One of the most difficult part for me was to see how much money I spent on clothes I rarely or never wore . . . memories was DEF THE hardest for me . . . my son is almost 21 years old and I have such a difficult time getting rid of ANYTHING that I attach to him . . . I love the category method. SO much BETTER that room by room! The no music thing is another great tip. I reduced my stuff to less than 1/2 when we moved to a house that was 1/2 the square footage but my husband increased the amount of stuff. It's challenging when your spouse is not on the same page . . . Great video guys!
I've thrown all my books and replace them with audiobooks. Reading a book limits your mobility, time and energy. You can drive or commute, while listening to an audiobook. You can walk and exercise while listening to an audiobook. You can carry your whole library of audiobooks in your phone and where ever you go in the world. Audiobooks don't collect dust and doesn't need cleaning. Storage is in your phone or devices (or even i the cloud) which takes less physical space. I've actually listened to 50 audiobooks in a year, which I've never done before (including Konmari). With my clothes, I chose the lucky number 3. 3 of each items... 3 casual attire, 3 semi-formal, and 3 formal attire, 3 jeans, 3 jackets, 3 pair of shoes, etc... except for underwear which I have 10 pairs. 7 is a good number, as 7 days in a week. Choose Quality over Quantity. Choose Experience over Materials. Choose Meaningful over Display. Choose Purpose over Collection.
We just downsized 46 years of marriage. A lifetime of "stuff" and memories. When husband retires we are hoping to buy and move into a motor home and live out our days in a "tiny home". We did it in two months time (should have taken at least a year) as our house sold quickly and we had to be out. Had an estate sale and donated most of the rest. What a job, wish I would have known about the "joy" factor. I would have kept more of those and less of the practical, I think. Best wishes on your journey.
My wife and I were going to do that as a team but she passed suddenly now I have to do I my self. We were married 33 years. Now it just seems impossible I see her in everything.
I giggled out loud when he was throwing clothes haphazardly over his shoulders with the caption "no joy, no joy, no joy." that was so hilarious to me because that's something I'd do. Lol.
I did KonMari on my house last year, and I swear, this is exactly what it is like. Great job, and you're right. If works IF YOU FOLLOW her directions! These people who make up their own way of doing it drive me nuts. LOL. yeah, I agree totally. OH, it took me 1 year. I have a 3 bedroom house and I was doing it alone. Like you, I wanted to do it RIGHT, and doing it fast like you guys wasn't possible for me. Great job. Great job.
Still more clothes than me lol. I do the capsel wardrobe thing. I have one for spring/summer and one for fall/winter (mainly just the tops and dresses i change out lol). Im happy to see people are finally downsizing
It's very interesting to see how some people can get so attached to their items that they even cry. I personally found it very easy. Great job guys, you got rid of a lot of stuff!
Great video. It is so refreshing to see another young couple taking this leap into minimalism. My husband and I are currently moving into his mother's house and putting all of our things into a 300 sq ft room. For the first time in our lives, all of our things will be in one place, rather than spread out amongst our parents' houses. We are sorting things into like items and will finally be able to do a true downsize. The hardest part for us is our budding eBay business and the items associated with that and our art and music supplies of our hobbies. With that said, I am sure with this method we can be true to ourselves and where we want to be heading in life in relation to our belongings. Something I learned from Joshua Fields Millsburn of the Minimalists is to think of items in terms of if they add value to our lives which helps analytical me with releasing items from my life. Best of luck with your journey!
Downsizing? I have no problem with that. I've been recommending downsizing since I first got here. I even brought it up in my interview. I say, bring it on.
Congratulations to you on downsizing, we just downsized, into a townhouse and had to go through a lifetime of stuff. We waited far too long to do this, we are retired and it was a job but liberating to get rid of what we do not find 'joy' in. Enjoyed your video, we are RVers also and feel what you need in a motorhome is all you really need!
Well done! I really enjoyed how you explained the KonMari Method. I did it myself a little while ago. Then, a couple weeks later, I felt the need to do another mini purge of unneeded stuff. I also watched all six seasons of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners, and that helped me know how to enjoy the fruits of the minimal life - but without the obsession. Good luck and thank you for such a nice video.
