Hello everyone! I have already posted here 2 months ago  previous post

So, I had to move out of my mother's house to my old apartment (not because of clothes, personal reasons), so everything worked out by itself. Also, when I moved away, I took ONLY 1/4 of my things with me, so, in some way, this moving out helped me with konmari-ing too.

And here my story begins. I know about KonMari method already 2 years. I know, how hard it can be to tidying up, when you living with someone and they don't share your initiative. It can be hard to hide what you're doing (as Mari advised in book) from the family, especially if one is at home literally 24/7 and another one tries to look into your room all the time. But don't give up!

If you, like me, have other people's things in your room, but you can't throw them in the trash or even just take them to another room, the only thing I can advise is just not to perceive these things as your own. In my case, yes, I can still use all of them, but i don't feel sparks of joy. These things make up 3/4 of my environment (down to the collection of fancy dishes, old books, curtains, furniture and wallpaper). And one little tip - you can hang some posters, drawings and photos in your room (if your mates don't mind), they don't take up space, but sparks more joy :) These tips useful for stay-at-home peoples like me.

Not so long ago, I thought that tidying up was impossible because of this and that these things would still put pressure on me and overshadow all the joy that sparks from my things, 1/4 of the room. But then I looked at it from the other side, maybe If I don't pay so much attention to it, then the things that sparks joy, on the contrary, will have even more value for me?

Mari Kondo says, you can't Konmari for someone else. You can only do it for YOU and YOUR space (and YOUR things..) So, this is their business, not yours. Let it be others stuff and don't worry about it further.

KonMari is a good philosophy, which makes you think deeply, what kind of things do we consider our own? It's clear, that these are things that you bought yourself, but what to do with things, that just have been in your room literally all your life (and you lived most part of your life in this room)? You've never thought, did you really like them or not.

I'd like to get rid of my suitcases because they are bit worn, but at the same time I'll probably need new ones again so is it a waste of money to get rid of them even if they don't "spark" joy?

Hello everyone! I was wondering whether anyone knows who illustrated the images in Ms. Kondo’s books? I don’t have The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up on hand, but Spark Joy has lovely and informative illustrations throughout. Did she draw them herself, or is there an illustrator? I can’t find this information anywhere.

I have a little apartment with a little apartment kitchen. I actually don't mind it; I like cozy places. But there really isn't enough practical storage. There are lots of shelves overhead, but they are 2-3 feet over my head!! Only one overhead cabinet shelf is reachable. I have an old baker's rack/sideboard that I'm using for some storage, and I've also thrown some stuff into the entry closet (there's a random closet in my little living room, bigger than a coat closet). In short, stuff is spread everywhere with no rhyme or reason. After moving in a few months ago, I never really organized anything. And who the heck knows what's going on in my fridge and freezer.

So this category will take a while..... it will be great when it's done, I hope! 😐

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Small, dark, messy kitchen. Counters piled high with dirty dishes and crap!

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Very disorganized fridge.

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The freezer is even worse. Who knows what's going on in here!

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So I see a lot of questions asked from people that are figuring out how to get rid of storage stuff in garage, but my garage is my workshop. But I am always trying to keep neater to able to actually work in there. there is stuff like wood I had left over from project 15 years ago, the standard 10 old paint gallons, tools that I haven't used in a long time, etc. is there any tips or mindsets to help figure what I can get rid of?

Thanks

I got 9 files with stuff and records I can't throw away -- like car receipts, pet records, and apartment lease. I did manage to fill one bag full of shredded stuff that I no longer need.

Front part of the drawer is clean now!

The stuff in the back of the file drawer is sentimental stuff, so I haven't gotten there yet. That's why that part still looks messy. 😄

I think I'm going to take the advice of one commenter and do my kitchen next. That will not be so simple, lol. But it REALLY needs to be done.

ETA: I forgot to say that I put a bunch of random papers in a binder, like old computer game notes, crochet pattern charts, etc. That system seems to work well for me.

I've Konmari-ed my papers before, so there isn't that much. Thankfully my life is very simple as well, as I don't have children, own any property or stocks, etc. I do have medical stuff to go through and old bills. Getting out the shredder now.

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Files and papers ... not very much.

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Nice, organized books! (While watching court TV haha)

It took longer because I decided to move furniture around in my living room (I have a small apartment), and I wanted to shampoo the carpets. So after they dried, I moved my couch (hurting my back again, garrrr I'm so dumb sometimes), and then put some shelving units together for my books. I'm quite happy with them at the moment.

