Beauty

[just bee]

On 3/13/2015 DL2843 said: Hello Everyone, it took me a while to find this thread. My house is a 1968 rambler that is 1350 sq ft. I have lived off and on in it since my parents bought it in 1982. Rents in my area keep escalating but housing prices are not so it seemed like a good time to buy. I enjoyed the 10 item wardrobe video. I once read an article about a very famous model (I cannot remember who) who frequently wore the same Louis Vuitton scarf in the paparazzi photos. A reporter asked her why and her response was something like why wear anything else when one has a LV. My frustration with these gurus is they tout a tag line but in the fine print are the exceptions. Sure it is 10 pieces hanging up, but you can have many "layering" pieces like t-shirts, sweaters, blazers etc. Off season clothes are to be stored. So now the 10 piece wardrobe is really 40 pieces plus extras. The same was true of the 30 items for 30 days guru. Exercise clothes, pajamas, intimates, etc are not part of the 30. Once all that extra stuff is back you have my problem closet. I did download the Marie Kondo book. I am looking forward to reading her viewpoint. In her interview she said that storage organizers/containers just make us hoarders. So my big purchases are a house and a new washer since the old one broke a week after I bought the house. Also some landscaping for a small flower bed that is currently dirt.

You moved into a '68 Rambler?

You really are downsizing!

I agree with you about the ten items that aren't. And I also agree about the storage containers. For some, it's a plastic box and lid; for others, it's the garage.

Congrats on the house. Keep it simple!

[just bee]

On 3/13/2015 DL2843 said: Now I just need 20 cats.

Here's a starter pack. Just add water and Meow Mix.

[just bee]

Or just get one of these:

[just bee]

Here's a housewarming gift.

Every house needs a red geranium. It's a required ""old lady"" thing.

[just bee]

And this makes it official.

[just bee]

Oh -- and you'll also need one of these.

[DL2843]

Thanks for all the gifts Just Bee. I am about 1/3 of the way through the Marie Kondo book. One point that is resonating with me is that she recommends tidying up by category. For example, gather every book in the house and go through your books. Of course Just Bee and others have recommended that before. The other point is that first you must think about your end goal and then think about why your end goal is your end goal. She also says you must go through EVERYTHING before you organize anything. For those of you who live with others she does say to never get rid of anything that belongs to someone else. Also NEVER, EVER, let your mother see what you are getting rid of..

[just bee]

On 3/14/2015 DL2843 said: Thanks for all the gifts Just Bee. I am about 1/3 of the way through the Marie Kondo book. One point that is resonating with me is that she recommends tidying up by category. For example, gather every book in the house and go through your books. Of course Just Bee and others have recommended that before. The other point is that first you must think about your end goal and then think about why your end goal is your end goal. She also says you must go through EVERYTHING before you organize anything. For those of you who live with others she does say to never get rid of anything that belongs to someone else. Also NEVER, EVER, let your mother see what you are getting rid of..

I think I'm likin' this Marie person. I agree that one should never get rid of something that belongs to someone else. If it's a jar of moldy preserves or a rusty can of fruit cocktail that is ready to explode, and you're afraid that it's a hazard, then you have the obligation to talk to the owner of the item and convince the person to part with it. But sneaking around, putting someone's property into the trash behind his/her back is such a violation. I admit I'm still a little annoyed about the magazines Better-half recycled a couple weeks ago. When we moved here I had two large keyboards in the garage and he pressured me to part with them. True, I don't play an instrument, but it was an interesting experience in that when I was dating another person, that guy had signed me up for a piano class so I could learn to play. (I went to the class but I was terrible. Zero musical ability.) But it always made me wonder why keyboards in the garage was an annoyance for someone. This is what I get for living with a minimalist who is a stranger to sentimentality. He has no regard for the past and gets annoyed when others start to reminisce. We have two friends who are closer to my age and when he's on the phone with them I can hear the irritation in his voice. It's like yesterday is a stack of old magazines. What's the point of keeping it around?

And maybe he has the right attitude. Maybe he should be one of those people who goes into hoarders' homes and cleans them out. I was on the computer last night looking at buildings in Rogers Park. I grew up in that area of Chicago and lived in old buildings on Sheridan Road and I loved that architecture. I'd walk down Pratt and ride my bike to Evanston and look at old houses and apartment buildings and last night I was doing the same thing -- sans bike.

I imagine if he had seen what I was looking at he would have asked me what the point of it was. The point was that I felt like looking at old houses and buildings in Rogers Park last night.

[just bee]

A Kondoism:

When the process feels overwhelming, remind yourself that the goal is to increase happiness in your life by only surrounding yourself with necessities and joy triggers. One way to do that is to flip your perspective on the process.

"If I had been a little smarter, I would have realized before I became so neurotic that focusing solely on throwing things away can only bring unhappiness," she writes. "Why? Because we should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of."

So I found an article about the "psychological benefits of 'Kondoing' your house" and some of the comments following the article were more interesting than the article. A former sentimentalist wrote:

Anything you are keeping for "sentimental value" is nothing but a cursed magical item.

I am surrounded by cursed magical items. Books, art objects, framed prints, dog toys that belonged to dogs who are sitting inside urns down the hall. And when I die someone else will be surrounded by my cursed magical items. That's their problem! Bwwwwwwwwahahahahahahaha!!!

Okay, I realize that sounds very unComPacted. But I do like the concept that the items are somewhat cursed. And I like the reversal of approach. We are keeping what's important instead of ridding ourselves of items. Maybe that's why we are slow to begin these projects. If we go into a closet as if we are on a treasure hunt instead of a search and destroy mission, we might be able to reduce the pain.

[kittykatmom2]

On 3/14/2015 just bee said:

A Kondoism:

When the process feels overwhelming, remind yourself that the goal is to increase happiness in your life by only surrounding yourself with necessities and joy triggers. One way to do that is to flip your perspective on the process.

"If I had been a little smarter, I would have realized before I became so neurotic that focusing solely on throwing things away can only bring unhappiness," she writes. "Why? Because we should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of."

So I found an article about the "psychological benefits of 'Kondoing' your house" and some of the comments following the article were more interesting than the article. A former sentimentalist wrote:

Anything you are keeping for "sentimental value" is nothing but a cursed magical item.

I am surrounded by cursed magical items. Books, art objects, framed prints, dog toys that belonged to dogs who are sitting inside urns down the hall. And when I die someone else will be surrounded by my cursed magical items. That's their problem! Bwwwwwwwwahahahahahahaha!!!

Okay, I realize that sounds very unComPacted. But I do like the concept that the items are somewhat cursed. And I like the reversal of approach. We are keeping what's important instead of ridding ourselves of items. Maybe that's why we are slow to begin these projects. If we go into a closet as if we are on a treasure hunt instead of a search and destroy mission, we might be able to reduce the pain.

I really like the treasure hunt idea!