We are very happy you enjoyed the video :-) We've totally done the same thing with the "micro purges." The nice thing about this method is we aren't reverting but continuing with the minimalistic lifestyle. Sounds like the same is happening with you.
dude, thanks so much for mentioning that show! it's like hoarders (sortof) but british and it looks like i can watch it all on youtube. !!! :D watching stuff like this is very helpful for motivating. sometimes the places are sooooo bad it sparks a need in me to clean or just get rid of things.
Wow, you guys are really able to motivate me even more, after 2 years of occasionally and drastically downsizing by the KonMarie method, to dive into the last few dark and still cluttered spots in my appartment and my life. You explained very well how it works and you were so brave to put your experiences on the internet. Thank you for that and keep it rolling!
a huge majority of the time, people ONLY realize how much stuff they have (well underestimated) when and ONLY when they are moving out to another apartment or house!
I really felt for you when you wept. After raising 4 kids, I'm downsizing too, and I've never wept so much. I have the book you mentioned, and we always called the method of piling everything into one big heap and then sorting it "the post office method". It really works. I loved your video. Thank you for your open honesty.
I randomly stumbled on you guys channel a few days ago and absolutely love it. It's so real and authentic, especially this one. I was trying to downsize and this one really inspired me to just do it and really think about it. Other channels don't show nearly as great of examples. I am preparing myself now in college because I really want a tiny home later and you guys have really showed me the reality of it all. Thanks
I can't believe you got it all done in 4 days, that's brilliant! I've just spent the weekend decluttering, but I found myself working intensely for 2 hours, then taking a break for 2, then starting back up with the cleaning.. lather rinse and repeat. Somehow I just couldn't keep motivated for extended periods of time.
We watched this video several times as we started thinking about our journey. I really, really appreciate how real you were. I knew this part was going to be hard, but you were so right. What's hard is the memories associated with something. It's not the "thing" itself. Right now I'm struggling with all my old bibles. I have them from every major moment in my lift and have received many from family that are no longer with me. Not sure I will be able to let them go.
It gets so much easier the further you get into the process! It was hard for me at first, but now I enjoy going through our house and donating often! It’s so freeing to do this!
It really is a constant process - if you have a house this needs to be done often unless there’s a rule of thumb for something coming in and something going out :)
You explained this very well. I have read the book and have done a partial clearout, folded the Konmari way. But for anyone who has never read the book, it is a fabulous description - and you certainly did well!!
This is the first video of yours that I watched, I subbed after watching some of your renovation videos and since then I have watched your whole renovation series. The quality of your videos is great, I cannot wait to see more videos from your travels through 48 states. Take care, all my best from Germany!
Lol, "We are hoarders." Almost a year ago my aging parents (I know everyone ages. Mom and dad are in their 80s) and I downsized 2 houses and one business and loaded 1-10 ft. truck. That's what we kept. It was tough, but we're happy and.....we started 5 years ago. Kudos to you! We were slackers. Mind-shift is right! Didn't do Marie Kondo as I didn't know about it. We did the, 'We've got useless $h!* method.
I love this video! One day I pulled into the driveway, hit the garage door (on our double car garage) and found out that I could not even get through the garage and into the house. I watched a program where the person said put everything into boxes and put ONLY a date on it. If you hadn't opened the boxes in 6 months then DON'T open it just take it to a donation center. I didn't wait 6 months. By the next weekend I started loading boxes with within 2 weekends I was able to get both cars back into the garage. But I also had another motivator and that was when I traveled overseas and saw just how people lived with so little in their lives. Furthermore, when I watched people FLEEING their homes because of war they could only take what they could carry and if you are a hoarder (like my mom) this can be a horrible punishment. But I asked my mom how many semi-trucks would have to come to take her and all of her stuff to heaven. It was just a drop in the bucket of a statement but it is starting to make an impact in her life. She at least stopped bring more McDonalds plastic toy crap home.
Love this video, short, simple, fun, informative ... It's one of the best decluttering videos I've seen "and I've seen A LOT" ... wish me luck in my decluttering journey ...
