The KonMari Method: Komono Part 3

This is a continuation of me using the KonMari method to get my house under control and tidy! Read about the introduction and the book here.

I saved the "other" subcategory of the Komono/miscellany category for it's own post because it deals with a lot. So far, I have tidied my clothing, books, papers, bathrooms, kitchen, desk/office area, the hall closet, and even my purse. Aside from special items like pictures, this is pretty much everything is left over.

Figurines/Tchotchkes:

When I was a kid, these types of items overtook my room. I had princess figurines, little ceramic animals, and various little items that I used for decoration. They pretty much stayed in my room until I moved out, when some went into a box that stayed at my mom's and the rest came with me. When I moved into my own place, I realized that many of these little items weren't really even me anymore. They were cute, like the little animals, and brought sweet memories, but like Miss Kondo has described: they served their purpose and it was time to move them on. This last time that my husband and I moved, I reduced the number even more, only keep what matched my home decor or what was truly special.

Not very many things left this time, either. I had been holding on to a few things like this Captain Sparrow bobble head simply because it was a gift from my husband a very long time ago. But I never really liked the Pirates of the Caribbean movies so the bobble head never truly sparked joy and we did not know each other very well when he gave it to me. Other items that left were also gifts that I only kept because I felt guilty getting rid of them. But to be honest, it felt nice to let them go.

Things that stayed sparked real joy: a copy of my favorite sculpture, the sand from our marriage ceremony, dolphins that I used to play with as a child, unicorns that felt magical, and a little art figure model that my husband and I enjoy posing.

Blankets, Linens, and Towels:

This is a category that I missed. It probably belongs under household items like sewing equipment and office supplies, but it's large enough that it could be it's own subcategory.

There's really no reason to keep a ton of bed linens. Most goes unused, especially if it's for the guest room. I like to keep two of everything. One for current use, or what's on the bed now, and one for when the first needs washing. I rotate them like this because I used to be notorious for forgetting to put the sheets in the dryer. Not fun to wait for sheets to dry at 11 o'clock at night. So I applied the same principle to the guest room and Dominik's bed. Two sets of sheets and two quilts; one for now and one for next rotation. We had an extra comforter that was a hand me down and didn't even fit our bed that was donated.

We don't have many towels. We have a few beach towels and enough for the week for each bathroom. There was only one or two towels that were demoted to cleaning rags because they were worn out and ripped. Towels are a pretty useful item, in my opinion, and I never feel like we have too many. I think that as long as they fit wherever you would like them and there's always one for getting out of the bath, you are all set.

Babies and Toddler Items:

Children that are older than toddlers should go through their own things, but I think it's up to the parents of very young toddlers and babies to make judgement calls on what to keep and what to discard. Older children of course require the help of parents and parents have veto power, but it really should be left up to them for the most part.

Dominik, who is about 20 months, does not have many things to begin with because we have tried hard to keep the number of toys to a minimum. Children are usually much happier with simple, open-ended toys in small numbers or with just playing outside in nature. Dominik has a box full of pinecones, shells, sticks, and other nature items that gets a ton of play.

My husband and I are usually pretty quick to return toys and items that do not fit our requirements: toys must be open ended and non electronic, books must be free of grammar and spelling errors, and no film or television characters. We don't wish to hurt anyone's feelings by returning or donating their gifts, but it's important to us to provide Dominik with what we feel is best.

I went through the baby items that we are saving for the next baby, Dominik's toys, and his clothing. There were a few baby items that were discarded. One thing was a toy from my husband's childhood that I always felt was probably unsafe as it was flaking paint. There were some other random items stashed away that didn't have much use and brought me no joy.

Dominik's clothing and diaper storage (it's diaper laundry day)

Old clothes that are being saved

I used the KonMari method to fold his old clothing

Much better!

There were a few electronic toys that we kept for the car, but Dominik never liked them much anyway, so out they went with some other plastic and not well made toys. We kept three electronic toys because they bring him so much joy. One of these things is a little activity center that he dances to when he pushes the music buttons. His clothing, including clothing that I am saving for the next baby, was all reorganized after I discarded things that had decor we didn't like (for example, a social media centered onesie) or was stained or too worn.

Oh and also, all those big hangers that came with baby clothes, get rid of them.

