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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo


frankie

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I know some members have read the book and some of them have found this book on tidying up very useful. I think I first heard about the book from chaliepud who talked about it in Brian's reading log... Some time after that I came by the book at a book shop and did a bit of browsing. I've now borrowed the book from the library a few times but have never gotten around to actually reading it... And then my friend who never, ever reads books, mentioned the book to me and said she was going to listen to the whole thing as an audiobook. It only took her three days and she then re-organized a few closets and found lots of stuff to give away. She got proper excited, and then she talked about it to my Boss (who is her neighbor) and now Boss has been going through her things, assisted by me. So now I'm totally wanting to read the book and do a mega cleanse myself :D I've actually already started and gone through the drawers of my desk, and I already feel my apartment's smarter because of that. 

 

I want to now do the whole apartment, but as my flat furnished by the landlord, I can't obviously touch his stuff... :D I now actually have finally gotten the new lease signed and sealed and now I will be living in this apartment till the end of May next year, so I don't have any hurry with getting rid of things because I don't have to move out in the next 7 months, but I'd still like to do a clearance and it's good to be doing it early rather than five minutes before D-day. 

 

Have you read the book, and what did you think of it? Did it make you act on it and go through your things, or did it leave you underwhelmed and not bothered? Did you learn anything about yourself, and did you perhaps find something you'd thought had been long gone? I'd be interested in hearing all the details! :smile2:

 

My friend got rid of a lot of stuff, and she gave me socks (I'm always in dire need of socks as mine always tear up for some reason! :D So annoying!!), a pan and two audiobooks. My Boss found a sheet of stamps she can now use for work! (Saved her 12€!) I got two fridge magnets from her. 

 

I personally found a pin I'd thought I'd lost. It reads I Love Books and I love it <3  I also found a cute green nail polish I didn't even remember I had :D And now my chargers and chords are in order, which is amazing. 

 

By going through my things, I'm also spending less time online which I'm finding thoroughly envigorating. 

 

 

Edit: If you want, before and after pictures are also welcome! :smile2: May they be showing an entire room or just a cupboard or a shelf :smile2: 

Edited by frankie
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  • 3 weeks later...

I had a very small clear up after reading the book, and some minor clear ups since then. I got rid of a couple of pretty boxes - those perfume gift boxes you get - because I`d had them for ever and never used them to store anything... But when I came to throw them out, they actually both had perfume in them.  :doh:  And I`d been looking recently to buy myself some perfume, so yay.  :smile:

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One of my all time favourite books!! My house and life are so much more orderly since reading this book, or bible as I refer to it! :giggle2: I'm having to go through the house again at the moment as we have had a lot of work done and we are only just coming out the other side! :D

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  • 5 weeks later...

I had a very small clear up after reading the book, and some minor clear ups since then. I got rid of a couple of pretty boxes - those perfume gift boxes you get - because I`d had them for ever and never used them to store anything... But when I came to throw them out, they actually both had perfume in them.  :doh:  And I`d been looking recently to buy myself some perfume, so yay.  :smile:

 

Sorry but I had to laugh :D  How had you managed to forget that the boxes actually contained perfume? :D But hey, you found what you'd been wanting to purchase :D Win-win!

 

One of my all time favourite books!! My house and life are so much more orderly since reading this book, or bible as I refer to it! :giggle2: I'm having to go through the house again at the moment as we have had a lot of work done and we are only just coming out the other side! :D

 

Have you finished by now? :D 

 

 

I could do with reading this. Our 'new' house (and garage) is still so disorganised, even after being in there for nearly 16 months! :D

 

16 months.. :thud::D 

 

How exciting! Definitely read the book and have a good sort out...or invite me around and I'll do it for you! :D

 

Could you then come over here and help me finish? :blush: 

 

I was in the middle of doing things but then other things came up and I sort of got lazy, too. But I did sort out my closet and rearranged the area behind the sofa, and it's so much nicer now. I still need to do a few things, but I might leave it till next year, as I'm too busy in December. Always am, what with a party each week (Independence day, my Bday, Christmas, New Year's Eve. And this year adding to the list: Boss's Birthday and my friend's going away party :unsure:

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Sorry but I had to laugh :D  How had you managed to forget that the boxes actually contained perfume? :D But hey, you found what you'd been wanting to purchase :D Win-win!
 


I laughed too.:lol: I think I was in a stage of " must finish off old perfume before starting New one " and just forgot the boxes over time.

One thing I do have trouble with is over-buying ; I'll see some offer on and stock up, and stock up again - then ( as I found out recently ) I end up with 10 packs of dental floss and too many to count shower gels.:)
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I laughed too. :lol: I think I was in a stage of " must finish off old perfume before starting New one " and just forgot the boxes over time.

