Tidying Up in the New Year

Today, we have a special post from our interior designer, Brenna! She’s sharing what she’s been up to since the new year:

I spent the last couple days around my house tidying up thanks to Marie and her new Netflix series, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. If you haven’t heard of it, you’re probably still stuck in 2018. Just kidding!

A couple of years ago, she became a household name due to her wildly successful book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.

“We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of,” Marie Kondo shares in the book.

I’ll briefly share her tips with you here, but once you watch one episode, you’ll be itching to start your own tidying up journey!

Here are 8 steps to give you an overview of her practices:

1. COMMIT YOURSELF to tidying up all at once, this is not a daily chore
2. IMAGINE your ideal lifestyle to prevent relapse
3. DISCARD BY CATEGORY, not by room
4. GATHER EVERYTHING to see how much of that category you really have
5. HOLD EACH ITEM and ask yourself “does this spark joy?”
6. FINISH DISCARDING before moving on. Neat does not equal declutter
7. GO IN ORDER – clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous, sentimental
8. GIVE THANKS to your belongings for what they provide to you

If you don’t have Netflix you can check out her website for tips https://konmari.com/.

I’ve always had a hard time organizing and keeping things neat, but with this new mindset I feel like my home can now become what I’ve always envisioned for it! This has created a peace within me that I’m excited to share with others.

For me, Marie’s most useful tip was her method for storing clothes. Folding clothes and standing them upright is GENIUS versus stacking them. You can find printable illustrations here to help get the kids involved and to use as a reminder for yourself: Folding Guide

I think Kondo’s method of tidying rings true to one of my favorite quotes from William Morris, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

It’s the perfect time to start a new year off with a clutter free home!

Have you read Kondos book or watched her new Netflix series? We would love to hear what tips you found to be helpful.