Hobby Items:

Art supplies

Paints and other art supplies

Most people have a hobby or two that requires a certain amount of stuff. My husband like computers, cars, and playing the guitar, so he has stuff that allows him to explore those hobbies. My main hobby is art. There are kid safe art items that I have in on a shelf in the kitchen for Dominik. I have a variety of personal art items like paints and pastels. They are stored either under the bed in my tackle box or in a dresser that also holds my sewing things.

After

After

I mainly just reorganized and got rid of trash or things that were broken. But there were some things that were no longer of use to me. Dried out markers, an extra set of colored pencils, mint boxes I had saved for charcoal storage. There was also quite a bit of dried out paint and empty bottles. I also gathered random sketchbooks and other art supplies from around the house and put them in one spot.

My actual artwork is being reserved for the last category as they mean as much to me as photographs and memorabilia.

How to keep it green/ecofriendly:

-Most figurines and whatnot can either be donated or sold to a consignment shop. Who knows, that collection of creepy dolls could be a treasure for someone else.

-When you go on trips and are tempted to buy little snowglobes or figurines to remember the trip, remind yourself that you already have the memories and the pictures. Save your money for a cool experience on your vacation, like fancy dinners and guided tours.

-Linens and towels can be donated to shelters for both humans and animals. Homeless shelters always need items like this, and animal shelters as well as vets use towels to keep our fur babies warm and comfortable.

-Toys that are in good condition and that are safe can be donated. Anything unsafe is better in the trash. Just remember to properly dispose of those batteries.

-Depending on your hobby, most hobby items can be donated. If your hobby involves paints and chemicals, check to make sure that you dispose of them properly as certain things are considered hazardous waste.

Up next, Momentos!

The KonMari Method: Komono Part 2

Using the KonMari method to get my house tidy is almost complete! Read all about the intro here.

The first part of the "komono" category was things like dvds/cds, skin care, makeup, accessories, etc. This next part is all about everyday housewares. Let's break it down into the subcategories.

Electrical Equipment:

This was a big category for us because my husband is both an I.T. and a technology enthusiast. Because of this, most of the electrical type stuff we ended up keeping because my husband uses most of it quite frequently on his project computer and for work. This included wires/cords (so. many. wires.), gaming mouses and keyboards, computer hardware, storage devices, and computer accessories.

All of my old cell phones

Where I did make progress was with cameras and phones. For some strange reason, I felt it necessary to hoard all of my old phones. Maybe I thought that they would be suitable backups? Anyway, they have been sitting collecting dust, so out they go. There was also an ancient digital camera that was missing the battery charger anyway, so out that went too! Not very much left, but now what is exclusively mine is now completely tidied.

Household Equipment:

Pens, stationary, desk supplies

What was under all of those pens

This category included things like stationary, pens, sewing equipment, things that you would typically find in a junk drawer or on desks. This is one of those categories that creeps up on a lot of people. These things are all useful, so why get rid of oversupply? Pretty soon, junk drawers are overflowing and you have more pens than anyone could possible need (yet they are always lost).

All of the pens in the house

Pens to be discarded

Paper, stationary, and notepads to be recycled

Speaking of pens, we had a ridiculous amount. I dutifully went around the house collecting pens from drawers and purses, as well as all of the ones stuffed in a drawer by our desk. It was a little overwhelming on how to start, but after testing out all of them, I realized over half didn't even work or were dried out. After that, I kept a few novelty ones, some fun colors, and then a variety of blue and black. I also had an astonishing amount of notepads. These are things that are easy to stuff in a stocking or give to someone as a gift, so these often accumulate. I kept the ones that brought me joy. I also had a ton of envelopes with no matching cards, which was strange. Once all of that was organized, it was nice to have all of the stationary and writing things in one place, at the desk.

Sewing machine that lives on the desk

Felt, journals, iPad, headphones

More sewing supplies

Fabric

I have quite a bit of sewing equipment because it's one of my hobbies. It is stored in an old dresser in our bedroom (where my sewing machine is as well). The dresser doubles as my nightstand so I also have things like my journal, iPad and headphones. My fabric and felt is all in constant use, and I feel great joy in sewing, so most of that stayed. Although it's pretty taboo to Miss Kondo, I kept my buttons because I use them. What left was mostly unusable scraps, old journals, and some old ribbons.

After

After

After

What is being discarded

Household Supplies:

Medicine cabinet before

Medicine cabinet after

This is all the stuff we use to keep us healthy and our houses clean. First, was the medicine cabinet. All of our medicine is in one place (except for a few things in our upstairs bathroom for emergencies). We are big on natural health, so it was mostly whole food vitamins and supplements. I went through and got rid of everything that was expired or that was of no use to us.