I'm going to be starting papers next. I've mentioned before that I've read the two main KonMari books, but I'm working from the Manga version because it's so much fun to me. 😊 I don't have a lot of papers, but it's enough to be a pain!

I'm not looking forward to the big category -- komono (which I call "everything else"). I just have to break it down and do a little at a time. 👍

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Book pile!

I piled up my books and pinched a nerve in my back in the process. 😭 It's better after sleeping, but I couldn't really do much at the time. I do have a few books that I definitely want to get rid of -- not because I don't like the subject matter, but because my mom gave them to me, and I'm now NC with my mom, so I get a bad feeling about them.

I also realize that I tend to buy books when people recommend them. Especially since I'm interested in mental health, psychology, etc, so whenever my therapist says, "This is a good book to read," I say, "OK!" I have a half-hearted enthusiasm about the recommended book. But I don't really want to read it deep down; I just can't admit it to myself.

I guess it's time to face the music. I'd like to keep books that make me happy, like my brother's old D&D books from the 70s and 80s. 😁

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This morning I went to a neighborhood garden exchange. We share seedlings and garden supplies.

As I was getting ready to go, I remembered that my house plants didn't spark joy. I knew that for awhile, but hadn't worked on rehoming them. I thought this event was perfect to share and see if anyone wanted them.

I took 2 white orchids, a grassy sort of plant (it used to be an office plant before COVID and my cat wanted to eat it but it wasn't safe for her), and a small pot of succulents. If nobody wanted them, I would take them back and find them new homes.

Well even though I arrived after the largest crowd, 2 people were so delighted to take home 2 plants each. And I was so full of joy to get to see how happy it made them!

Then someone arrived with pink Spanish lavender seedlings and I took 3! And then I noticed a violet plant and also took it - I love violets.

So 4 out and 4 in and unexpected joy in giving! My new plants will go outside and I am thrilled about them.

If you are wondering if letting go of something is a good idea, just think of what joy it might bring to someone else. 💜🌿 And it makes room in your life for new things to flow in.

Hello! Several days ago I did my first post about my clothes, and I'm glad to post the finished result! My closet looks pretty! 😁 I wanted to mend some of my clothes, so I took out my sewing machine, but I couldn't find the presser foot, so that will have to wait until I locate that in my hobbies category. 😐

Now onto books!

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Pretty closet and dresser!

I've been described as chronically messy. I hate cleaning, I hate tidying, and I rarely spend time on those things. I've been super resistant to anyone trying to make me tidier.

The only thing that has worked for me has been Konmari. Over time, I've thought a lot about why it works, and how it works, and I have some answers.

My mom, in my childhood, read all these American christian self-help books, even though we're neither american nor christian. There are several of these things that have a religion-neutral veneer, but preach the same kind of prosperity gospel. Then there was The Secret.

Essentially, my mom glommed on to the idea that keeping the house clean is what leads to success and being messy means the "good energies" are repelled from you. So she developed this religious fervor about tidiness. It made my life super stressful because she decided it was worth making our lives miserable. She wasn't and isn't good at choosing to do things in an orderly way and it was a lot of yelling and screaming about tidying. She wouldn't do it calmly for a lot of different mental health related reasons, and she was ALWAYS tidying. She was very strict about how we maintained our spaces and we were never allowed to customize things very much, and she was always undermining how I chose to tidy (because it wasn't up to her standards) and I didn't have any control over my space.

I moved out at 17 for college, and I just carried this with me for years. I was never very tidy and untidy places filled me with panic.

At 30, I discovered Konmari tidying, and over several iterations, and many years, I became a much tidier person. Even if my house is a mess, it's mostly because I don't have the time or energy to put things back where they belong, not because I don't know how to unfuck the mess.

So... why does it work?

According to a couple of therapists I went to, I didn't have a strong sense of self. I "didn't know where I ended and the world began". I had no idea of what I really wanted, because I effectively wasn't allowed to have preferences about how I wanted my space to be like. This extended to other things in my life, but we'll just stick to physical space here.

What konmari does is it makes you reckon with each item, and you've to think about whether you really like it or not. There's no one around you telling you how you feel when you're doing that, it's just you surrounded by stuff.