Thank you, Sarah. Our channel is all about honesty and showing the REAL ups and downs. It's not always rainbows and butterflies out there but it sure is an amazing journey. Thanks for following along! -Michael + Jenny
OMG I loved this video. After my Dad died in 2014 I really let a lot of items go just like I did when my Mom died. I see that I have room to re-access what remains and reduce. This was a great video, well planned, easy to watch and VERY informative. I think this was meant to be for me. Keep up the great work guys 😀
You two are so cute. You're inspiring me! I've been watching YT for packing for the van build in AZ next month, and started downsizing, too, this afternoon. YT can read your mind. Your RV tour came up, I watched it again, and then went to your page, and here this is. lol I live in a tiny house on wheels, and keep getting overwhelmed with the things I couldn't get rid of when I moved because I was in a car accident four months before my house was finished, and everything had to go into storage, and not packed by me. I wasn't ready. So, I get stuff from storage, bring it to my house, and go through it, because the pile of boxes is impossible to get my head around all at once. I wish that book had been published sooner! The money I've wasted on storage, although, I must admit, I haven't been paying rent for 3 years in my tiny, so how can I complain about renting space? I would have been paying sooooo much more for a mortage or rental home. I finally can lift boxes, and finish moving completely into my home after 4 years. It was great to be so minimal for 3 years. I couldn't let the boxes go without going through them first after losing my daughter. I hope to see you on the road somewhere. I'm heading to the sw in my tiny teardrop (the tiny house had a baby) for the winter. Time for a change; I've recovered my health! Happy trails!
Great job guys! I've been watching various Konmari cleaning videos..I'm going through the Konmari process too and on day four now, almost done! I could not believe the amount of stuff in my apartment. Yours is the first video I watched that showed the emotional side! Thanks so much for including that, since I do feel like it is an emotional clearing as well as a physical one, since you are asking if it sparks joy and choosing to clear out so much even some with emotional attachments..... Just something I appreciated! Thanks.
omg the quiet "we are hoarders" comment killed me HAHAHAA. also, thank you SO much for posting this vid. i'm not moving into an RV but i need to really downsize and similarly to you guys i have a LOT of stuff. finding vids on ppl going thru the actually process can be hard sometimes, but seeing the process really helps to inspire. thank you thank you! (i'd love to go the RV route but as an artist, i can't make it seem a practical option due to all the supplies and product.)
Thanks so much for sharing! You both are so inspirational. I keep staring at my closet and now I plan on doing some downsizing. I wish I could have been so enlightened when I was your age. lol I'm a late bloomer. Have a great weekend.
That was mind blowing crazy timing I literally just finished doing the same thing this morning had lunch set down to watch a video and this is what I saw. Good job us! PS did you keep the book?
It's a hard thing to downsize.....you did an amazing job. I'm a bit of a hoarder and there is no way at this time of my life I would be as successful as you were. Even when we lived in our RV 23ft. class C motorhome we had our stuff in storage. Congrats !
Donate the wedding dress. After seventeen years of marriage, I donated my wedding dress to the prop Dept of my old high school. There are probably other places to donate it to, but this is what worked for me. Take care
I saw you on Doug and Stacie's Homestead. You two are wonderful speakers 🔊 at putting your thoughts into words. Thank you for sharing your experience at downsizing! I did it several times years ago when I was kid with my family and and again when husband Jerry bought a school bus when the kids were 4 and one 20 months. Now I live in a 3000sq ft. Home and I feel like it's time for a change. Thank you for sharing your video
Love this video this is the first video of yours I have seen, the fly lady's system is brilliant as well foe decluttering and she asks does it make you happy and bring you joy, some items you can photograph before you bestow them to a new home that way you can see the memory but not have the physical item xx
I tried this method of taking a picture of something thats hard to let go of, but when i see the pictures its just a reminder that i no longer have that object in my life which causes me painful nostalgia, so i stopped doing that. Now, just a week ago i had to make an emergency move to another state due to a family members health. Quickly going thru my things, i realized i could part with most of it with no regrets, until i came across box after box after box of photographs! As i did a quick look thru them i realized there was just NO WAY all that would fit on a short bed pickup truck, but even though most of the pics brought me joy, it was impossible to keep them no matter how sacred they are to me. I called a daughter who came to pick out the ones she wanted but i was still left with a massive amount. If i had time to deal with them it would have been easier to digitize them all, however due to lack of time & space i had to make the gut wrenching decision to leave them behind. A lifetime of photos & memories of my loved ones. Sometimes we have to make some really horribly hard decisions. No matter how much 'joy' something sparks, due to unforseen circumstances, if it takes up too much space we simply have to let go. . . as an older lady giving a word of advice, enjoy your moments, put down the cameras & just enjoy your kodak-moments, loading yourself up with cartons & albums of photos will only cause grief down the road.
