5 Simple Tidying Tips From Noted Expert Marie Kondo
We get it, life gets busy and you don’t have time to clean and declutter the way you’d like to or need to – especially when you’re thinking about selling your home.
Do you have a corner of your home (or two…) that’s a catch-all for bills, receipts and whatever else that you’re planning to deal with “later”? Marie Kondo, author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is the genius creator of the KonMari method of tidying up. Her methods are a simple, effective, and sure-fire way to help you create the space you’ve always longed for whether you’re about to move or are just moving in.
Want to live in a clutter-free home? Follow these five simple Marie Kondo tips:
- Tidy up all in one shot
- Figure out if your stuff is serving a purpose
- Tidy up by category, not by room location
- Everything must have a designated place
- Simplify storage
1. One Shot Deal
Set your mind on the task of decluttering your home and work away at it consistently, tidying up everything all at once. If you only dabble away at it here and there, clutter will just move around the house without actually being purged or put away. Once you start, keep a clear focus on your final destination, the final prize of having a clutter-free home. Having precise guidelines for how you want your home to look will help you to decide what stays and what goes.
2. Serving a Purpose
The key to Kondo’s truly life-changing method is to first determine which items are necessities and which are not. To avoid becoming a casualty to the show Hoarders, ask yourself what you really need in your life. For each item, if it is serving a purpose or makes you happy (Kondospeak: “sparks joy”) hold onto it. If there is really no need for it or if it holds no sentimental value, then why keep it? Just let it go. According to Kondo’s logic “Once you learn to choose your belongings properly, you will be left only with the amount that fits perfectly in the space you currently own.”
3. Category vs. Location
The process of tidying should be done in categories, not by the rooms of your home. Focus on sorting through one category or group at a time to avoid becoming scatter-brained in a sea of mess. For example, clothing could be scattered throughout the house in closets, dresser drawers or a hallway coat closet. The same goes for kitchen utensils and appliances in drawers, cupboards or in countertop jars. Gather all items together first. Being able to see how many of something you actually have will help to determine the most important ones to keep. One value to Kondo’s expert tidying method is to sort and organize in the following order: clothing, books, papers, and then Komono (a.k.a miscellaneous items). You will also find that sorting closets and drawers first will free up space to organize and put away some of those miscellaneous items you will get to later.
4. Everything Must Have a Designated Place
The fundamental way to avoiding a cluttered heap on the bedroom floor or the kitchen counter is to ensure that every item you own in your home has a designated space for storage. This doesn’t simply apply to clothes which go in the closet or the cosmetics which go in the vanity under the sink. This applies to everything! Do you have a spot to file bills and mail? How about a spot for buttons, sewing kit, batteries, and lightbulbs? As Kondo states in the intro to her book, once you have a designated spot for everything, “keeping your space tidy becomes second nature.” You automatically know where to put something if you know it has a place it belongs.
5. Simplify Storage
Kondo suggests that the best way to stay organized is to, “pursue ultimate simplicity in storage.” Adding shelving to a closet can help to organize items that would otherwise end up in a heap or in a box on the floor. Properly organizing items in a drawer or cupboard using dividers and boxes can help with categorization. Avoid buying “storage solutions” as they are often a band-aid to the issue. Throwing things in a plastic tub for “safe-keeping” only puts them out of sight and out of mind which also increases the likelihood of over-buying and over-accumulating. Buying ottomans with built-in storage can sometimes come in handy for throws and pillows to change up through the seasons, but don’t fall into the trap of using them for “I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-this-so-let’s-throw-it-in-here storage.”
Once you have grasped all of Marie Kondo’s recommended methods, you will be ready to begin your de-cluttering process. Set a goal, create a plan, and stick to it! Letting go of things you no longer need and creating space in your home is a gratifying and freeing feeling. And remember that saying goodbye to “stuff” could mean you are giving it new life with someone who can make use of it.
Wondering why your house looks like a tornado whirled through just days after you’ve tidied up? Are you looking to make effective use of your storage space? Have you ever forgotten about some of the clothes you have because they’re buried deep in a drawer? If you’ve answered “yes” to any of the above questions, stay tuned for helpful tips and my results from tackling some of Marie Kondo’s prize-winning suggestions!
Thinking of selling your home?
You can cancel your buyer or seller contract with 24 hours’ notice at no cost to you.
