KonMari: Books and Papers

The second KonMari category is BOOKS.  This category was fairly simple for me because I only just started purchasing real books last year so I didn't have very many that needed to be sorted through.  Because the category includes magazines, textbooks, phone books, etc. I ended up with quite a bit in my pile.  But, I was able to throw out most of it without even a glance and only kept a handful of books.  I really only kept two books (#Girlboss and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) and the others I brought to work to add to the mini-library a few of my co-workers and I have started.

My before pile consisted of lots of magazines I never read through, a few text books, and a few old planners/journals.  I kept #Girlboss because it is one that I absolutely love and re-read whenever I'm feeling unmotivated and I hadn't read The Immortal Life yet but will be reading it for my book challenge this year.

The third category is PAPERS.  I had a tough time getting around to this category because I wasn't looking forward to sorting through everything.  I had three expandable folders and two drawers full of receipts, check stubs, instruction manuals, warranties, old contracts and legal documents, etc.  Just the thought of going through it was overwhelming but once I started, it wasn't that difficult.  It also helped that one of the expandable folders apparently got wet during this weekend's crappy weather (rain came in through the window near the area where I placed all the papers I was going to sort through) so I just chucked it.  I don't have a "before" photo because I didn't bother to take one since I just wanted to throw away that yucky folder which was starting to smell like mildew.

I got rid of most of the papers and only kept two of the expandable folders, which really don't have much left inside of them.  The purple one is for the birth certificates, shot records, passports, and this school year's report cards, awards and certificates and the blue folder holds all my sewing patterns which I plan to get back into using once I've cleared everything else out and have more room to lay out my fabric and sew.

In these two categories I was able to get rid of about three boxes of books and one 13 gal. trash bag full of papers.  I don't plan on letting my books or papers accumulate again.  I've actually purchased three new books since decluttering, but they are placed in the mini-library at work.  I bring only the book I'm currently reading in and out of the house now and papers I throw away once I'm done with them.  Eventually I want to start scanning all the certificates, awards, kids' drawings, etc. but those are considered to be part of the SENTIMENTAL category, which is last.

Up next is the KOMONO category, which is basically everything else that isn't clothing, books, papers or sentimental items.  Komono items include CD/DVDs, makeup and skincare products, cleaning supplies, electronics, stationery supplies (which will probably be hard for this planner addict), kitchen items (pots and pans, dishes, etc.), food items, and everything in between.  Komono will surely be the biggest category to go through, but I found a printable KonMari checklist over at JuJu Sprinkles which breaks down the Komono into subcategories which are much easier to go through.

I'm hoping to start on Komono this weekend if I can find the time.  It is really hard to put everything in a pile on the floor when you have (at least) four other humans going in and out of the room, trampling over everything and getting in the way (or complaining that YOU'RE in the way).  Wish me luck!