Brianna V.B. yes I agree whenever I went anywhere I was always looking for that perfect "Kodac Moment" that I forgot to just enjoy the moment I was in. Sometimes I even forgot who I was with. I found myself looking in the background more than the foreground of a photo.
Nanci E. .... After reading my comment & yours what stands out to me isnt so much of 'does this spark joy' or 'do i love this' ... because everything in my life is a blessing that i appreciate & brings me much joy, but rather now when buying something or purging my things i think the real question for me from now on is 'is there space for this in my life?'
I love when you're getting to "hardest category" and I'm thinking you're about to say "tools" arrrrrg. I'm dealing with this right now, years and years of homesteader mentality where I use EVERYTHING eventually. I'm struggling because of function, there are so many functional things in my life even if they don't bring me joy. Trying to fit a 40 foot freight container of tools into my RV isn't an option but I have no clue what I'll need and when for building and repairing things.
I am: recently widowed, ADD, BipolarDisorder with Depression, house foreclosure, teacher, with the rest of the month left to move. In the past week, my dad was tushed critical condition in hospital out of t8wn, then 4 dsys later, my bff's son was seriously wounded and almost died! The next day, as I oeft to try to convince my dad to move into a rehab center, my power was cut off! I'm back on the grid and my lived ones pulled through! My family wants to do room by room. I'm going to do categories. Starting with clothes.The only items, I have ever been successful at organizing are my makeup and nail polish collections. I've gotten much better with my clothes. I can't afford the book and was looking forward to a great video about it. If the apartment couod be ready fir me to move into on time, my life would be peachy keen!! Thank you!! My next goal is to turn a vehicle INTO an RVand travel!!
Thank you for sharing how damn emotional it can be!! I am currently downsizing and I am almost 50.. THANK YOU.... and BTW i like your name a rainbow on my plate! very cool!
.......excellent.........all of my stuff is filed/catagorized into black, softside, luggage, totes, attache' ...........ie........my paperwork/office is filed in a black, softside, large laptop bag.......when i want to finetune/update downsizing, i just pull the appropriate bag and go thru that catagory again.........have regularly repeated this process over time.......every several months........am skilled @ interior design.........goal: create a beautiful complete living space in a van.........am wonderfully minimal now.........YAY!!!!!
Great video ! I have read (twice!) Marie Kondo's book and what really gets me is the clothes. Because I live far from "home" (as in, litteraly the other side of the world), clothes were really the only thing I brought with me 3 years ago and they've become sentimental items. I haven't been able to get rid of them so far. I'll keep working at it until I can let go. Thankfully, I've tackled the rest.
+Camille Hi Camille. Thank you for reaching out. Just keep in mind the only purpose of this process is to surround yourself with things that make you happy 😊.
Thank you for posting this. We're at the other end of the spectrum, retiring, but doing the same thing right now. We're selling our house and moving into our 336 sq. ft. camp to be mortgage free and start living everyday. But first . . . the STUFF. OMG. The stuff to go through.
I am totally pro-downsizing and pro-decluttering but do disagree with the "spark joy" theory. one needs certain things that don't spark joy... unfortunately. the dirty working clothes/painting equipment for the house, the boots for the garden, the tools for the car. so THE QUESTION has to be "do i love it / IS IT USEFUL TO ME" . the "re-buy-when-you-need-it" attitude is disastrous for our environment.
We definitely didn't go into all of the details of the book. We just picked our favorite things out of a specific category that doesn't spark joy but is necessary. We also donate so that others can enjoy what no longer brings us joy. Lastly, we almost always buy used. Much of what we own is pre owned.
anna alm i know what you mean. i am a student and can't afford many things like good gym clothes. so i use many old tshirts. They don't spark anything near joy but i need them so i keep them
Wow....you did such a good job on Downsizing and the video.I am Downsizing right now, too. I want to move together with my girlfriend. We both have a houshold and the new place is small and already furnitured.On top of that I like to hoard and had to go to a lot of losses in my life so the stuff seems to be all that is left from precious moments....But I will and can do it.And am looking Forward to.Vids like yours inspire and help me.I wish you all the best for your life.
