I am more in the “How to Get Rid Of Clutter and Live Abundantly” camp, along with the author Daniel Mallory Ortberg, on The Toast. Even if you swear my Marie Kondo, this piece is amusing.
^That’s a classic, @QuantMech And Ortberg is a national treasure. I really, really miss The Toast!
That should have been “swear by,” not “swear my.” Also, thanks, garland.
Seen on Twitter:
“I’ve watched the first episode of the Marie Kondo show – the one where the guy angrily demands that his part-time working wife, who raises their two toddlers alone, do more laundry – and clearly, KonMari doesn’t work, because by the end of the episode he’s still there”
“In the future, when you are hungry, eat your memories. The only thing that belongs in your refrigerator is mindfulness.” LOL! Oh wow, that was so funny! Thanks for mentioning it @QuantMech!
I just watched episodes 2 and 3 last night. At my stage in life, episode one (with toddlers) didn’t appeal. I thought Marie Kondo was darling and came across like a genuinely happy and sincere person. I really don’t feel the need to thank my house or clothes (no judgement on those who do; just not my thing personally) but I’m intrigued by the way she folds shirts in drawers. And someone upthread mentioned folding pants. Will have to check that out. I stack m shirts and it’s easy to mess them up when I look through and pull out the one I want. I’ll check out episode 4 too. That may be it for me though.
Tomorrow, I’ll clean out my entire linen closet and the 4 bathroom drawers. Is there an expiration on bath salts or is 20 years fine? (Don’t worry, I’ll get rid of those. And clear out the entire linen closet drawer of wires/connectors.)
One problem is what linens to save, “in case.” You know that song. We use old sheets/blankets to sit on at the outdoor music venue or the beach. (When’s the last time I sat on the sand, not on a restaurant veranda?) I still call the old towels “camp towels,” but the kids are ages past going to camp. Still, I imagine using them to dry the dog or whatever makes it difficult to let them go. One solution that does work for me is to cut them into cleaning rags, use, then toss.
I don’t regret anything I did toss. And I do tell myself that if this were a move to a fancy condo, I wouldn’t care about 3/4 of this stuff. But each time I look at some ratty old towel, it reminds me of the kids. (Well, that sounds weird.)
Folding things nicely is the least of it. I’m good at that.
ps. I did read Kondo’s first book.
Well, this thread inspired me to take ALL the clothes out of my drawers and go through them on my bed. I did refold them and put the ones I love and want to keep wearing back in the drawer and the rest I’ve bagged. I’ve offered the cotton tshirts and flannel PJs to H as rags and he’s happy to accept.
Her folding T-shirt’s in 1/3s widthwise and then as needed to fit in drawers works fine for my deep drawers.
Anyway, happy to have some progress and dump things I dislike, plus old campaign T-shirt’s.
@gouf78 , thank you for your post. I think I will. It does give me joy!
We don’t have the need to fold T-shirt’s, enough closet space. However, the dresser drawers are not deep and DH has a lot of underwear. About a year ago, I started rolling them. They fit nice and neat and easy to shut the drawer now.
‘Because choosing to get rid of things is easy for me, but it’s a huge deal to figure out what to do with stuff other than stuff in garbage bags and toss. ‘
Goodwill will take anything. I just load up the car and take everything there. If you REALLY want to be rid of stuff don’t overthink it.
Can’t watch the show (no Netflix). I did just look around to see the controversy about her decluttering books. I am a huge reader, but in the camp of don’t hold on to a book you won’t ever touch again, give it away to have somebody else enjoy it. I often donate books to my local library, they either sell it or on occasion put it in the collection. It gives me joy to know somebody else can read the book now.
I watched her first 3-4 episodes. Honestly, watching those types of shows is good for my ego. We keep the house pretty tidy so I can’t really relate or find value in them. On the other hand, watching fixer upper or home buying shows absolutely kills me. A 3,000sq ft house for under $300k? A kitchen makeover for $10k? Try living in the NYC suburbs and see what that gets you. Ugh.
We have a Goodwill donation site that my H passes when he drives into the city for meetings (usually once or twice a week.) It is very efficient for him to stop and drop off bags and boxes, and he feels good doing it. Now that we have chosen Goodwill as our give-away destination, the de-cluttering has become routine for us. I have not read or watched Marie, but the show sounds like a good watch. Instead of asking if a piece of clothing gives me joy, I try it back on and ask myself if I would purchase it again today. Act like I’m in a dressing room trying it on. I find that to be a pretty effective approach for me, as it allows me to keep the black pants (which don’t really bring me joy but are a necessity and fit well) and ditch the old sweater which I wore to death (brought me joy) but no longer looks current or fresh or doesn’t fit nicely. I am finding that I need far few clothing items in my closet and it’s freeing to have less to choose from and more space. I also bought boxes of new hangers at Costco, and switched out all the old plastic hangers accumulated over the years so now they are all uniform - wow, that simple act brought me great joy!!
