Kondo phase 2 (and a half) magazines – how not to Kondo your magazines

Well I’ve done books I thought…

https://bookwriteher.wordpress.com/2015/09/20/kondo-phase-2-books/

And then found two more. Mmm. Ok.

Let’s press on with magazines I thought. Get them all in one place. It turns out they are in every nook and cranny of the house. I’m half expecting to find one in the fridge… *runs to check fridge* The photo shows a small selection of what I managed to find.

I have no magazine subscriptions which is probably a good thing given the snail’s pace at which I read them. This is still a joy holding exercise but somehow I am really drawn to getting my monies worth and trying to read what I have. This is interesting. At least I can see this

So the plan of action is I’ll tear out inspirational pages (for a future vision board exercise – wow that’s a subtle hint for one of the blogs I follow… *coughs Dartmoor Yarns*) and then let them go.

So an evening of magazine flicking through can commence. And I will thank each one. Even Hello. Oops no they’re not mine, I only read sophisticated magazines. These? Oh um. I’m storing them for a friend. Next up craft books and note books!

Melanie

Kondo phase 2 – books

The sun was shining here in the UK so I chose to Kondo my book collection as quick as I can. I had planned to finish repairing any clothes but reading another blog fired me up.

My books were in two places. I gathered them together and realised I had more than I thought. By the end of the session I had filled a bag for charity. I also created a reading pile of books that I would pick out in a shop so I will start working through them. I let go of a very old book. I think it was from junior school. Wow does that make me feel old!

Next up are craft books and magazines as part of this category. Before I leave I thought I’d mention something a bit weird. Possibly coincidence, possibly karma…

I alternate between several charity shops for any donations. I popped into one the other day (having donated to them a few days earlier) to find some beautiful Portmeirion crockery. *winks to universe*

Just look at this butterfly…

Melanie

Kondo clothes phase 5 – coats, jackets, handbags, swimwear

Joy

I had a few days rest during my Kondofest this month. Just to refocus and reenergise. So grab yourself a hot drink and read on.

Coats/jackets

Luckily – and special thanks to Ikea for handy hooks* – all my coats were pretty much all in the same place. So sorting through them was easier than it has been for other items. I found a navy blazer that I’d bought on sale and had worn just once. I tried it on and it didn’t make me feel special. So it’s on it’s way to a new home and frankly a better life where it will be used. Why did I buy it? Doh!

A couple of items need to go to the dry cleaners. Another needs some major repairs and may constitute 90% hand stitching and 10% coat. But it fits so well and it’s a lovely soft material.

*not sponsored, nope. 

Handbags

The joy of the Marie Kondo process is rediscovery. I found a lovely pink bag, really practical and in good condition. The same couldn’t be said for a pink leather bag. (Hey there’s a theme of pink). This former glory was a beautiful pink so I painstakingly took the best part of the evening cleaning it. It looks better. I will have to work on the handles a bit more, you’d think I work on a farm for how mucky they were. *shakes handbag*

Moving on, I let an expensive unused purchase go. It had been bought on a whim. Admired by friends but totally unused. It had a weird shape and no useful pockets. Farewell furry friend enjoy your new life!

Having decided what to keep I then went about giving each bag what they need. It is so calming to look after what you own. Yesterday it was for bags but I felt this same calmness / contentment when I cleaned my shoes before organising into storage. It took me back to memories of laying out newspaper and polishing all of our shoes with a tin of polish and elbow grease.

The leather bags I’ve cleaned are air drying before they are neatly put away. I noticed in some Marie Kondo videos that people display their bags like a retail display. An interesting idea, so you feel you are shopping your wardrobe. Others put bags into bags. What I own doesn’t really lend itself to that. I then found some polystyrene chips (grrr) from a recent delivery, popped them into a bag and used them to pad a couple of bags to help them keep a lovely shape.

Swimwear

Who knew swimwear could be an emotional category to apply the Kondo process to? Nope me neither. But a gorgeous turquoise swimming costume was precisely that. I bought it to use when I went away with some friends. We kinda fell out for a long while and now when I look at this bloody swimming costume I feel hurt. I know this is weird right? To be fair this said attire also had a damn awkward fastening at the back. Combined this meant it definitely did not spark joy.

I then found two more swimming costumes than had straps that don’t stray put when you are swimming. How. Annoying. For some reason I have thought that by storing them this magically fixes that. Off you pop cossies for a new life.

Bits and bobs

While digging through stuff I found a beautiful grey hat that I had forgotten about. It’s a baker boy style. Love it. It somehow had ended up in a bag of stuff to repair / to go to the dry cleaners. Technically I think that any items then found after you have done the Kondo process should be discarded. The theory is you didn’t miss it. To balance this out I will let another hat go – a hat which looks nice but can pinch when you wear it.

Kondo clothes phase

So apart from some repairs/cleaning and some dry cleaning I hereby declare the first main category of the Marie Kondo method – clothes – done! Well nearly. I will work on the repairs, cleaning, washing and folding over the next few days. So everything looks slick and is finished before I move onto books.