 

One thing I do have trouble with is over-buying ; I'll see some offer on and stock up, and stock up again - then ( as I found out recently ) I end up with 10 packs of dental floss and too many to count shower gels. :)

 

Well at least if there's a war, you'll be clean and smelling nice in the trenches, while the rest of us stink to high heavens :D 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I finished this book last night and on the whole I enjoyed it and found it very useful. I've had a clean out of clothes and folded them using her method and it has freed up 2 wardrobe shelves. :boogie:

 

Some of what she says is a little bit strange, like greeting and thanking your house every day, thanking your socks and handbags etc. :lol:  I don't think I will be doing that, but the rest of it is worth keeping in mind. :smile:

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I finished this book last night and on the whole I enjoyed it and found it very useful. I've had a clean out of clothes and folded them using her method and it has freed up 2 wardrobe shelves. :boogie:

 

That's great, bobbly! :)   Does that mean that you can buy new books now and put them in the wardrobe? :giggle2: 

 

 

I have to say, I've kind of forgotten about Konmari at the moment, and I'm all about BuJo now :blush: But Konmari would approve, as all the post-its and other paper bits and pieces are finally getting put in one place and I'll be way more organized now :yes: 

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I have to say, I've kind of forgotten about Konmari at the moment, and I'm all about BuJo now :blush: But Konmari would approve, as all the post-its and other paper bits and pieces are finally getting put in one place and I'll be way more organized now :yes:

I think Konmari and BuJo would go hand in hand, my KM has slipped a little now I'm working but I will slowly get completely back on track with a little time, the main difference for me is that I just love everything being in order now and can always find what I need without having to look in three or four different places first. I am trying to keep the same principles at work but it is difficult, it is a new company so the gift shop is still waiting on some storage and we are still on a huge learning curve with not enough staff so time is often against us!  :blush2:

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I think Konmari and BuJo would go hand in hand, my KM has slipped a little now I'm working but I will slowly get completely back on track with a little time, the main difference for me is that I just love everything being in order now and can always find what I need without having to look in three or four different places first. I am trying to keep the same principles at work but it is difficult, it is a new company so the gift shop is still waiting on some storage and we are still on a huge learning curve with not enough staff so time is often against us!  :blush2:

 

Yep, Konmari and BuJo are mutually inclusive, I think. If one can put it that way :)  I bet it feels great to have everything in order! I sometimes have to look for things for a while... :blush: The one thing that's kind of happened is that right before I go to bed, I will organize my table and some other places so that in the morning it's not all messy, because it's annoying to have to clean up in the morning when one has only just woken up and one is in a hurry to have breakfast and coffee and then go to work. I need more places where to store things. I think it'll be better once I get my own apartment, eventually, with just my own stuff, and everything's just mine and nothing belongs to a landlord :) 

 

The work place will sort itself out (or rather you and your co-workers will do it :D ) once there's more storage and more staff :yes: 

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I read her book last year and found it quite helpful. Like others, I skipped over some of the stranger things (and anything where she dared to suggest getting rid of books!)

 

I must admit that I haven't followed her method precisely (yet!) As I recall, she advocates doing one room at a time rather than a bit here and there, and I haven't been able to do that yet. But I managed to go through all of my clothes and get rid of a lot of stuff, and I've studied folding my underwear nicely. :D I've also been scanning loads and loads and loads of paperwork onto my computer and throwing out the originals. It's so satisfying getting rid of all that paper!

 

I'm thinking of moving house this year, so if that eventuates, I'll be doing a much bigger overhaul before I move.

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That's great, bobbly! :)   Does that mean that you can buy new books now and put them in the wardrobe? :giggle2:

 

:thud: Don't give me ideas like that! :lol:

 

 

I read her book last year and found it quite helpful. Like others, I skipped over some of the stranger things (and anything where she dared to suggest getting rid of books!)

 

I must admit that I haven't followed her method precisely (yet!) As I recall, she advocates doing one room at a time rather than a bit here and there, and I haven't been able to do that yet. But I managed to go through all of my clothes and get rid of a lot of stuff, and I've studied folding my underwear nicely. :D I've also been scanning loads and loads and loads of paperwork onto my computer and throwing out the originals. It's so satisfying getting rid of all that paper!

 

I'm thinking of moving house this year, so if that eventuates, I'll be doing a much bigger overhaul before I move.

 

Rather than one room at a time, her method is to clean up by category (regardless of how many locations they are all in). She suggests starting with clothing, so if you have clothes in many different places, she says to gather them all up, put them in one pile and go through them one by one (thanking each one as you touch it - I skipped that part. :lol:). Then the next thing to tackle is (I think) paperwork, then books, and then other random bits.

 

So far I've done clothes and paperwork, but we are also hoping to move house this year and will do a major tidy up then. For now I'm happy to have just done the clothes and the paperwork, as I was drowning in both. :blush2:

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:thud: Don't give me ideas like that! :lol:

 

It's kinda like a Rory book drawer. You know, how she had a drawer and one would expect there's be socks and underwear and tops and what not, but it was filled with books :D I once had a Rory drawer... It was fun! :D 

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I find it very therapeutic when I have a good clear out.  Havent read the book but when I see items in magazines about tidying up my hubby gives a groan.  I think it was in November that we started clearing the loft in the garage out which stored untold things.  That was a big job which took us until last week to finalise.

