(Part 2) Best products from r/konmari

For reference, discarding took about 4.5 months in my 1400 sq foot home and two storage sheds. I have started working on deep cleaning, upgrading necessary yet ugly items, and storage/organizing. I expect this to take another two months. I am watching "Clean My Space" and "Home Organizing by Alejandra.tv" channels on YouTube now to help with the process.

I am trying to keep in mind getting products out of original packaging, if possible, to limit exposure to constant advertising in my home. I am choosing to spend quite a bit on higher quality products that I love and expect to last many years. Fortunately, I have a budget that allows for some luxuries.

Bedroom

I started with my closet and these great baskets from the container store http://www.containerstore.com/s/whitewash-rattan-bins/d?productId=10037633&q=Large%20Rattan%20Bin%20Whitewash. The closet has a built in shoe organizer and I used my label maker to indicate what style shoes go on which shelf – heels, sandals, sneakers, flats and boots. I also labeled the shelf for each basket. Clothes hangers are all white. They used to be all kinds of colors, and I realized that white is more calming. I am now using these for my socks and undies since konmari folding did not quite work for me on those items http://www.amazon.com/MIU-COLOR-Collapsible-Underwear-Organizer/dp/B009A3HTXY. The folding works great for most of my other clothes. I am still pondering how to organize the nightstand drawers.

Kitchen

I bought a couple of 10" bamboo lazy susans for keeping my oils and vinegars organized in my cabinets. I bought some refrigerator organization units from InterDesign and the Rubbermaid FreshWorks Produce savers. I intend to get Oxo food storage containers for dry goods.
I upgraded to these measuring spoons http://www.amazon.com/Cuisipro-Stainless-Steel-Measuring-Spoon/dp/B00004SU1I and these measuring cups http://www.amazon.com/Sagler-Measuring-Piece-Heavy-duty-Stainless/dp/B00V5EFWTO.

When I was discarding in my kitchen I found I did not really love my dinnerware so I got this set http://www.amazon.com/Corelle-Coordinates-18-Piece-Dinnerware-Service/dp/B00R790CLY plus matching lunch sized plates. I love the simple clean lines and the durability of the product. I downsized from a 12 person setting to 6 and it is great.

Bath

Have not done much here yet. I don’t have much need for storage organization in the cabinets. Still considering what I want to do with the drawers. Right now the drawers are still organized with small cardboard boxes from Glossybox, a cut down cereal box, and an empty jigsaw puzzle box. I upgraded my plunger and brush to nice stainless steel containers, and got a toilet paper holder that matches them http://www.amazon.com/Home-Basics-Vented-Stainless-Toilet/dp/B00JB20IDW.

Laundry

I replaced my bulky plastic basket with this http://www.amazon.com/Bajer-Design-Marketing-5234-Basket/dp/B0010KZCFC. It now hangs on a Command Hook next to the washer.

Car

I have repacked the car kit and 72 hour emergency kits in these for my car and my son's car. ttp://www.amazon.com/TrunkCratePro-Best-Premium-Trunk-Organizer/dp/B01AHK0J9Y. We live in an area prone to natural disasters so I like to be prepared wherever we are. I bought a car trash container (http://www.amazon.com/Highland-1932600-Car-Trash-Keeper/dp/B0027QWNGO) and created a little kit in a ziplock bag in the glovebox with essentials. Also, found tissues in a round container that fits perfectly in the door cup holder. I also bought a set of matching reusable grocery bags (http://www.amazon.com/ReBagMe-Reusable-Grocery-Reinforced-Handles/dp/B00Y17OIR4) so I don’t have the mismatched set. Finally, I have these on order (http://www.amazon.com/Car-Hammer-Seatbelt-Emergency-Must-Have/dp/B00CB8WM2S). Not organization related, just something I have been thinking that I needed for safety.

Purse

I reassessed what is in my purse. I used a couple small cosmetics bags that I had on hand and now have many things I wished I had at various times. Everything is neatly organized and I know exactly what is in there and why I have it. Everything from safety pins, to pen and notebook (http://www.amazon.com/Marble-Composition-Books-Notebooks-Green/dp/B00WRDIS9I), to a tiny flashlight, a granola bar in case I am out and hungry, a tide stain remover pen, a tiny Band-Aid package, tiny measuring tape (http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-33-115-10-Foot-4-Inch-PowerLock/dp/B00009OYGH), my phone, my wallet, and my keys are always on the little hook. Not exactly Konmari minimalism, but those are all things that I wished I had at various times and I am happy that I will not be caught without again. It is a medium size purse, packed just right, with stuff easily accessible.

