The world has been swept up in Kondo fever, leaving many people questioning if items in their home spark joy. For those who aren’t familiar with the queen of tidy, Marie Kondo is a professional organiser from Japan with two New York Times bestsellers and a recently released Netflix series under her belt.
Her addictive series ‘Tidying Up With Marie Kondo’ sees Kondo helping clutter-burdened couples to rid their homes of unnecessary goods and live a simpler life.
Her sweet demeanour and constant proclamations that she ‘loves mess’ inspire even the laziest viewers to declutter.
The KonMari tidying method follows a strict order. First you have to sort clothing, then books, papers, ‘komono’ (miscellaneous) and finally sentimental items.
The premise of the method is holding each item in your home and asking yourself, ‘Does this spark joy?’ If the answer is no, Marie encourages you to thank the item for its service and retire it.
If the KonMari method has you stockpiling garbage bags for your own joy-finding journey, here are ten Marie Kondo approved decluttering tips for your home.
1. Take all your clothes out from your closet and make a huge pile on your bed
This is the first thing Marie encourages couples to do so they can see exactly how many clothes they have accumulated. The shock of seeing a clothes mountain in your bedroom should be enough to summon a decluttering spree. Hold each piece individually and assess if you want to keep it or pass it on to its next home.
2. Use boxes inside your drawers to keep items of similar size together
Familiar with the struggle of searching through every kitchen utensil known to man to find a garlic press in your kitchen drawer? Using organising boxes will be a game changer.
3. Under-bed storage
If you have an old chest of drawers that you’re planning on tossing, remove the drawers and use them as under bed storage.
They can easily be spruced up with a lick of paint and you can even add wheels for easy roll out.
4. Folding clothes into small squares
One of Marie Kondo’s favourite tidying hacks is to fold clothes into small squares so they can be stored vertically.
Not only is this the most compact way to store clothes but it also makes finding clothes a virtually stress-free process.
5. Pillow storage
There’s nothing worse than a late night hunt for a missing pillow case amongst fifty mismatched sheet sets in your linen cupboard.
Store your entire sheet sets inside their pillow cases to keep everything in the one place.
6. Kondo’s step-by-step process
Ensure you follow Marie Kondo’s step-by-step process of clothes-books-papers-komono-sentimental items when tidying up your home.
This way, your decision-making process of what sparks joy has been refined and you can learn to part with difficult sentimental items.
7. Fill up garbage bags
Every time you take the garbage bin out, challenge yourself to fill a bag with items you no longer need and either toss, donate or sell your unwanted goods.
While it may seem daunting to fill a garbage bag, you would be surprised at just how much clutter is lying around or hiding in unused drawers and cupboards.
8. Large storage tubs
Organise the items in your garage in large, clear storage tubs so you can always see what you have.
Marie says one of the biggest issues is buying double ups of items you already have because you can’t find the original item or didn’t even know you had it.
9. Babushka doll method
Channel the babushka doll and place smaller handbags inside larger ones to take up less cupboard space.
Always keep the handles upright so you don’t lose your bags.
10. Tidy by category instead of by room
This is a very logical tip that goes largely overlooked when tidying, with many people sorting by room rather than category.
If you have socks in two or three places around your home, gather them all together and cull your collection while you can see it in its entirety.