 

Charities benefited, our neighbour took a load of stuff to sell which benefits the boys brigade and as I said in another thread found lots of books that I had not read so are not on my tbr pile.

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I find it very therapeutic when I have a good clear out.  Havent read the book but when I see items in magazines about tidying up my hubby gives a groan.  I think it was in November that we started clearing the loft in the garage out which stored untold things.  That was a big job which took us until last week to finalise.

 

It seems hubby might not be all that excited about clear outs? :D Gladly the latest one's over now and he can go back to his old self :D 

 

Charities benefited, our neighbour took a load of stuff to sell which benefits the boys brigade and as I said in another thread found lots of books that I had not read so are not on my tbr pile.

 

There was an article about it in a Finnish paper saying that some have gone a bit overboard with it, and have dumped a load of things at charityshops, and now the stuff is not moving anywhere from there. My Boss did a clear out after having heard of KonMari (but not reading the book), and she got a stand at a flea market for two weeks. She made a bit of profit and the apartment has more space now :) Sadly, almost none of the books she put on the stand were sold :( I had to take them to a charityshop and the library's book swap shelf. 

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Frankie sorry for the mistake in my last message it should have read "are now on my tbr pile"

 

My neighbour has been telling me that he is finding books are not selling and DVD's for some reason.

 

Hubby is now very happy he can get back to doing what he wants with his free time, bless him.

 

That was good of you to take the books to the libraries book swap.

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Frankie sorry for the mistake in my last message it should have read "are now on my tbr pile"

 

My neighbour has been telling me that he is finding books are not selling and DVD's for some reason.

 

Hubby is now very happy he can get back to doing what he wants with his free time, bless him.

 

That was good of you to take the books to the libraries book swap.

 

Ah, I did wonder if you meant to write 'now' :) That would make more sense in the context!  Boss's DVDs sold pretty well, except for The Sopranos sets, which I found a bit odd. And what's more odd, even one of the VHS cassettes she put there was sold!! :o I would've never thought anyone would buy VHS anymore. But it was a really good Finnish crime series, so that would explain it. I'm not sure if it's been released on DVD... Well it must have. But maybe someone still owns a VHS type of video... 

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Rather than one room at a time, her method is to clean up by category (regardless of how many locations they are all in). She suggests starting with clothing, so if you have clothes in many different places, she says to gather them all up, put them in one pile and go through them one by one (thanking each one as you touch it - I skipped that part. :lol:).

 

Ah yes, I did have to go around the house and collect my piles of clothing together.  :blush2: And somehow, despite getting rid of so much, there's still a lot hanging around!

 

It's kinda like a Rory book drawer. You know, how she had a drawer and one would expect there's be socks and underwear and tops and what not, but it was filled with books :D I once had a Rory drawer... It was fun! :D

 

I've always wanted a Rory drawer!  :wub: And when I read your above post I realised I could probably have one now because when I was Konmari-ing my clothes, I freed up most of the space in my drawers. Maybe I could bring my old BSC books out of hiding and put some in the drawers! I might have to look into some under-bed storage, as there's a whole lot of wasted space under my bed (well, it's Jasper's hiding space when he's scared of outside noises or unknown visitors, but I could leave some room for him).

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I've always wanted a Rory drawer!  :wub: And when I read your above post I realised I could probably have one now because when I was Konmari-ing my clothes, I freed up most of the space in my drawers. Maybe I could bring my old BSC books out of hiding and put some in the drawers! I might have to look into some under-bed storage, as there's a whole lot of wasted space under my bed (well, it's Jasper's hiding space when he's scared of outside noises or unknown visitors, but I could leave some room for him).

 

I hope you didn't get rid of all your knickers when Konmari-ing? :o:giggle2: Oooh you could totally do Rory drawer now!! :wub: I think your BSC would be perfect there :) And I would've totally suggested a series, so that you wouldn't be wondering which books you had in the drawer later. A series is easier to remember. Not that you couldn't always just look what's there :D But it would save you the trouble! :D

 

I miss my Rory Drawer. I gave it away when I moved to Espoo. One of these days I will buy a new one :wub: Perhaps when I have to find a new apartment when landlord is going to move back in! 

Edited by frankie
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  • 3 weeks later...

I hope you didn't get rid of all your knickers when Konmari-ing? :o:giggle2:

LOL. No, I didn't. In fact, I've started following her method for folding my underwear (but not for other clothes).

 

I think your BSC would be perfect there :) And I would've totally suggested a series, so that you wouldn't be wondering which books you had in the drawer later. A series is easier to remember. Not that you couldn't always just look what's there :D But it would save you the trouble! :D

I haven't done anything about this yet, but I've been looking at ideas online and found some cheapish IKEA boxes that would be perfect to go under bed if the books don't fit in my drawers.

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