Under the kitchen sink, before

After

The rest was pretty easy. We keep our extra paper towels and toilet paper in the garage and we don't use many paper towels anyway (I try to use towels and reusable cloths for most cleaning; paper towels are saved for doggy accidents mostly). All of the cleaning supplies that I use are under the kitchen sink. We use either vinegar or watered down soap in sprayers for cleaning instead of the variety of bottles that many homes have. The cleaning supplies that are not used in the house, and that are toxic, are in the garage for my husbands use on his car projects.

Kitchen Goods:

Pantry before

Pantry before

I've always considered my kitchen to be fairly minimal and organized. I don't have a whole lot of appliances and all of my pots and pans fit in one spot. So I was naturally really surprised when I discarded so much.

The hot spots were my utensil drawers, a cabinet full of drinking containers of some sort, and my pantry. Everything else was already neat, orderly, and contained the cooking items that I loved. I had a lot of cooking utensils and measuring spoons that I never used and didn't much like. I kept one thing that I didn't like: a plastic ladle. But that is only staying until I can find a nonplastic alternative like silicone or stainless steel.

So many cups!

My husband really loves to keep glasses and water bottles on hand, "just in case", so most of that stayed. But I found several plastic bottles that were just collecting dust and that were gifts we did not care for.

What is leaving

The rest were random things that brought no joy. Vases from florists, a platter that was cracked, wine glasses that had hubby's name spelt wrong. It was all easy to discard and left the cabinets much more tidy. I also went through the pantry's food items and discarded expired foods and reorganized everything so things were easier to find.

The toddler "helping"; pantry after

Pantry after

How to keep it green/eco-friendly:

-Electrical equipment should not be thrown out. Many stores like Staples will recycle your electronics and most areas have e-cycling events. Check to see what's local to you.

-Make a point to use up things like pens, stationary, and notepads before purchasing more. It really helps having them all in one or two places. The less you buy, the less will end up at the landfill.

-Things like whole foods vitamins can be discarded and the bottle recycled. But all other medications and supplements should be brought to your local pharmacy to be properly destroyed.

-Chemically based cleaners should be disposed of according to the directions on the bottle. Don't just toss everything down the drain. Certain chemicals can be even more toxic when mixed.

-Kitchen supplies that are in good used condition can be donated! Try to recycle as much as possible, just check your local waste management company's list of recyclable items.

I am very pleased with my progress so far. Although, it is hard to keep up with the normal, everyday chores because I am chasing a toddler while tidying. Also, my donation and recycling piles are growing larger and I will have to make a few trips soon to make room in my garage. After I finish, it will be nice to go over the house one more time for a nice, deep clean.

I'm saving the last Komono category, "other" for next time in Part 3! This is everything that has not been tidied yet and includes all of my art supplies as well as kid's items. After that, the very last thing will be momentoes and other cherished items.

The KonMari Method: Komono Part 1

Here we have the next post in my KonMari series. You can read the introduction here.

"Komono" is the Japanese word for miscellany, so in terms of the KonMari method, it means everything else. This category is broken down into subcategories because there are just so many different groups in a typical home. It is a ton of stuff to go through, so I am breaking it down into two parts. 

DVDs and CDs

Dvd case before

My husband and I haven't had any CDs for a while now. After we got our iPods, we uploaded everything and got rid of them. Plus, with things like Pandora or YouTube, it's so easy to listen to the music that you want to, so I feel like this is an easy fix if you do have a lot of CDs. 

"Helping" me sort DVDs

We do have a TON of DVDs as my husband and I are big fans of film. Even though we have Netflix and Amazon Prime, most of the stuff that we have is unavailable on those services and must be paid for separately if we want to watch them. Plus, with Netflix always taking certain stuff down, so it's worth it to keep them. But the boxes take up a lot of space and are not necessary to use the actual DVD. The information on the boxes are easily found found online anyway.

DVDs fit great in CD cases

The last time that we moved, we decided to try to minimize the space that the DVDs took up, so we got rid of all of the movie boxes and put the discs into CD holders. Mine is the plastic box and my husbands is the black case. But we left out blu rays, box sets and television series.

