretty good about not keeping clutter but we have some problem areas and I tend to keep things out of obligation. Just last night my MIL said she is cleaning out her house so they can sell when they retire. She told me she would probably be bringing some things to us. I told DH he needed to put a stop to it. Instead he just started listing things he wants like his comic book collection.


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[spotty_dog]

This thread had been making me think more about areas I want to tackle this winter. We are pretty good about not keeping clutter but we have some problem areas and I tend to keep things out of obligation. Just last night my MIL said she is cleaning out her house so they can sell when they retire. She told me she would probably be bringing some things to us. I told DH he needed to put a stop to it. Instead he just started listing things he wants like his comic book collection.


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Yeah, the downsizing relatives are super tough. Sometimes I kind of feel like I need to enable my ILs to let go of their stuff, by receiving it and then moving it along again. But enough of that starts feeling weird, especially now that I'm working on my house so I'm trying to move it along quickly. (Like, they'll never notice if I get rid of the odd-size canning jars MIL gave me a year ago, or the extra tablecloths from three years ago, but if they give me, I don't know, glassware or kitchenware next, and it never actually shows up in my house, there could be questions.)

I have a meet-up I could go to today, but I feel like I want to work on my house instead! I'm looking at you, stack of empty egg crates that have been piling up ever since things got weird between us and the chicken-owning neighbors we used to give them to...

[scrub-jay]

Tidying up and KonMari

Once you start the process, it becomes a bit addictive. And a finished space (closet, cabinet, drawer, whatever) becomes this little point of serenity. I find reasons to open my linen closet during the day because it just looks awesome and makes me feel peaceful.

ETA: I hum "Let it go...let it go!!!!" to myself throughout the day and it has nothing to do with Frozen.

[spotty_dog]

Yes! Working by category means that some areas are more disarrayed than ever for now. But it all feels like a process with a known endpoint, and there are spots where my house can *breathe* (linen closet, my side of the clothes closet) and it's just lovely. I'm particularly enamored of the corner where the clean-laundry basket goes -- because it's always empty! I fold and put away clothes super promptly these days because there's a place for everything.

[spotty_dog]

So, I somehow missed that Paper is the next "official" category after Books. I'm a bit intimidated by this, even though it's a fairly limited collection. I'm not going to do jointly-owned papers (like the bills and things that hubby has filed), but I have a full file drawer in the office, a small hanging file and an inbox on my shelf, a box and a binder of printed-out recipes, a grocery sack of last year's school papers that got overlooked last time I sorted, and a few drawers that are hiding random things like kids' drawings or old user manuals. And I'm trying to decide whether I should re-sort the envelopes of school papers I kept when I went through the paperwork at the beginning of summer. Hm.

(Edit: BTW, both kids came down for breakfast already dressed for school. Their organized drawers make it so easy for them to choose clothes that they do it quickly and voluntarily.)

[SoonerTexan]

So I'm intrigued...but I have to ask: will this work if my husband isn't on board? I've got 2 little people and a big person who really don't care where things go...

[spotty_dog]

So I'm intrigued...but I have to ask: will this work if my husband isn't on board? I've got 2 little people and a big person who really don't care where things go...

In theory, yes. Kondo insists that tidiness is contagious; as you work through the process yourself, realigning your relationship to your stuff and your house even as you pare *your* things down to the things that make *you* happy, the rest of the family will fall in line. Whether it's because it's easier to be tidy when things have a place, or whether they subconsciously crave the kind of simplicity in the way you have your closet or whatever, they will make changes too. If you get annoyed by other people harshing your tidiness buzz...you look inward. Figure out what you haven't finished tidying for yourself, before you get on anyone else's case.

Also, for kids under 3-4, it's really all on the parents anyway. Per Kondo, you're leading by example and starting to teach lessons in appreciating their stuff, beginning with how to fold clothes (which you start at about that age).

Honestly I haven't even told my husband what I'm doing, and I haven't touched anything that he'd care about or lay claim to. (He's already got his own systems and priorities, and is not a major contributor to clutter.) And with the kids I've only guided them through doing their clothes. But I still notice a big difference. More things have places. More stuff gets put away regularly, whether I'm really driving it or not.

[SoonerTexan]

Kondo insists that tidiness is contagious; as you work through the process yourself, realigning your relationship to your stuff and your house even as you pare *your* things down to the things that make *you* happy, the rest of the family will fall in line. Whether it's because it's easier to be tidy when things have a place, or whether they subconsciously crave the kind of simplicity in the way you have your closet or whatever, they will make changes to

*Snort* Yeah, that's not how my husband works. But I'm intrigued enough to try it in some specific areas. I sort of do anyway...like the papers that are now all filed away in the wood filing cabinet I had been after for years. It's just so hard to keep on top of when you literally have 3 people ripping things apart faster than you can put them back.

I like the idea better than minimalism, though. I had one friend who got all on board with that...and then complained that her kids were always bored because they had no toys. They would always come to our place to play because there was literally nothing to do at their house.

[spotty_dog]

LOL, I know. I have zero faith that anything will change in my husband's closet or the DVDs or his basement. But I think it is still a worthwhile process, for me, so far.

I just read this new blog with an interview that explains better how to apply the method with kids! It'll mean more if you read it after reading the book though...it's a short book but crammed with philosophy. http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2...-up-with-kids/

[spotty_dog]

A couple days ago I did warranties and user manuals. Kondo says not to keep any of these, but I felt like I wanted a few (the maintenance instructions for major appliances). And I didn't feel I could get rid of the ones for DH's stuff like the weedwacker and the wireless weather station. But I went from about a 12" stack to 1" of things to keep in the "stuff about our home" binder in the kitchen, and 1.5" of things to put back in the warranties and user manuals file in the office.

Today I'm doing the rest of my paper. I've collected together old veterinary records for now-deceased pets, articles I meant to read, knitting patterns, printed recipes, work reviews, old stationery, etc. I'll be going in after breakfast. I'm also hoping to get the kids to help me go through their books since they are home from school!

Edit: I am totally procrastinating from starting on the paper, by going around the house looking for more papers to add. It's kind of an overwhelming pile, I should have started with smaller subcategories but I really didn't think I had this much! >.< It has to be done before DH gets home in two hours, so here I go...

[Thirteen]

I can't really touch the paper, because DH has it everywhere and doesn't want to toss anything.
I need to gather it all up in boxes and make him go through it all before next year.


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[spotty_dog]

I can't really touch the paper, because DH has it everywhere and doesn't want to toss anything.
I need to gather it all up in boxes and make him go through it all before next year.

I didn't touch any of the paper in DH's file cabinets (which includes utility bills and tax returns), even though I know some of it can really go. Not my circus, not my monkeys, as I like to imagine Marie would say. Yet I still had three, foot-tall stacks of just my stuff. A 50-page photocopied article about gender equality in the sciences, a bunch of printouts about dog training, receipts from work done on a computer I haven't owned for five years, all the paperwork for my disability leave when I had DS, an address book that hadn't been updated since high school, a stack of takeout menus from restaurants that have since gone out of business...it's amazing how many places bits and bobs of paper can accumulate.

Everything except recipes has been sorted now. I still kept more than is strictly necessary, but I think it will all fit in a 5" deep hanging file box so I'm happy with that.

[spotty_dog]

Kids' books. Before:



After:



and in DD's room, these are her series books and the box of classics to keep for them to grow up a little:



Only thing not pictured is the shelf with the Harry Potter series and the Narnia series. All the bookshelves have some wiggle room. PHEW! I'm pooped! DS apologized for not getting rid of more, and DD gleefully admitted she was keeping almost everything, but we did move two big bags of books out.