Tidying up and KonMari

[MrsInTheMiddle]

I'm trying to tackle our clothes. My 850 sq ft condo doesn't have space for this category sorting, but I'm trying. Ugh.

Why do I own so many socks? Despite what Kondo says about socks needing to breathe, I like to fold my socks with the top rolled over.


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[gcuthbe1]

I'm really bad, I still haven't finished the book (avoidance of the cleaning to come afterwards?) Why do I hate cleaning so much lol!


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[spotty_dog]

I'm really bad, I still haven't finished the book (avoidance of the cleaning to come afterwards?) Why do I hate cleaning so much lol!

LOL. Finish it! It's a short book. Then you can decide if it moves you to do something...or not. It's certainly okay if not! But for what it's worth, you can't clean clutter, so having a system that diminishes clutter means that you can get to actual cleaning that much more easily.

For me, today was hair thingies and first aid supplies. When a neighbor boy came to my door bleeding a couple of weeks ago, I had to look in about five different places for a band-aid, couldn't find my special wound cleaning spray, and I ended up digging through DH's supplies (which are two huge Rubbermaids of miscellaneous items but no band-aids or gauze pads!) So...I have now collected every first aid supply into one little bin and thrown out the expired. And hair thingies, OMG. Seriously found them in 8 places through the house: clips and rubberbands and hairbands, oh my!

[Deebs]

S-D is right - the book is the easy part! Honestly, I'm like the D student in KonMari, but it did give me a little boost to read, and a fresh perspective. I'm completely half ass-ing it here, but some decluttering is happening, and in the spirit of happier living.


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[spotty_dog]

Today we did Lego. *cue scary music* I think we may have put in four hours of work. DS was totally gung-ho about it and is optimistic that this will both help him to use the Legos he has, and keep them tidy. Fingers crossed!

Before (well, kinda during, DS begged for the photo a few minutes after we started, so he'd remember how big the pile was!)



After



One of the small yellow Trofast bins has minifigs. One yellow bin and one orange have miscellaneous assorted (mostly small or partly-built) pieces. Everything else is sorted by color. Phew!

[MrsInTheMiddle]

Looks great!


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[spotty_dog]

Overheard from the playroom today (the neighbors popped over to play for a while): "A few minutes before you guys have to leave, we're going to have to pick all this off the floor and put it back in its proper place." No coaching or anything! DS just put a LOT of work into sorting those Legos and is not about to see it all go to waste!

I'm going to do placemats, napkins, and tablecloths this evening I think.

[spotty_dog]

Today was baking dishes, small appliances, mixing bowls. I didn't feel like I got rid of much, but once the areas were cleared out, when it was time to put things back I figured out how to make it all work much, much better and now I don't have to stack my bowls two feet high or keep my blender in the dining room! Aahhhh...

[spotty_dog]

Yesterday I did spices, oils and vinegars, non-perishable foods. I am not much for before pictures, but here is the after.

Spices in a drawer:


Made room for the former spice cabinet to have some breathing room (now less sticky, with shelf paper):


And the pantry also ended up with breathing room. It's not super cute or anything, but like things are together and there's room for me to do a big grocery shop today!


I just did a pantry tidy and purge a few weeks ago so I didn't expect there to be much to discard, and sure enough about all I really let go of were some Indian spices I bought about 9 years ago for Kick-Butt Indian Potatoes. >.< But getting everything out, then letting the house tell me where to put it back, really did make a difference. I stacked like things front to back on the deep shelves (grocery store style) so I don't have to dig behind but space isn't wasted. I got rid of a lazy susan that was always too overfull to turn, and repurposed a plastic shoebox divider from pasta to canned beans. And of course, the drawer storage for the spices is going to be lifechanging. I can't tell you how many times it's been time to add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and I'm frantically digging through the shelves and running for a stepstool so I can see the back of the second shelf...

[gcuthbe1]

I'm finally reading it! Like my bookmark?


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[spotty_dog]

Love it!! My kids are huge Garfield fans. Report back when you have an opinion about it all.

[gcuthbe1]

Alright I'm like a third of the way through the book and... I'm just curious how you all have dealt with the stuff/actions of other folks in your living space. For example, during the summer I organized by category pulling out all my and my hubbys bathroom stuff and organizing and then desk related stuff and organizing. I explained to him the new places for things to go. However almost immediately he couldn't find things and started leaving things in different places. Since he's studying and crazy busy, I'd much rather not make him join me in cleaning marathoning during his very little free time. So while it's all well and good for me to read this and me to have an organization epiphany.... What about the other folks in your home? Have you had your spouses read the book too, or help organize or what? Your thoughts are appreciated.

EDIT: I saw spotty_dog and SoonerTexan discussed this on page 6... Any new updates/suggestions?

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[spotty_dog]

The process starts with just your stuff. Nobody else needs to be involved. So the point is moot, to begin with. You would only do your desk stuff, your bathroom stuff, and nobody else would put that away "wrong". Keep reading -- the bits about other people's stuff are in the second half of the book, I think. You saw where I tried to insist to ST that the tidiness bug is contagious; well, something does seem to be rubbing off in my house. Last week he went through his closet, and yesterday he did his home office (discarding the cordless phones that are attached to the disconnected landline, as well as a printer table!) He has not, and probably will not, heard anything about Konmari, but I don't feel that's necessary.

I've just begun working on jointly owned stuff in the past week or so, kitchen things and the like that we both need to use. DH sometimes asks, "Where does this go now?" And he did make an offhand comment about "I need time to get used to what you did here," when he was cooking and had to look in a drawer for the spices. But for the most part, the storage places are very intuitive now, and he just goes with it.

Hope that helps! Keep reading!

[Deebs]

I'm not really doing Konmari (maybe what people call pre-Konmari or what I think of as half-assed Konmari), at least until we're done moving. The book did make me look at things differently, though. Just doing MY stuff is a lot, as I consider everything kitchen, dining, etc to be mine. I also have young children, so much of that falls to me as well. I also noticed last month how much lower my unexpected monthly bills are. It really made me more mindful of splurge spending and what I'm bringing into my house.


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[spotty_dog]

I'm not really doing Konmari (maybe what people call pre-Konmari or what I think of as half-assed Konmari), at least until we're done moving. The book did make me look at things differently, though. Just doing MY stuff is a lot, as I consider everything kitchen, dining, etc to be mine. I also have young children, so much of that falls to me as well. I also noticed last month how much lower my unexpected monthly bills are. It really made me more mindful of splurge spending and what I'm bringing into my house.

When people on the FB board talk about trying to KM prior to a move, I cringe. Because it might be woo-woo, but I do think the house has something to say in the process, so doing it when you're not in the house you'll stay in seems wrong. Also, doing it on a deadline seems contrary to the principle as well -- it takes as long as it takes, you know?

But yeah, finances are an unexpected benefit. My grocery bill has halved since I did my food. O_o Instead of a panicked shopping almost daily, I'm so much more mindful of what I have and how fast I use it.