TODAY’S FREEBIE
We’ve made it through our clothes, books, and papers. Now it’s time to begin the nebulous category of “komono,” which could be loosely translated as “miscellaneous.” These are items that we keep “just because” with no clear reason. They clutter up our home and take up space that could be used for things we really love.
Case in point: CDs and DVDs. How many of each of these do you have “just because?” Maybe you bought them 20 years ago, but you never watch or listen to them any more. Maybe somebody gave them to you for a gift, but you never really liked them, or never even took off the plastic. It’s time to let them go! Remember, you only have room in your life for the things you love. (Sorry Luis Miguel. Your Latin lover persona with your textured sexy voice no longer entices me. I’m going to say goodbye to your three-CD combo. Sniff sniff).
This challenge should be fairly easy. Just remember to go with your initial, gut feeling as you pick up and hold each of your CDs and DVDs. DO NOT REMINISCE! “Oh, I watched this with my first boyfriend. I remember that night. It was in the summer. I was 16 and he was 17. The wind softly blew through the trees….” No, no, no. None of that. Does it bring you joy NOW. Ask yourself if these CDs and DVDs make it to your “hall of fame.” If not, thank them for the happiness they once brought you (or for teaching you what you didn’t like) and say goodbye.
I have a box of these that I am taking to a second-hand store (that I will hopefully get more than $1.76 for). Sorry if that last sentence was rife with improper grammar. At least it rhymed 🙂
We bought a set of drawers from IKEA that we use as a couch table (is that a thing?) and also a receptacle for our CDs and DVDs. We order them loosely in alphabetical order (all “A” items together, etc.) We also store them with the spine up rather than stacked so we can easily see exactly what we have. We used to try to store everything on bookshelves by the T.V., but I really like them all to be hidden in the drawers.
You can also digitize your DVDs and CDs if you want to get rid of the physical copies. Good luck!
This challenge is based on the KonMari method found in the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. If you are just joining us, be sure to start at the beginning! It’s very important to go in order! You can also visit my Transform Your Home, Transform Your Life page for all the previous posts in this series. Don’t feel like you have to catch up if you are just finding this challenge now! Just make sure to start doing the weekly challenges from the beginning, and you will be fine!
TODAY’S FREEBIE
Next week’s post: Skin Care, Hair Care, and Makeup
Just the other day my toddler got into our DVD drawer. DVD’s were scattered all over the living room floor. I took that as a sign I needed to purge some of them and make them all fit into one drawer instead of the 2 drawers they were in. I figured if he’s going to take them out, at least there will be less to put away. With borrowing movies from the library, Netflix and Redbox, there are very few we need to keep. Mostly kid faves that they watch over and over, and some of the classics.
I start on DVD’s this Monday. I ordered DVD sleeves from Amazon. Each clear sleeve has a place for the cover, two DVD’s, in case it needs two, or you can do one disc per sleeve. I will discard the plastic jewel cases and only use of up half the space they take up now. I have about 125, bet I get rid of 20 when I am sorting. I got this “sleeve” idea from Kon Mari Adventures on Pinterest. (We are 30 miles away from a Redbox, have a very small lib
rary with few movies and don’t do Netflix, so I really watch a lot of DVD’s instead of TV.