Marcia Francois's Blog, page 61

#Konmari before and afters – my bathroom

If you missed Monday’s post, you can catch up here.

Marie Kondo suggests that you start with clothes first (as these are the easiest items; you start with the out-of-season clothes) and do all the sentimental items last.

There’s sense to this because you don’t want to slow down and you want to keep up the momentum.

Once I got the thinking around her method, I decided to start with my bathroom first as it is (quite literally) the smallest bathroom in the world, and always gives me the momentum...

Facing (organising) reality

I got into crafting about 3 – 4 years ago.

I use the word “crafting” very loosely, by the way, but I do love playing around and getting creative.

I also love lists and so I’ve made two lists – “things to make” and “things to make this year with supplies I already have”.

See, there’s a distinction.

One is more pie in the sky and very much on the nice-to-do list whereas the other list is grounded in reality. I already have the supplies at home so all I have to do is take them out and create.

Wh...

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – it’s all over the internets

If you’re even somewhat of a blog reader, you’ll have read about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up somewhere on the internet over the last 6 months or so.

I like to think I have a tiny bit of a clue about decluttering, simplifying and organising so I didn’t get all excited the first time or two I read about it.

But then I saw all the controversy starting and like a bad accident, I couldn’t look away. I confess that I read all 100 comments on one particular blog post to find out what the...

#Konmari – and how I follow my favourite blogs

So I’ve finished the book that has been on everyone’s lips for months now. I’m really pleased about that because I really believe in actually reading something before you spout off whatever your opinion is.

That said, I’m going to do exactly that for a series of blog posts starting on Monday, so get ready

But first, a question I had from Jacqueline on the Organising Queen Facebook page:

How do you follow the blogs you read? Do you do that from Facebook?

The answer is a big NO! I very rarely...

I’m craving white space. How about you?

Friends, I’m craving some more white space in my life.

Maybe that’s why I chose now to finally read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?

It’s a little bit dangerous around here when I get in one of these moods because anything that irritates me gets tossed, but the house feels lighter and so do I afterwards.

It’s so essential to have some white space in our lives. I define white space as room to breathe. Breathing room is something that seems to be lacking in many of our lives and is the r...

The Birthday List

I’ve done a birthday list for the last 5 years. I called them my 36, 37, 38, 39 things list….. and then last year I called it Lovely things to do this year.

My list happened to have 24 things on it. I’ve just done a stock-take and I ended up with 15.2 things done. If you’re wondering how one does 0.2 of something, it’s because I was accurate with the number of new recipes I tried, and with the number of books I read, and those worked out as % as I didn’t fully get to the number I’d intended....

I have big plans for this weekend – Konmari

I’ve nearly finished listening to Marie Kondo’s book and I’m itching to start TOSSING!

I need to re-listen to my bookmarks and make notes before I start blogging, but I already have a few post ideas, like:

things other people seem to have a problem with but not me the reasons why I think the book/ method has been so successful why I think other people are kicking against the method how this ties in with traditional organising advice, and how it goes against it my favourite inights about he...

Why I love having a life list & a freebie for you!

Tomorrow’s my birthday – yay! – and at this time of year, I start getting a little bit reflective and introspective.

I’ve never met a list I didn’t like so aside from goals, I also do a life list.

In fact, I’m extremely passionate about life lists because I love the idea of living life to the full and enriching your experience by tapping into all the little and not-so-little things you’ve always wanted to do.

When I speak about life lists, dreaming big and why I think it’s so important to hav...

Goals night(s) and August goals

Before I start sharing, let me just once again remind you of Beth’s pleasant projects course starting today. I have my own projects for this month (more below) and I certainly hope the process will be pleasant.

I’ve taken two of Beth’s courses personally and I think any of you moderators will love her gentle methods because she aims for sustainability.

July was super hectic because I was away from home for 11 nights, 12 if you count the one night I arrived at 11.30 due to a cancelled flight....

Some reading for the weekend

Last night instead of preparing a post for today’s blog, I decided to have an early Goals Night. So glad I did because… wait for this… I did my goals on the 6 July and I didn’t even stick it up (I still don’t know where that page is!).

So since this was the first time since then that I looked at it, I saw a few extra things I could get done today, and now my goals look better!

Needless to say, August will be better.

I don’t recommend this loosey-goosey way of doing goals!

I’m still running b...