If Marie Kondo hasn’t become a household name for you over the last few months, then where have you been?
Marie Kondo is, for lack of a better phrase, a professional tidier. She has written two books: “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” – hence the title of this blog post! – and “Spark Joy”. I first heard of her through her Netflix show, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”, in which she visits different families in America who are in need of her tidying skills.
Honestly, the show itself may not be for everyone, but it definitely gave me the inspiration I needed to do a full bedroom clear-out. There’s no way of saying this without sounding like a grandma, but tidying and clearing out my room was SO therapeutic!
Marie Kondo uses what she calls the ‘KonMari’ method to re-organise a house, which involves five categories: clothes, books, papers, komono, and sentimental items. Since I was just clearing out my bedroom, not all of these steps applied to me, but I definitely used her method when needed!
Clothes
In her Netflix show, she always starts by telling the person to put absolutely all of the clothes they own into one huge pile. This step is supposed to give you perspective on how much you own - it can be kind of shocking to see each of your past ASOS orders all together!
Marie Kondo’s famous catchphrase is, “does it spark joy?”, which is what you should ask yourself about each item you are sorting through. The KonMari method focuses on what you want to keep, rather than what you want to get rid of, which makes a lot more sense!
My personal favourite tip from Marie Kondo is her clothes-folding technique. Her method of tidying almost always involves being able to see all the items in the drawer / box / cupboard as soon as you open it. Who hasn’t been guilty of wearing the same five tops just because they’re at the top of the pile?
Being the lifesaver that she is, Marie Kondo also has a series of YouTube videos in which she demonstrates her folding methods (now if that doesn’t sound like a riveting watch, I don’t know what does) and they will change your life! Or at least your drawers.
Books
Perhaps the most controversial of her categories! Marie Kondo has been criticised for her suggestion of getting rid of books you no longer need, but whilst her advice to get rid of a part of your book collection may spark the opposite of joy in some people, she never said to throw them in the bin!
Papers
Be honest with yourself at this point. Somewhere within your house, you have piles of letters you have deemed as ‘potentially being important in the future’, a collection of manuals for devices you don’t even own anymore, and schoolwork from ten years ago which you have not looked at since. Do yourself a favour and get rid of them!
Whilst you should definitely take the time to look at each document before it goes in your bin bag (accidentally throwing away your birth certificate might not be the outcome you were hoping for), this step should be a piece of cake (which you should definitely reward yourself with at this stage!)
Komono
In all honesty, this category mystifies me a bit. It means ‘miscellaneous’, and basically involves … everything else. I’m not sure I would have categorised my tidying in the same way, as ‘papers’ and ‘entire rest of house’ don’t exactly seem like equivalent categories to me. But, then again, who am I to question the tidying genius?
So, if you’re feeling exhausted after having sorted through never-ending piles of old documents, now is not the time for a break! It’s time to tackle the entire rest of your house.
Sentimental
This is the stage of my room organising saga where I found myself sat on the floor, reading my school yearbook and playing on my old Pixel Chix (Google this for a throwback!).
This category, however, is not necessarily a place to be absolutely ruthless and discard everything. If all of your sentimental items mean enough to you to keep, then Marie will approve! You just have to organise them neatly!
Congratulations, you’ve made it through! When I finished sorting out my bedroom, I honestly felt like a whole new person. Suddenly, I felt like the kind of girl who attends a weekly yoga class, diffuses essential oils, and drinks green smoothies. That feeling didn’t last long, but the tidiness of my room did!
Now that you’ve tidied your house, why stop there? So many things in your life could do with a spring clean: your Facebook friends list (that girl you met during your family holiday to Spain in 2006? Not necessary), your subscriptions (even though you swore you would cancel it after the free trial was over!), or your camera roll (time to narrow down your twenty five near-identical photos from when you went out for dinner last week).
The possibilities are endless!
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