I have donated one sack of stuff to a local charity shop and another is ready to go. Overall it has made me feel focused, carthatically saying thank you and goodbye to stuff that no longer brings me joy. So the process makes room and space for the stuff you love.

Peace and love,

Melanie

Kondo clothes phase 4 – trousers, jumpers, cardigans, t shirts

All this month I am holding a Kondofest using Marie Kondo’s book, The life changing magic of tidying up. I don’t know about you but unless I commit to something it won’t get done or completely finished. So I’ve picked up from where I started a few months ago but this time I am putting all my efforts into it. I will complete it!

Today I looked at trousers, jumpers, cardigans and t shirts. I had looked at these a few months ago so today is really a bit of a test. A test around whether Kondo works and has longetivity. And today it was another resounding yes. Again a few new items have come in, but I like everything I have. All I did let go was a t shirt which was now uncomfortable to wear.

So it feels I’ve had an easy day today which is great. But later I looked at strong shopping bags. I’m a bit of a hippy and hate single use carrier bags. Whenever a shop offers me a bag (and hopefully I have one with me) I politely decline and say – “Try and help the environment.” I spoke to a guy in B&M Bargains who responded when I said this – he agreed and said how much he hates handing out such flimsy carrier bags. I’d found a fellow hippie! Next month here in England big shops will start charging 5p for these bags. Hurrah, that will change our habits!

I pulled together all the strong bags I own and organised them. Such as putting a couple in my handbag and in the boot of the car.

Then all I’ve done is spot more strong bags lurking in strange places. Argh! Oh well I’ve made a start.

The final Kondo phases for clothes will be coats and jackets. Then handbags. Not bad eh? Just shows when you put your mind onto it you can really get things done.

Peace and love,

Melanie

https://bookwriteher.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/kondofest/

Kondo clothes phase 3 – work tops and Lotion-gate

Back to Kondo-ing clothes today. Today I decided to look at work clothes specifically tops.

It’s off to work tops we go

I gathered everything together including any jackets/cardigans that I wear solely for work. I had made a start on the Kondo process a few months ago and made progress with my clothes. You can find this detailed post at the end of this – don’t read it just yet. Stay a while!

It was pleasing to see a) not too many items and b) I liked everything I have. They all give me joy. Some new items have come in since my post of a few months ago but by applying the one in, one out rule I have maintained a nice collection of work tops. What’s really interesting is that this gives me hope that the Marie Kondo method of decluttering not only works but also has longetivity. *Cuddles Marie Kondo*

I then put the items back trying to have longest items in the wardrobe on the left then everything gradually gets shorter. Mmm. I might take a while to master that.

Lotion-gate 

Rather than leave it there I thought I’d look at another category. I know I have a problem of too many body creams so I decided to look at those. I didn’t know precisely how many I had so I counted them up. Nine. Nine body lotions. That feels like a lot. It is a lot. I just rechecked yep it’s nine. So my plan is to lather up daily as if I’m preparing for a cross channel swim.

Are you decluttering and getting your house in order? Let’s share ideas and tips. Have a brilliant day,

Melanie

Interesting stuff

https://bookwriteher.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/kondo-challenge-clothes-inventory-the-results/

https://www.psychologies.co.uk/10-tips-make-you-more-tidy-now

Kondo – hair stuff – Wand-gate

I have taken a mini break from clothes sorting (while I catch up on washing) to sort through hair stuff. I’m keen to keep the Kondo ball rolling. So yesterday I looked at hair brushes, tools, products and so on.

First things first you gather everything together. I then quickly noticed a theme. I had a lot of gifts with purchase, ‘exclusive’ boxes and Christmas gifts. They all resulted in lots of miniatures. Great for travel I hear you say. Not so much if you don’t use said product. Mmm.

To cut myself some slack I have been really good with the whole subscription beauty box thing. Where you pay X amount for a box of treats* – and by *treats I mean products you wouldn’t necessarily buy but somehow accumulated together in a box represent great value and add a fancy name (Discovery collection) they become a marketer’s dream. Nothing wrong with these if you like them and they bring you joy. And if you can afford them. It’s just that for a recovering spendaholic I need to tread lightly, looking straight ahead.

So what didn’t bring me joy and what did I say thank you and goodbye to? Well multiple hairsprays (including miniatures), hair dye and styling products I’ll never use. I put several aside to give them a trial and if a joy to use (effortless with good results) then they stay. I’d recently rationalised how many brushes I owned and yesterday found just one that didn’t bring me joy.

I then noticed I had three curling wands. One still with protective packaging on the plug. Signs of my consumer excesses are still around. Let’s be positive here, I’ll now use and review these over the next few weeks. I will curate the collection to a smaller number. I already used the new tongs and found they were really good. Yay!

Takeaway

So is any of this making a difference? Yes. Yes, yes!

As you say thank you and goodbye to the stuff that doesn’t bring you joy it then leaves behind space. Space for the things you love. As well as freeing up storage (clear shoeboxes) that I can re-use to organise (post-Kondo process) my craft things.

Have a brilliant day and I’ll leave you with this inspiring video which really drills down what we need (it’s not very long):

Kondo clothes phase 2 – hats, gloves and thick scarves

Autumn is here in the UK. The sun is out today but my is it getting cooler in the evenings.

