by Ann Huskey
It is that time of the year, no matter whether you are buying a home, selling a home, or just staying put, de-cluttering/ cleaning your home is likely to be on your to-do list.
We made our New Year’s resolutions. And, for many of us, that means that we want to improve our living space. For some this means selling your home and moving. For others this means ditching your rental and buying a home. Still for others, this is merely the daunting task of simplifying one’s home and worldly goods.
MARIE KONDO is Amazing!
This is where Marie Kondo comes in! The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up is a number one best seller world-wide. The wisdom from Kondo’s book inspired millions to de-clutter their closets and their lifestyle, and is now the basis of a viral Netflix hit called, “Tidying Up” with Marie Kondo.
Illustration by: Amanda Albert find her @supinternets on instagram – More work and prints available at her shop HERE
Her process is simple, systematic, and life changing. Here I will discuss all that I have learned from Marie Kondo. And, you will soon see just how amazing she is. For all those who are looking to buy or sell homes this spring these tips can be especially useful. Just picture how much easier it would be living in a home that looks like it is staged by this organizational guru! Well, that is how buyers will feel when they see your home staged Kondo style; a definite selling point!
Marie’s system can, at its core, be divided into two steps.
- De-clutter – Go through and touch everything that you own. Ask yourself if your belongings sparks joy within you. If no joy is found then you thank it for its service and let it go.
- Organize – Once your home is filled with only your most joy-giving belongings, you then put every item where it is accessible and easy to find/ grab.
Lesson ONE: Tackle Categories, Not Rooms
It may be tempting to organize your home one room at a time. But, Marie Kondo insists that you tidy by category. With the Kondo Method, you pile like items until you are looking at all the items in that category at once. This accomplishes several things. First: it allows you to really grasp the amount of “stuff” that you have in any given category. Second: It forces you to deal with that stuff. Third: it prevents those things from drifting from room to room as they might if you tidied by room rather than category.
Lesson TWO: Respect Your Belongings
An important thing to remember is that you are not deciding what to get rid of. NO, instead, you are deciding what to keep. Marie reminds us that the things that we are letting go of did serve a purpose and should be respected and thanked for their service. The things that we keep should likewise be respected and honored as they bring value and joy into our lives.
Lesson THREE: Fold, Don’t Hang
Clothing is the first thing to be sorted according to Kondo. She believes that it is the thing that most people have the least emotional attachment to. Once sorted and de-cluttered, then one takes on the task organizing the remaining garments. Marie believes that most clothing is happier folded neatly in a dresser. Her methods of folding are amazing and really save space/ help you organize your clothing.