DVDs after

My husband still didn't want me to get rid of the blu ray boxes (they are all his) or the television boxes that are also his, so I only filed away a few movies that had stayed in their boxes. I had a bunch of television series' boxes that I could get rid of, and I only kept my two favorite series because they are well loved and bring me a ton of joy. I got rid of a full garbage bag worth of DVD boxes and now the bookcase that we use to store our movies (as well as some toys for the toddler to play with while downstairs) looks much more organized. Everything fits perfectly.

Skin Care Products

All of my skin care products

I am not very big on skin care products. I don't have very many and my husband only has many 4 or 5 products. Having terrible acne when I was younger meant that I was always putting something on my face in hopes that it would help. Now, I prefer to use the most natural and least amount possible on my skin. After all, it's the biggest organ and absorbs quite a bit of what you put on it into the body. So what I had left that I used regularly was all natural except for a few things.

The clear box contains my husband's collection of samples and hotel products, which we of course, never use. Many people keep things like this for travel, but we would rather just bring our everyday products. 

What I kept

So out went the box of travel size toiletries as well as a few products that we either full of chemicals or just stuff that I wasn't crazy about. What I had left were the products that I used often. I did keep one lotion that is packed with artificial yuckiness but I kept it because it smells like my late grandmother.

What left

It felt nice to only keep the necessities and not have a bunch of bottle collecting dust.

Makeup

Makeup storage

Like skin care products, I don't have a lot because I don't like to wear makeup. To me, it's just adding more chemicals and I'm a big believer in natural beauty and promoting self-confidence. Although, even three years ago, I would not have ever left the house with concealer or mascara on, but I think that my self consciousness about acne and scars cause this. There's nothing wrong with wearing makeup at all, it's just not for me personally.

Everyday makeup

I have my makeup in two places. A plastic drawer that keeps all of the more fancy stuff for special occasions or the larger kits. The blue bin keeps all of the everyday stuff like concealer, mascara, eyeliner, and face powder. 

What I kept

It was pretty easy to go about organizing what I wanted to keep. By now, I knew immediately what I wanted to get rid of, mostly stuff that I never even used because it wasn't my style and brought me no joy.

What left

There wasn't very much in my pile that would be leaving, but I felt better that everything in my makeup collection was useful to me, even if I don't wear makeup everyday. It's fun to dress up every now and then.


Accessories

Hair accessories

I was thrilled when I realized that I had unknowingly used the KonMari method on my hair accessories. I reused boxes that I had around the house to hold all of the small stuff and had already gotten rid of the stuff I didn't like. When I sifted through everything again, I was happy that almost all of it brought me joy. I like using hair accessories, and a girl can never have too many bobby pins or hair ties.

Be sure that everything that you keep is not broken and in working order, as I did discover a few hair clips that didn't even work and a few hair ties that were too worn out to use. Also, I know many of us have clips an hair ties strewn about the house and our purses. Using the KonMari method of keeping like things all in one place is perfect for hair accessories. No more missing hair ties and buying even more to stock up with.

Valuables

At first, I was a bit confused about this category. Go through my passports and credit cards? But after I did this, I was glad that I did. My passport is set to expire this year! Had I not double checked, I would have forgotten until the last minute before we travel. Plus, I realized that I was stashing a few expired credit cards in the depths of my wallet. Those were shredded and properly disposed of. But the best discovery? Gift cards that I had forgotten I even had! When I checked the balance on them, I discarded those that were empty and discovered most of them had enough for a full product from wherever they belonged. Starbucks, here I come!

How to keep all of this discarding green:

-Recycle those DVD cases....but double check to make sure your local recycling facility will accept them. Earth911.com can point you in the right direction.

-It may seem like the best idea to pour the extra skin care products and makeup down the drain or flush them down the toilet and then recycle the container, but DO NOT do this. Those products are filled with chemicals and preservatives that pollute waterways and cause harm to local wildlife. Throw out the whole bottle/container with whatever is left inside. Some pollution may occur, but this is the lesser of two evils.

-Don't buy products that contain harmful ingredients, this stops the vicious pollution cycle. Stick to ingredients that really are all natural. It's better for your body and for the earth.

After this next phase in decluttering, I am finally feeling like I am making progress. It's was nice to see that I had started moving in the right direction already with my use of boxes and minimal body care stash. But this phase was particularly easy for me personally simply because I didn't have a lot in any of the subcategories to begin with. I know the second part of decluttering "komono" will yield the most results so I am really looking forward to it.

Next time, Komono Part 2!