Konmari Round 2: Sewing Patterns

Sorry for the radio silence! Life has been pretty busy lately between moving prep, sewing binges for the IRCC6 (more on that coming soon!) and general summer life busyness. But I have been doing some more Konmari! Today I'm sharing my sewing pattern Konmari round 2. (You guys have already seen a few of these in my sale posts. 1 & 2) Enjoy!

Konmari Round 2: CDs and DVDs

I'm digging right into Konmari round 2 with my CDs and DVDs. This category is a hard one for us because we love movies! See how many we parted with in the second round of culling.

Komanri Round 2: Plans and Strategy

I can't believe that we are halfway through June already! The hubby and I and our 3 birds will be moving in just two months so that means it's time to do round 2 of Konmari! I have decided to chronicle this second round but I'm going to be handling it a bit differently than round 1.

I went into the whole Konmari process originally knowing that we would be downsizing late summer 2016. I knew that downsizing would really give me an extra push to let go of more things but I went ahead and did one round of Konmari because I really wanted to start simplifying. Also, after finishing this process, I still kept finding more things to let go of so I knew a second round of Konmari was in order.

Now that we have selected a new apartment and have a move in date, I'm feeling very motivated to continue to declutter! We're going from a 3 bed 2 bath condo with a 1 car garage to a 2 bed 2 bath apartment with no garage. We're losing about 300 sq. ft. of living space plus the garage and cutting our patio by 2/3 so it's going to take some reorganizing of our belongings! The hardest part is that we'll lose a bedroom closet, a walk in closet in the master and a coat closet so storage is key.

Instead of following the order Mari recommends in her book, I'll be going in which ever order I feel is best. Mari has picked out her order by starting with less sentimental things and working your way up to more sentimental things and doing things in this order helps build your decision making skills. I've already been through this process and feel like my decision skills are already great. Plus, I know which areas I'll really need to downsize and which areas have already been decluttered pretty thoroughly.

I'm not going to be documenting this round in quite as much detail because that was a huge project and this round I'm on a deadline and will have to get stuff done pretty quickly. But watch this space for more decluttering! Please let me know if there is a particular category you'd like to see get Konmari'd in round 2 and I'll try to work it into my filming schedule.

5 Months Post Konmari: Minimalism & What's Next

I can't believe it's been five months since I finished Konmari! Like I said in my wrap up video, I don't really miss anything. In fact, I can hardly remember most of what I got rid of. (Or where I would have stored it.) I'm really enjoying being a minimalist and I don't think I'll ever go back to being a mindless consumer.

In today's video, I'm talking a bit about how minimalism is going for me, whether or not I'll do another Konmari and what else is up next on my minimalism radar.



Books:
Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson
The More of Less by Joshua Becker

The Simple Year blog:
http://thesimpleyear.com/

Reusable shopping bag pattern and tutorial:
http://www.stitchedbycrystal.com/2011/09/tutorial-fat-quarter-reusable-grocery.html

Can you be a Minimalist and a Creative?

Minimalism and crafting are two activities that seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. Minimalists dream of empty clutter free spaces while crafters yearn for a room full of every crafting supply they could possibly want. It would seem that crafters can't be minimalists and that minimalists would have to give up creative hobbies but that is not so!





Today I want to share with you a few tips on how to have a minimalist attitude towards your creative endeavors without having to give them up completely.

Keep only what you love (and will realistically use)

The first thing to do is a good old fashion declutter. If you are like me, you can't even remember all of your supplies let alone love them all! When you have been crafting for years or even decades, your tastes change and you won't love everything in your stash. Get rid of everything that doesn't spark joy even if you got it on super sale or might use it one day. If you don't love it, you aren't going to use it. Consider gifting your unneeded supplies to a friend or donating them to a school or church children's ministry.

When you are going through your supplies, also keep in mind how many projects you can realistically do in your life. Many of us have more than we can finish in a life time and we still feel like we need more! Those unused supplies can sit around making you feel guilty so let them go. If you have enough supplies to last you for years, you are in the danger zone.

Shop your stash

Which brings me to my next point, shop your stash. Now that you've decluttered and have a better idea of what is actually in your stash, use it! Don't buy new unless you absolutely need too. You'll be surprised at how creative you are when you are limited to using the supplies you already have on hand.

Set limits

To keep your now decluttered stash under control it is important to set limits and stick to them. You can limit your supplies to a certain volume such as one bin or basket, to a certain finite number to have on hand and or to a certain budget per month. I use all of these in my stash and it definitely makes me think harder about purchases when I go to the craft store. If you need to, find a friend to keep you accountable.