I’m with @garland. It’s easy for me to figure out what gives me “joy”. It’s hard to figure out what to do with the actual physical what to do with the stuff I don’t want.
Should I throw it away, I’m filling up landfills? I can donate to goodwill but then I hear that they are overwhelmed and ship the stuff overseas for scrap. Should I take to the consignment shop? If I donate, I feel like I have to figure out the value for tax purposes. Is my stuff good enough for consignment? It takes all this time and effort just to figure out where to get rid of the stuff I don’t want anymore.
I clear out stuff and put it in bags and there inertia stops. It’s hard work (for me) to figure out what to do next.
My mom had a steam mop which stopped working and she asked my husband to fix it. It wasn’t fixable, steam mops are cheap I bought her a new one and said to throw out the old. Mom says she hates to do that, she’ll donate it. No one wants old broken stuff, yet “we” donate all this stuff no one wants. And round and round it goes.
I started folding my jeans and putting them in the drawer based on her folds. It is great. I can easily see and reach whichever pair I want. Never going back to the stack. I haven’t done the shirts and underwear. The shirts did not seem to fit my drawer when folded. I may need to try again. I don’t feel the need to do the underwear drawer. It doesn’t bother me.
@coralbrook , I agree that her method can be overwhelming, and I haven’t done it her way. But I believe it is possible to use her philosophy in bite-size pieces, even though you aren’t using her method of get-all-similar-things-at-once. I see the benefit of that but if you just can’t/won’t find a huge chunk of time, then that method isn’t helpful. You can declutter in small ways and on a daily basis. Example: I had instructions laying around from our new Christmas gadgets. Instead of filing them or stuffing them in a drawer, I threw them away (her advice, because you can find all instructions on the Internet these days which I have found to be true). Next time you buy a new shirt, get rid of some, like 3-5, when you put that shirt away. Next time you use an old towel, take a look: Do you really need 10 old towels? Stuff like that.
I would never have taken on a Kondo type clean with young kids, that sounds really overwhelming. But if you are mindful you can do it bit by bit, and also by being mindful you will bring less in to clutter up.
As for getting rid of stuff…a yard sale is a good way to make yourself accountable to a date. But that’s a big deal, and if that stops you from doing it, you can donate full bags of stuff. Find the closest drop box in your area (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc) and take the bags there. Let them worry about if it is suitable to resell; in general it’s anything that isn’t damaged, except for socks and undies those go in the trash. I think there is info on the Internet about ballparking value per bag for tax purposes. When you are cleaning, have a bag of trash bags and put trash on one side and donate bags on the other. If you have expensive/designer clothes, you could put them in a bag for consignment (if you’ve never consigned, you don’t get much out of it…about 15% of the retail price).
I know have one basket in the basement where donate things go; when it’s full I bag it up and take it to that box. Another example of decluttering bit by bit rather than all at once.
So, I’m decluttering today. Taking a load to goodwill @Embracethemess , I really like what you say to yourself, “would I buy this”? I’m looking at some gifts I received for entertaining. A cheese plate a knife, a crystal cracker holder, a crystal butter dish. I’ve never used them, pulled them out a thought I’d like to get rid of them, but they are pretty.
I’m donating them to goodwill. I would never have bought them. That’s not how I serve cheese and crackers when I do that.
Goodwill is a back-to-work organization. Their mission: “Goodwill works to enhance the dignity and quality of life of individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people in need reach their full potential through learning and the power of work.” In addition to offering employment opportunities, they offer training programs and support services for those who would otherwise have difficulty finding work. This is a mission I can buy into, so I feel better taking my stuff to them. I do distinguish between “crap” (stained shirts, broken items) and things I think they can actually sell.
The “joy” decision-making method has worked well for me for whittling down the Christmas decorations!!
I toured our local Salvation Army one year as part of the United Way Community Investment process and they said they are happy to take stained and torn clothing as they have a way to send those items to a recycling site to be made into rag content. I would think it would be worth asking at your local Goodwill or other agency if they have that option.
Not knowing where to get rid of your “extras” is probably part of the problem of having the “extras” in the first place. Over time we accumulate if we don’t exchange out old for new.
Maybe come up with three resources for new homes for your items:
Goodwill
Salvation Army
Easter Seals (around here they send postcards ASKING for your stuff - and they will pick it up!)
Catholic Charities
Consignment shops
Ebay
Garage sale
FB Marketplace
Church rummage sales (they want so much of your stuff!)
Used book stores
TRASH - some stuff just has to get thrown out! Think ratty old tshirts when your rag bag is already full!
If you are not going to take time for making $ off your stuff or it’s not important to you - forget the garage sale, consignment, eBay options.
Find ONE other source that works for you - Goodwill or whatever - and designate that as your “drop off” spot. Once you drop it off to them it is their business to sort through, take what they want - and then determine what to do with the remains - that’s part of their job.