For the first time ever, I felt permission to give away used books. I identified hard as a book lover and I'd taken to all these neuroses around book culture, like hoarding books and buying books that I thought I "ought to" read. With Konmari, I could be like "no, I don't want to read this book, ever" and put it away. In no other part of my life was I actively considering if something "sparked joy" in me. I was doing things because someone said I should or everyone was doing it. And giving away books I didn't value was great, it helped me make room for books I actually read.

All of this didn't happen at one shot, but over time, I developed a fine sense for if I wanted something, and why I wanted it. Did I just like the feeling of buying it, did I want to see myself as the kind of person who owned these products, was I just curious. I didn't have this kind of finetuned sense, because previously some of those things were demonized or mocked where I was. Now I separated the shame from it and I could just be like "yeah, it was a thrill to buy this colorful piece of low-quality trash, and now I know I'd rather not use these because they are unwieldy".

It took me more cognitive behavioral therapy to actually realize how to figure out this issue, but konmari tidying has been a big part of feeling like a normal adult. I've honed who I am, and through every transition, things about me change, and tidying helps me figure out who I am after this new transition.

Sitting here in the middle of a mountain of fabric and feeling very overwhelmed.

I have 20 of those big blue ikea bags overflowing with fabric. I've tipped them onto the bed (and round the bed) and I'm holding each piece and I do actually want to keep most of it because it sparks joy.

I've filled one bag to donate to the local sewing group, and reunited a couple of bits of half finished project ready to work on, but I still have all this other fabric that I love but haven't really got anywhere to store.

When it goes back in the bags I will forget whats there again. I'd like to organise it like a shop so i can find thinga but a lot of it is smaller bits for patchworking and toymaking rather than long lengths or tidy patchwork quarters. I also don't have the space to do this and really dont want to buy new storage for temporary use as doing that really wouldn't spark any joy.

I do use a decent amount of fabric as I sew a lot and I stopped buying it when I embarked on the konmari journey. I also gave away 7 bin bags full a couple of years ago.

The plan is to gradually run down the amount I have until it fits my existing storage but I don't know what to do until then as it will take a few years and I have to climb over all of this to get to my sewing machine.

Hi everyone! I just started my clothing category this week and a thought popped into my mind… how do we discard/tidy necessities? Example: cleaning supplies, home improvement-related things, etc.

Is this in any of her books? I’ve only read the first. And I guess my broad question that can be asked is “how do we discard/tidy items that aren’t meant/known to spark joy?”

Thank you!

I didn't have very many clothes to start with, as I said in my first post, but I was pleased to get rid of some clothes that I kept because of guilt. I feel much lighter now!

I also unpacked my summer clothes, washed them (and ironed them, yuck), and hung them up. They are cotton dresses from India, so they are brightly colored and are cheerful to look at.

I have a sliding door closet in my apartment bedroom, and I had to steam clean the carpet (I have my own carpet cleaner) because I discovered my cat had puked in there. 😱 When the carpet is fully dry, I'll move everything back in and post how pretty it looks!

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Give away / throw away clothes

Hello! I'm starting my clothes today. I'm doing this as part of my healing from family enmeshment (a toxic system where there are no boundaries, and you absorb the feelings/traits of other people to make them happy). I've been NC with my family of origin for a while now, and I'm ready to live like my authentic self. I already went through a bunch of stuff, as I moved to a new apartment a few months ago and had to downsize, but I want to do the spark-joy thing. Some clothes make me really happy, and some are just worn down now. So here we go!

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Clothes pile -- before

One is a lined hoodie with windproof siding, one is a jeans jacket with hood and quilted lining. They are similar in that they are fairly heavy for a jacket/hoodie, but they are not a winter coat. I live in the northeast US, and have to move a lot because I am a student.

What is the most approriate methods ??

1 Tear out used page by cutting then recycle with other magazine or books

un-used jotter books - graph pads can just recycle .

^ Keep written pages , recycle everything ( applies to top paragraph )

Or

2 .Pack everything similar journal to journal - same sized

( cut out used page then recycle ) - keep journals throw away written pages / declutter accordingly

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I've been re-reading both the og book and Spark Joy and I realised that I may have been doing the Kon Mari method incorrectly. I thought that you should discard everything you want to discard first and then you can start on the storage. But I just realised that perhaps the method is saying to store things incrementally.

That is, do I store items after discarding within each category or store them after completing all categories?
Thank you for the clarification!