So it is a good time to give my hats, gloves and thick scarves the Kondo treatment. This wonderful decluttering process of only keeping things that bring you joy.

I opened the ottoman that contains these winter accessories and found… Three lightweight scarves. Doh! Luckily they are all keepers so they will be washed and put with the other lightweight scarves. Nicely folded.

I emptied the ottoman and began working through each item. It was a bit like sorting through Christmas decorations. A bit of hey I haven’t seen you for a while. Some scarves are momentoes and still give me joy so they are keepers. In the end I let go of just two pairs of gloves (both were uncomfortable, comfortable = joy). I keep forgetting to say thank you to items I am letting go. Will make a point of doing this today.

I also let go of some odd gloves. I managed by luck to find the partner of one but not the others. They have sat in a box labelled odd gloves for a few years. So they are off to clothes recycling via the charity shop, labelled as rag bag. Enjoy your new life gloves. Peace and love.

I’m a bit behind with the washing so will make the most of the sunshine today to get that done so I can carry on with clothes tomorrow. A key theme of Marie Kondo’s method is that you bring all similar items together so you can review them in context.

So that I keep ploughing on and making progress, today I’m going to look at hair stuff. Brushes, products, styling tools. Eek. It’s a lovely day so I’m going to do this quickly! Off we go!

Kondo clothes phase 2 – what’s next?

It is getting very autumnal very quickly here in the UK. So for the next phase of Kondo clothes sorting I thought I’d look at winter accessories such as gloves, hats and thick scarves.

Nothing worse than being unprepared for the changeable weather here in the UK.

Firstly I need to gather everything together in one place. I have a basket that contains most things, just need to round up any stray scarves in particular.

Who fancies joining in? Let’s do this.

Have a brilliant day,

Melanie

Sandal-gate – Kondo clothes phase 1 – shoes, scarves and other stuff

I have dedicated September to Marie Kondo and I’m following her book, The life changing magic of tidying up.

I have sorted through undergarments* today. *Ok socks, knickers/pants. I am British, I was trying to be polite, cut me some slack! It was a surreal conversation to ask pants and socks – do you spark joy? However weirdly I found that some items just didn’t spark joy. I then committed a Kondo crime I had balled up the socks I planned to keep. Funnily enough I only noticed because I thought they are taking up a fair amount of space. Whereas folded socks look nicer and take up less space. Mmm. This book makes a lot of sense.

I then gathered all my shoes (boots, sandals, trainers) together. A crucial part of Marie Kondo’s method is to group everything together so you get to see truly how much you have. This hurts and can be a bit shocking. I nearly relegated a pair of trainers to DIY workwear (such as painting). But then I realised I don’t do much painting.. So they and a pair of unworn and hugely uncomfortable boots were let go. I haven’t thanked them but will when I drop off the bags to charity. Luckily I don’t have many pairs but was still frustrated to find a pair of new flip flops that I hadn’t worn (had forgotten about) and would have been ideal for summer. Lesson learned.

I love scarves. They are the equivalent of lusting over beautiful fabrics. Even better you get to wear them. So again I grouped them all in one place. Saying thank you and goodbye to a scarf was a bit harder than I thought it would be. A scarf given to me as a present was hard to give away but the simple fact is it didn’t suit me.

So that’s what I’m calling phase 1 for clothes. I didn’t think I got rid of much but three bags are waiting to go to the charity shop. All containing stuff that doesn’t bring me joy and frankly has got in the way of the good stuff. Think sandal-gate.

Have a brilliant and joyful day,

Melanie

Kondofest

Marie Kondo. Two words which have kept me incredibly busy.

I made a start on Kondo-ing back in May but I didn’t finish things. I made a good start though: Kondo challenge: clothes inventory (the results!) http://wp.me/p5UL7i-4u

So this time I’ve made a plan of attack. Marie Kondo’s book, The life changing magic of tidying up, isn’t just some other Decluttering book. She asks you to think about why you are decluttering and getting your house in order. This stops you in your tracks. Why get your house in order? Then she asks you to visualise what you want your home to look like. This is powerful stuff.

Look at this video for a quick taster: Watch Marie Kondo’s life-changing magic transform this messy work-space! http://www.fastcompany.com/3046086/most-creative-people-2015/marie-kondo-teaches-us-how-to-organize-our-office

So the important thing is to remember you start by discarding the items you don’t love or that don’t give you joy. Then when you’ve done that you decide where to put your stuff, your keepers. And Marie covers how folding helps the clothing (yeah I know that’s a bit hippy). I am surprisingly getting into folding. Who knew? I think the attraction is that stuff takes up less space (don’t ball socks up my friend) but also when you open a drawer it has a shop-looking display and incredibly tidy feel to it. I must stop feeling the need to invite people to look at my drawers. People may think I’m deranged.

Marie recommends working through items in a specific order basically so you deal with easier stuff initially (clothes) and then it gradually gets harder. Moving onto books, papers (eek). miscellaneous (which I’ll categorise) through to da dun da… Momentoes.

September is a time of change. A new season. A new normal many of us. So I’m dedicating September to Kondo. Who’s with me?