One in, One out

Stick with the one in, one out rule. When one new crafting supply comes in, an old one goes out. Don't buy a replacement until the old one has actually run out. I do this with my wardrobe and it has cut out abut 99% of my impulse purchases. Decide while you are still in the store what item is leaving when you make a new purchase and remove the old item immediately so there is no chance of forgetting.

Set an expiration date

Unlike food, most crafting supplies don't go bad or expire for a loooooong time. So we never feel like we need to get rid of them because they are no longer good. It's up to us to set our own expiration dates. This is great for UFOs and those supplies that you think you might use. Label them with an actual date and if you haven't used them by then, let them go.

You don't have to keep everything

Often, we feel like we have to keep everything we made but that is not true. Release yourself from the need to keep everything. Let's face it, not everything we make comes out that great. Let go of those beginner and dud projects. For those projects that are good but you don't want to keep, consider gifting them or selling them on Etsy. When you go to start a new project, consider it's final destination. Will it be a gift or a learning project? Try not to make too many things without a purpose and let go of the ones that don't come out quite right.

Combat multihobby insanity

When you are like me and have multiple creative hobbies, the craziness increases exponentially. If you have multihobby insanity, try applying these principles to entire hobbies and not just to the supplies themselves. Declutter your hobbies and let go of those you don't really enjoy any more. Set limits on the number of hobbies and WIPs you have going at any one time. Try the one in, one out rule. When you start a new crafting hobby, consider letting one go. I recently decided to let knitting go and focus instead on Bible journaling. Set an expiration date on hobbies you haven't done in a while. If you don't reach for them in the next 6 months to a year, consider letting them go.

So what should you do if there is a hobby you haven't done in a while, but you can't quite bring yourself to completely let it go and think you might come back to? Let go of one time use supplies and keep the reusable tools. There are a few reasons for this. Supplies are definitely a place where tastes can change and you may not even like the supplies you have when you get back to that hobby! They also tend to be a lower dollar investment. Keep those tools that you spent a lot of money on and that you know you'll use again if you pick the hobby again.

My Konmari Journey Part #21: Sentimental Items and Photos

I've finally reached the very last category of the Konmari method which is sentimental items and photographs. Really, I was expecting this category to be much harder than it actually was. I had tons and tons of photos to go through but many of them I didn't really have a strong emotional attachment to. Oh, well.



Now that I've completed the process, I'm going to be doing a wrap up video talking about what I liked, what I didn't like and how successful I thought I was. If you have any questions or comments about this process, please leave a comment and I'll try to answer it in my wrap up video.

My Konmari Journey Part #20: Clothes (Again)

Since I did not do all of my clothing in the first go around, I did want to go through them again near the end of the Konmari process. So here it is!




I did end up getting rid of a few more things and ended up with about 40 items in my closet and perhaps another 10-15 in my drawer plus underthings and pjs. Yay tiny closet!

The next video will be my sentimental items and photos! Since we're near the end, I'm taking questions to go in my wrap up video. If you have any questions about this process or what I thought about it, please leave it below.

My Konmari Journey Part #19: Knitting & Embroidery

This is the last section of the hobby Kimono! Woohoo! I'm tackling knitting and embroidery supplies since I don't have much of either.




All that's left is sentimental items and photos and then we're done with Konmari! Yay!

My Konmari Journey Part #18: Sewing Tools

I'm finishing up the sewing stuff today! We're almost through Konmari and I'm so excited! Check out this video to see how I do in this last category.



Once I finish up my Konmari, I'll owe you guys another sewing room tour. I'm still working on it but I have moved a lot of stuff around. If you missed the first one from right after we moved it, here it is!

My Konmari Journey Part #16: Fabric and Notions

Ah, the dreaded sewing stash. Full of unrealized potential, fabrics to precious to use, impulse purchases and all of the tiny scraps we're hoarding. I have been actively working to stash bust over the last few years and my stash has remained at a mostly manageable size but we're still going to Konmari it.

This may scare a lot of seamstresses but I have some good reasons to purge my stash. Having moved to a wildly different climate than where most of this fabric was purchased, I have very different wardrobe needs. How much wool can a Florida girl wear after all?

I've also come to realize that I really don't like having two different pieces made out of the same fabric. Projects made from the leftovers never seem to get worn. So I'm going to let go of some of those leftover bits even if they are large enough to use.

And the scrap pile..... At this point in my life, I have no interest in quilting so really, why am I keeping all of these tiny scraps of stuff??? I'll keep some swatches in my swatch book and let go of the rest.

Ok, let's do it!