+Karla Vlasta Thank you, Karla! You are so sweet. We completely understand the attachment. It's a very strange thing isn't it? We believe in you and know you will be able to surround yourself with everything that brings you joy. Happy downsizing and take care. -Michael + Jenny
UGH! My hubby's office is such a mess! It's full of books & papers! He loves books! Travel books, hiking books, finance books, Books of maps, about states, colleges...I don't have a clue! All this week he has been looking for the title to his car. Can't find it anywhere! We have several room that need to be downsized! Thanks for the tip of this book. Will hunt it down!
You guys did a great job. You had a lot of stuff. I began decluttering almost 3 weeks ago, but we have less stuff then you. Love your honesty& pictures in the process 🙂
LOL @ "cue the cow". You guys have a really neat little channel here. I am moving my family of 5 into a camper and want to downsize and fix up the camper into a home, so you really have a lot of useful information for my particular situation. I appreciate it.
Very comprehensive & well done. Thank you...very helpful. I'm so nervous to go through & get rid of sentimental items. I know I'll have a breakdown too. (& you two are adorable)
+Angela Bell thank you, Angela! We are so happy this video is helpful. It was very hard but we are so happy we did it. Happy downsizing! 🙂 -Michael + Jenny
Whenever I go through my stuff, I tend to feel very guilty because I feel bad I bought so much and don't use it, that I wasted money and space. That's a hurdle to get over.
I'm going to make my husband watch this. I have another thought on how to do this process...I would think that you could move everything that is important and necessary first into the RV then get rid of what is left. Would that work? (and I got a little verklempt when you started crying about the mirror that your sister gave you)
I haven't read the book but heard of the general concept. Unfortunately I'm someone who gets totally attached to things - still I managed to throw out lots of stuff. Seeing you go through the process makes it easier and your tips also help a lot ;)
I had to live in an RV for a while... and normally that's a challenge but we had four kids so it was really a challenge. this is what I suggest if you're ever faced with the situation , whether it be an RV or a very small apartment , or what have you. shop your house . don't go through everything and try to pick out what you like... go through everything and figure out what you have to have. Desert island... I cannot function without this. once you get to that point you can see if you have some extra room... but most likely you will be to the point wherever you need to get rid of everything else. Make sure that you do not make the common mistake of re-stuffing your new space ...you will be miserable... the smaller the space the more open it needs to be. Do not store items in boxes "until you find a place to put them". If you don't have a place to put them, you don't have room for them . ditto with off-site storage whether that's in your yard or at a storage facility.. if you don't have to have it on a daily basis you don't need it. for those few times that you do need it , you can probably rent it or borrow it.
You are better than I am. You are both so brave. I don't know if I could do it :(. I am glad you are happy with your choices. EVERYBODY should subscribe to your channel. You are so practical and real!
Great video! I haven't heard of this method before and find it hard to get rid off stuff. Found the book at the library and will have a go. Thanks for the tip!!
Absolutely. The book is amazingly well written. It like $10 on Amazon and is so worth it. We even kept it after downsizing if that says anything haha :-D. Best of luck with your downsizing! -Michael + Jenny
A friend told me an easy way to down size. He was renting a room in a house and it got flooded. He put as much of his prized possessions as he could on his bed. This was before the digital age. Music was his love. Records in particular. He was able to save most of them. And his Clarinet. Everything else fell by the waste side. One day he came to visit me and I have a lot of stuff. He told me this. "I try to only have enough personal stuff that will fit on my bed." Everyday he thanks God for the digital age. He'll never have to be without his music. Everything else he learned to live without. As for me my beds got bigger. And I'm still living out of boxes. "Easier to move" in an emergency !!
I would definitely FORCE my mom to watch this video. I am battling with a mountain of dinnerware and kitchen items that I have never seen being used for 30 years! I will ready boxes of tissue and a make shift room for all donations.
Great video and helpful in better understanding the konmari method Best part was seeing a young man involved also and not leaving everything up to the female of the species If you can work together in this situation i can see that you will definitely make it through life together. Have a happy life!
This is a great video. My wife and i are going to follow this method. we have been in our house for several decades so it will take time but now we have a system. We also want to go full time and did not know where to start.
I actually got teary with you guys because I guess in the back of my mind, I know I'm going to have a tough time with my sentimental stuff as well once I start three process next week.