Ahoy there kondit! My partner is a big fan of the konmari method, and practices it around the house whenever possible. That is, with the exception of books. She leaves piles and piles of them on the nightstand, half read, like a dang crazy person.

I feel that we should konmari ALL THE THINGS, not pick and choose.

How do I broach the subject in a respectful way that involves enthusiastic consent where necessary?

EDIT: We came to agreement. The only books that stay on the nightstand are those written by BIPOC and others from marginalized communities. This way even if they’re piling up it’s a win for everyone!

I've been arranging for a while. And I have a lot of space in the top of my drawers. But my issue is that it is sitting in front of my window and, living in a tropical setting, it gets a lot of sunlight all year around. If I put perfume on them, it would decompose its smell; if it's anything else, like plastic or with a printed surface, it loses color.

I dont know what to do because I would really like to use it. My room is not very big so it would be difficult to move the furniture from where it is. What would you use this place for?? Or if you have any other opinions, I would gladly hear them.

Hello and thanks. I've been going through papers and I ran across drawings my child made in the early years... Pictures of the two of us... Papers reading "free hugs" or "I love mom"...

My kiddo is now a teenager and very much does not give out free hugs or show much affection or want to spend time together. I know it's a normal growth thing, but seeing all these makes me really sad. I still want to keep this stuff, but it does make me cry. A lot.

I don't think that's the same as sparking joy, but I don't want to get rid of these things. What should I do? Thanks again. 💙

I’ve started declutterring using the konmari method. Clothes were a breeze, and books were a bit harder. I started papers today, and have gotten completely stuck. I have boxes and piles of paper, and they add so much clutter to my life, but I just can’t seem to throw them all away like Marie Kondo recommends.

I’m a dreamer and a planner, and I love making lists of goals, ideas for stories, and plans for projects I’d like to do one day. I don’t actually use most of these, but I like making them, and it’s hard to get rid of something I’ve poured so much time and effort into. I feel like throwing them away is throwing away my dreams.

I’m also pretty absentminded, so I keep lists of everything—birthdays, healthy meal ideas, things I’ve been meaning to buy, reminders of upcoming events, etc. I’m afraid that without these lists, I’ll forget something important or not have information that I need in the future. I even use some of my manuals! My light alarm clock brings me so much joy in the winter, but changing the time on it is so confusing and unintuitive that I have to pull out the manual twice a year to remember how to do it.

In a way, I feel like some of my papers spark joy, directly or indirectly… but then I wonder if I’m just trying to justify keeping them and that my life would be made easier by throwing them all away.

Were any of you overwhelmed by sorting papers? What did you do to get over it? Did you keep any papers beyond the recommended categories?

Hey!

I'm feeling pretty swamped with the amount of stuff I have and the limited space in my place.

My collection of clothes and shoes is a good place to start, but I'm also buried under other items I keep in bulk, like stationery (notebooks and pens), jewelry, dietary supplements/comfort meds, shampoos, shower gels, tissues, toilet paper, and various bed linens.

It's tough because these things don't exactly spark joy (though paracetamol comes in handy for a headache, which is joyful in its own right), but they might be useful at some point.

Then there's jewelry that doesn't bring me joy right now but might at different times of the year, as my fashion tastes shift with the seasons. I might not be into this coral necklace at the moment, but come summer, it could be the perfect accessory for a dress I own.

Is anyone else living in a tight space and struggling to manage an overload of possessions? I should mention that my storage options are pretty limited.

Hi, I’m sure this has been asked or said a billion times. BUT, I’m a SAHM who is exhausted and overwhelmed and the therapy and meds aren’t helping lol. I get so frustrated with the stuff we have (though to some it’s nothing, to us it’s a lot of chaos cause toys everywhere, i clean and pick up ALL DAY, i think i have sensory issues cause if that towel falls out of my closet one more time while shoving more in there i might cry) lol. I love the idea of minimalism but i’m a vintage collector and i can’t just go out and buy it again if i regret discarding it. I love our eclectic home and decor and gallery wall but something is causing me to feel this way and never at peace in my home and i just wanna change it. I’m not a hoarder or even close to it because our kids destroy everything so it all has to be out of reach but i have no organization and a lot of stuff gets moved from place to place cause it doesn’t have a “home.” Basically, anyone else been in this boat with small kids? They really don’t have an insane amount of toys but there’s no order and there’s a million little pieces of things everywhere by the end of the day. And what about one of a kind vintage things? How do you let those go?