My Konmari Journey Part #15: Hobbies-Scrapbooking

It's finally time to go through all of my hobby supplies! I knew this was going to be a hard one for me so I'm glad that Mari put it near the end. I've decided to break down this category a bit since I have a lot of hobbies (and a lot of supplies for each....)

1. Scrapbooking
2. Fabric and Notions
3. Sewing Patterns
4. Sewing Tools
5. Knitting and Embroidery

I actually filmed this before getting most of my Bible Journaling supplies which is why you won't see them in this video. 

My Konmari Journey Part #14: Kitchen-Dishes & Glasses

Today, I'm finishing up the kitchen! I decided to combine dishes, glasses and tupperware into one video because I just wanted to finish up the kitchen! It feel so amazing to have this space done. A lot of activity happens in the kitchen and it's so nice to have things moving more smoothly because there's a lot less junk everywhere.

My Konmari Journey Part #13: Kitchen-Baking Supplies

Today, I'm working on decluttering the kitchen. Yay for a purged, organized kitchen!! In this section, I'm going to Konmari baking pans and supplies. I used to be a big baker but now that Will is gluten free, I do a lot less baking.

My Konmari Journey Part #12: Kitchen-Cooking Supplies

I'm moving right along in the kitchen using the Konmari method. I'm working through Mari Kondo's Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up to declutter my home. Today's video tackles a large section of the kitchen which is cooking supplies (except baking stuffs which will be next).



I was really happy with the amount of stuff I got rid of in this section. I also went ahead and did a bit of organizing to make stuff more accessible and I'm loving it so far!

My Konmari Journey Part #11: Kitchen - Food

Yes! We have made it to decluttering the kitchen! I've decided to break this subcategory down a bit more to make it a bit more manageable. I'll do food, baking/cooking supplies, and dishes & tupperwear.

For the food category, I'm focusing on getting rid of expired things again. Also, my husband was diagnosed with a medical condition triggered by gluten which means he's gluten free for life. I haven't done a de-gluten purge of the pantry so I'm sure I'll find some things which can be donated that he can't eat. Alright, here goes nothing!

Konmari Part #10: Household Supplies

Today we're doing a very practical category in the Konmari process- household supplies! This category includes all of the consumables that you use to maintain your home as well as things like mops, brooms, vacuum cleaners and other miscellaneous cleaning supplies. This one is a bit long since I had lots of small areas in this category.

My Konmari Journey Part #9: Household Equipment

Today, I'm sharing with you my household equipment purge! I decided to go ahead and tackle everything in our office area as part of this category. I'm super excited about to have this section done. Why do there always seem to be 8000 pens everywhere?? And since my husbands desk is right next to the front door, it becomes the dumping ground for junk mail and anything else we bring in the house.


One of the hard parts about this category was dealing with things that were in perfectly good condition but that we had so much of that I don't think we'd use them up even in 10 years! Mari's opinion is that you should just get rid of that excess because the "rent" you are spending on the space they are taking up is not worth it. In the end, I did "evict" quite a bit of stuff. Since filming, my husband has gone trough some of his stuff and we were able to get rid of the filing cabinet because we got rid of so much stuff! Yay!

My Konmari Journey Part #8: Electronics

In this week's video, I worked through all of our electronics including the dreaded box of chords! I did do a couple of adjustments to this category. I decided to group kitchen appliances in with the kitchen section because that seemed to make more sense to me. I also left in place any electronics that are used daily and were definite keepers (tv, bluray player, etc). If Marie thinks I'm unhooking all of my tv equipment to pile in the middle of the floor, she's crazy. We don't have duplicates or extras of any of these items so there's really no point.




So this wasn't the most exciting category but I did feel like I got rid of a lot of stuff that was just unnecessary clutter! I'm hoping for the same type of results when I get to the next category which includes office supplies. I never understand how office supplies get so messy all of the time.

My Konmari Journey Part #7: Accessories

I'm rolling right along with this Konmari Journey! It's time to dig into accessories. I've accumulated quite a few but I really don't wear a lot of them. Guess they need to go!

My Konmari Journey Part #6: Make Up

Ah, make up! All of the pretty things we love to wear! I'm definitely not that much of a makeup junky compared to a lot of fashion/beauty bloggers but I do have a nice stash (or did before I Konmari'ed it!). I have found that I really like to have nicer products in my make up stash and by only having a few trusty products, I can afford to splurge on the things I do use.

While I really do enjoy playing with different make up looks on occasion, I generally reach for the same products again and again so those are the ones I decided to keep. It's really nice to clean out old product and colors that just didn't work on me. Getting ready in the morning has been so much nicer now too! No more digging through product for the one I want.



Do you enjoy having a large make up stash or do you stick to your tried and true favorites?