There's no better time to declutter and organize homes than a new year, and the Marie Kondo method can help you do just that. As a cultural phenomenon in recent years, this has rapidly gained popularity and popularity. The Japanese woman published her book after coming up with the revolutionary idea of organizing by categories. The minimalist approach inspires people who wouldn't normally reduce their possessions to throw away excess items. In addition, the technology focuses specifically on the so-called KonMari method to radically clear out living or office spaces. Here are some of the most important principles of the approach that you too can use to better organize your apartment or house.
Follow tips & tricks for tidying up using the Marie Kondo method
At first glance, the principle seems quite rigid and may not be for everyone. It can also take several months for the cleanup to be fully completed. However, instead of true minimalism, Marie Kondo's philosophy advocates owning things that you really need and enjoy. To do this, the expert has summarized some of the most important rules and organizational steps to help people decide whether the approach is right for them. Despite the “cleaning up” in the book title, it’s not just about your manyOrganize possessions neatly. Instead, the author focuses on getting rid of things. Kondo's theory is that the more you can get rid of, the easier it will be to clean up and stay organized.
Additionally, the Marie Kondo method explains how to physically declutter your home. So the trick is to get into a new mindset about clutter and organization. The Japanese woman encourages her readers to tidy up consistently and get rid of unnecessary items, rather than doing a major cleaning or decluttering every now and then. She emphasizes decluttering everything in your home at once rather than in small steps. Kondo says decluttering your entire space in one fell swoop means you're less likely to go back to your old, cluttered habits. Consider the initial tidying up as a “special event,” not as part of your normal household chores. This may initially take several weeks or months, but will be easier to organize in the future once completed.
The basic rules of the KonMari approach
So the approach inspired by minimalism is to approach decluttering things category by category rather than room by room. There are six basic rules to get started:
- Commit to cleaning up.
- Imagine your ideal lifestyle.
- Stop discarding first. Before getting rid of items, sincerely thank each item for serving its purpose.
- Sort by category, not location.
- Follow the correct order.
- Ask yourself whether an object brings you joy.
There are also five categories that need to be mastered:
- Dresses
- Books
- Papers
- Komono (aka miscellaneous items)
- Sentimental Article
Work through categories, not space
Contrary to what most people would think, Kondo advises working through your home in category order rather than tackling an entire room. While it may seem more sensible to sort by living space and look for separate storage options, for example, she points out that it's difficult to really achieve much this way.
“If we spread the storage of a particular item throughout the house and tidy up one place at a time, we can never grasp the total volume and therefore can never finish,” says Kondo. 'To escape this negative spiral, we should sort properly by category and not by location.'
For example, if you decide to sort your towels that are in laundry rooms, bathrooms, etc., you will have a better understanding of what you are actually cleaning up. This allows you to sort and organize more efficiently. Additionally, Marie Kondo believes that clothing should come first as it should have fewer emotional attachments compared to other categories such as books and paper.
Also read:Decluttering your closet: What makes reverse decluttering such an effective method
Learn to fold clothes vertically according to KonMari
The Marie Kondo method offers very specific guidelines for folding clothes properly. It's actually the way you store clothes that can make a difference. Simply leaving clothes in a pile makes them hard to reach and even harder to see. Instead, stand them upright to stay true to the idea of appreciating objects through touch and use. So unless it's a hanging item in the closet, it needs to be folded in a specific way that Kondo describes in the video above. Thanks to this special folding technique, any clothing takes up little space and is still easily accessible. Here's another helpful video that shows you how to fold thicker sweaters and other outerwear using this principle.
So, according to Kondo, you can save a lot of space when storing your clothes, bathing suits orFold towelsand arrange them vertically, and it actually makes it a lot easier to find what you're looking for. It's not the fastest method, but it's tried and tested in the world of KonMari.
“The act of folding is much more than storing clothes compactly,” says Kondo. “It is an act of caring, an expression of love and appreciation for how these clothes support your lifestyle.”
Once you've carefully folded your clothes, Kondo advises using boxes or drawer dividers to keep things in place. This means you will actually need less than you think. As the Asian woman points out, by folding your clothes neatly, you can solve almost any storage-related problem.
Tidying up according to the Marie Kondo method in a personal way
According to the Japanese expert, tidying up is a personal process. Therefore, you should do it yourself because only you know if you actually need and look forward to an item. Avoid external influences that might influence your opinion in one way or another. Likewise, you should not throw away the possessions of other people living in your home without their permission.
The real reason for this is that loved ones, especially family members, may be concerned about how much is being thrown away or try to blame you for keeping something you've moved away from. This is a very simple tip, but it can actually be very effective. The only exception? Photos. Gather as many family members together when sorting photos, and you'll not only tidy up and organize things, but also have a wonderful time doing it.
Letting go of the past when cleaning up
The Marie Kondo method advocates getting rid of almost all papers, including photos and books, and keeping the smallest possible collection of items that are truly important to you. This may sound like an extreme solution, but ultimately you may find that these unused items were doing nothing but taking up space and collecting dust.
“Throwing away what you no longer need is neither wasteful nor shameful,” says Kondo. “Let it go with gratitude. Not only you, but your things too will feel clear and refreshed after tidying up.”
You shouldn't feel bad about tidying up your space and moving away from your belongings. Because "to truly appreciate the things that matter to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose," says Kondo. “The space we live in should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.”
Imagine how much nicer it would be to live in a home filled only with objects that “spark joy” instead of pieces that no longer reflect who you are.
Store similar items together using the Marie Kondo method
Kondo also favors “ultimate simplicity” in storage. A key principle here is to keep similar items together rather than storing them in different places throughout your home. For example, store coats in just one closet instead of hanging them in different closets and hooks. Also, try to keep similar items together even within the same room, for example by dedicating a single cupboard in your kitchen to drinking glasses.
“Putting things away creates the illusion that the problem of clutter has been solved,” says Kondo. “But sooner or later all the storage rooms are full, the space overflows again and a new and “simple” storage method becomes necessary, which creates a negative spiral. We must exercise self-control and resist keeping our things until we are done figuring out what we really want and need to keep.”
When it comes to storage methods to use, the Guru has teamed up with The Container Store to create a brand new line of their own products to help you organize your home. The collectionaccording to the KonMari methodologyincludes more than 100 products to help declutter kitchens, offices, closets and bedrooms. She believes that decluttering can change more than just the organizational aspect of your life. The discarded items should be “started” on a “new journey” with a farewell ceremony, and you should “conduct a dialogue with your home as you clean up” – whatever that means to you. The more involved you are with the process, the more likely it is to get stuck.
