Log in

View Full Version : Reverse Marie Kondo



ejchase
8-20-18, 10:59pm
Interesting article about how thoughtful acquisition is as important as decluttering in creating a home you love:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/realestate/marie-kondo-in-reverse-how-to-fill-a-space.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=real-estate-left-region&region=real-estate-left-region&WT.nav=real-estate-left-region

razz
8-21-18, 6:04am
Neat article. I have the same sense of creating my own space so understand what she is writing about.

ToomuchStuff
8-21-18, 10:19am
Still haven't read her, but wouldn't her does this give you joy still apply? If that is the case, how is this reverse?

Gardenarian
8-21-18, 2:40pm
It's "reverse" because it is only about acquiring things that spark joy, not getting rid of them. For example, not buying living room furniture because you feel you must have a sofa and chairs and end tables.

I think it is a good idea to live in a space for a while before investing a lot of time or money in it - that's kind of a permaculture priciple.

The apartment in the article seems pretty cookie-cutter to me, so I'm not sure it's the greatest example.

Gardenarian
8-21-18, 11:02pm
I also thought it was funny that she got "temporary" mugs from Crate & Barrel. Maybe she hasn't heard about the Dollar Store 😊

Teacher Terry
8-21-18, 11:10pm
Or thrift stores

Teacher Terry
8-21-18, 11:19pm
When I moved to Nevada I took my favorite furniture pieces and left the rest with my ex. I took time to buy a bedroom set that really suited me. I also needed end tables and a coffee table but didn’t rush. I didn’t bring dishes and it was fun to buy what I really liked. Then somehow I got off track and bought too much crap when we moved to a bigger house to accommodate my step son and my 2 kids that wanted to return to college. I have spent the last 8 years decluttering from that fiasco. It is my own fault as I bought too much stuff.

Tybee
8-22-18, 8:24am
I can't read the article because of the paywall, but anyone who buys temporary mugs at crate and barrel sounds like my kind of gal. But why temporary? Why not permanent mugs at crate and barrel?
I used to walk to work each day right by the crate and barrel flagship store on Michigan avenue and I swear 40 years later, there are pieces of Marimekko clothing and Iitala glass I am still sorry that I did not buy. They still spark regret, I guess.

Lainey
8-22-18, 10:33am
Tybee,
that's a great phrase, "spark regret"!
My SO still speaks nostalgically about an old truck he had fixed up and kept for many years. He maintained it lovingly. He finally sold it but even now, years later, wishes he'd been able to keep it. He otherwise has simple tastes and is not a hoarder but I know if he could jump back in time and retrieve that truck he'd do it.

iris lilies
8-22-18, 10:49am
Tybee,
that's a great phrase, "spark regret"!
My SO still speaks nostalgically about an old truck he had fixed up and kept for many years. He maintained it lovingly. He finally sold it but even now, years later, wishes he'd been able to keep it. He otherwise has simple tastes and is not a hoarder but I know if he could jump back in time and retrieve that truck he'd do it.
I wish he had kept the old truck too. Old trucks are super trendy right now, they are cool.


Teacher Terry’s post about bedroom set reminded me: DH brought to our Hermann house the bedroom set that I had made him get rid of 30 years ago when we got married. Then, it was ugly and huge. Now, 30 years later, it is cool and vintage. It is from the 1960s.

Teacher Terry
8-22-18, 10:51am
Take a picture of the bedroom set. Obviously he didn’t get rid of it:))

iris lilies
8-22-18, 11:11am
Take a picture of the bedroom set. Obviously he didn’t get rid of it:))
For the past 30 years it has lived in his dad’s farm house. Yeah, I will take a photo one of these days. It js a pretty cool old thing. He got it at a farm auction decades ago, when he was single. I used my power of p*ssy to, before we got married, get rid of yhe hideous sets of furniture he had. I knew instinctively that if the stuff didnt leave then, I would hsve to live with it the rest of my life.

Also, it is much easier to move into a house where bedrooms are on the first floor , our Hermann house, than in our .victorian house with stairs.

iris lilies
8-22-18, 11:17am
Or thrift stores

God, yes. Mugs for 50 cents there.

Teacher Terry
8-22-18, 12:01pm
When we downsized we didn’t even look at 2 story homes. I wanted one where we could age in place.

ApatheticNoMore
8-22-18, 12:46pm
although if you are that obsessed with your mugs even ... wow. Furniture maybe, heck even pots and pans perhaps, but mugs ...

I just have glasses from bed bath and beyond and it's good enough for me, permanently.

Chicken lady
8-22-18, 7:24pm
I am a potter. I have strong feelings about every mug in my house. In some cases they are dh’s mugs and the feeling is loathing.

Yppej
8-22-18, 7:51pm
Good luck to her finding a boyfriend to move in who only has a suitcase.

Ultralight
8-22-18, 8:03pm
Things really don't spark joy in me.

pinkytoe
8-23-18, 10:17am
I have changed my thoughts about things since selling our house of 17 years. The house we bought here is larger and three story and has quite a few empty spaces going "yoo-hoo". Since I know we won't grow old in this house, I am having fun with the acquisition and then shedding of things if they don't work out. Mostly all used so not at great expense or sentimental attachment. Lots of re-purposing just cause I like the creative aspect of that endeavor. The older I get, the less attached I get to keeping stuff, so at least to me, it becomes kind of fun to watch it come in and go out and on to some other incarnation - who knows where.

iris lilies
8-23-18, 11:24am
I have changed my thoughts about things since selling our house of 17 years. The house we bought here is larger and three story and has quite a few empty spaces going "yoo-hoo". Since I know we won't grow old in this house, I am having fun with the acquisition and then shedding of things if they don't work out. Mostly all used so not at great expense or sentimental attachment. Lots of re-purposing just cause I like the creative aspect of that endeavor. The older I get, the less attached I get to keeping stuff, so at least to me, it becomes kind of fun to watch it come in and go out and on to some other incarnation - who knows where.


That is an interesting acrivity, pinkytoe, and one I can relate to. I would be fun to swap out decor regularly and completely tomgive new looks to a room, or a shelf, or a table, or etc. One can do a lot with fabric and a few things from the thrift store.

pinkytoe
8-23-18, 1:48pm
We have a little sunroom off the kitchen that up until now has been nothing but the cat box space. A while back, I purchased two smallish round wrought iron and glass tables for $20 that we used in the living room as side tables. I decided to spray paint and purchase a larger glass top for one of them so we could have a breakfast area next to all the windows in the sunroom. Then I found some oak sheaf/rush seated chairs for $5.00 each and bought new cushions at Pottery Barn closeout for 80% off. I think of these endeavors as a hobby now as I didn't have time to do them when working. And the thrift stores here are great!!

ApatheticNoMore
8-23-18, 3:26pm
i get enjoying things, it is having nice things and admiring them. I just think joy is a strong word to somehow expect from all your things. And it's pretty superficial, about an inch deep as well, I mean if you don't have money to spend on nice things you become pretty indifferent to it pretty quick (unlike say some pricey food you might still like).