Home office

I have not done much there yet, but this drawer organizer is working pretty well http://www.amazon.com/Rolodex-Regeneration-Deep-Drawer-Organizer-21864/dp/B002JG48R4.

Command center

I am currently working on a “Command Center” to keep clutter off the kitchen counter. I have not purchased anything for that yet. I am writing down ideas, measuring, and considering products. http://thehappyhousie.porch.com/20-fabulous-command-centers-to-get-your-life-completely-organized/

Other random stuff:

I moved my CDs into a holder http://www.amazon.com/Case-Logic-DVDW-92-Capacity-Classic/dp/B00005ATMD and they now live on a Command Hook in my car. For movies I transferred them to these Sleeves http://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-74604729-Movie-Sleeves/dp/B002JR2V7C and they now live in a small drawer in my living room. I tossed the packaging because it was bulky and does not give me joy.

I am using these in my linen closet http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Can-Do-STO-02986-Nested-Woven-Esspresso. This box for my jewelry http://www.amazon.com/Black-Leather-Jewelry-Travel-Case/dp/B0006JCGUM.

Not related to organizing, but I am loving these brushes for getting tiny spaces clean. So much better than an old toothbrush. http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Clean-Brush/dp/B003M8GMS6

If you made it this far, congrats. Something that I have noticed is that I can now shop with confidence, I can easily toss or donate the old unloved items, and I am organized enough to return those few items that don’t work as well as I hoped. My home feels much more open and inviting. I know where everything is and my clear vision is starting to come to fruition.

I recently went through a bunch of my old drawings and filled a couple recycle bins full of paper because of it ( I went to an art school and had boxes of daily figure drawing exercises and old assignment from 10+ years ago). I'm by no means done, I still have to actually sort my paper mess, but I can share what worked for me so far.

For classifying drawings and sketches, I tried to keep only the things that I remember being "proud" of, or ideas that I would like to revisit later. Then any clean paper got a separate section. I didn't keep all of the finished drawing assignments. I would go through everything and think " I remember in this particular drawing I got the flow of the figure right" or " I struggled with proportions on this one, I feel like I've gotten much better since then!" Most of the drawings I had to go though got a "meh" response, so out they went. I went through that pile again though, and decided, moving forward, "what kind of reminders of this time as a student do I want to keep?" That helped me quite a bit on reducing the pile =)

As for "idea" sketched, I organized those in a type of clear file system. I jot things down on odd shaped scrap paper all the time when I work of long term projects, and I found it helped to have a book that I could safely store them into and I could see them quickly at a glance if I needed to revisit an old idea. ( something similar to this file folder https://www.amazon.com/Aimeio-60-Pocket-Protector-Presentation-Available/dp/B079MGBVQ9/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=clear+file+folder+book+small+portfolio&qid=1555099157&s=gateway&sr=8-3)

With the sketchbooks, unless the majority of the book was work keeping, I ended up neatly taking the drawing I liked and putting them in another clear file. There's a few that I want to use in some collage work, so they went into a little box with other nice bits of paper that are too small to draw on, but have a pretty stamp on them/cute pattern/texture.

Oh, I did this all separate from the "normal" paper pile, still need to get to organizing all my bills =p

....I didn't realize this was going into rant territory, I hope it helps a little bit!

So for wall mounted TVs I recommend a cable raceway (similar to this) to disguise the cable on the wall. You can adhere to the wall with command strips or other double-stick.

You can also use this for the lamp cord. I recommend moving the lamp closer to the wall. If there is excess cord, you can often feed it back into the lamp base. If your lamp base doesn't have a bottom, you can neatly (and gently) coil (DO NOT CREASE) the excess cord and secure with cable ties (I like this stuff because it only takes a little, and it's repositionable, unlike zip-ties).

As far as the power brick and excess cord to the wall...I would recommend placing an entertainment center (games????) OR some kind of decorative something that sparks JOY! Maybe something that can function as storage for something you need in the room, but don't want laying about (remote controls, etc).

Pro-tip: it may be tempting to pull cords SUPER tight, but keep a little slack to ensure the cable isn't being bent at the connectors.

Good luck, and please share your end solution with us!