Get Organized - A Life Changing Way To Do It

Today’s post is about tidying up your things and organizing your clutter.  I did it the Marie Kondo way - also called the KonMari method.  The New York Times Best Seller, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” really did change my life.  I read the book last year, blocked out a weekend to get started and treated it like a major event, and followed her steps completely.  A year later, I’m proud to say, I’m still using her method and it has become a lifestyle change that stuck.

I read in her book that if you stick to this method, you’ll only need to really tidy up about once a year and it won’t take long at all.  This past weekend was my annual tidy up of the house and it took me less than 2 hours!  I felt so accomplished.

I’m not going to recap her whole book.  I’m just going to give you the basic steps but highly recommend you read it to learn about her whole concept.  Her book is short and a fabulous investment at $9.99!  Now, I will say, her method is pretty aggressive.  For those of you not really ready to tackle organizing your whole house at once or don’t feel you need it, I’ll give you a different organizing tip that is also awesome.  You can do it right now in just minutes.  So let’s start with that, for some instant gratification.  Then keep reading if you want to organize in a bigger way.

Here's a fabulous tip to unclutter your email inbox in a flash!  (This tip is not related to Marie Kondo at all.)  I love to shop online (understatement of the century) and this means that every online shop I’ve ever ordered from sends me emails constantly, plus anything I’ve subscribed to in stores, etc.  Basically, I was getting hundreds of emails a week.  I knew I needed to clean up all that junk but I didn’t want to go through the daunting task of opening every email and clicking “unsubscribe.”  Then I heard about the app called Unroll.Me.  (Hallelujah!  And the clouds parted and the angels sang.)

It is so simple.  Download the Unroll.Me app, enter your email address, and the app finds all the email subscriptions in your inbox.  Then, 3 types of swipes and you’re on your way to decluttering your inbox:

Swipe left to unsubscribe from the mail subscriptions you don’t want

Swipe right to keep that email coming to your inbox

Swipe up to consolidate the emails you want into a daily digest or Rollup

Guys!  Look what that did for me:

155 emails unsubscribed.  I love looking at my email inbox now.  So much more manageable!  Clapping hands emoji for the Unroll.Me app!

I’ll pause here while you all go try it out.  You’re welcome.

Now, if that got you feeling all motivated to organize even more, here are the steps to decluttering from when I did it last year using the KonMari method.

First, start with clothes. Take every piece of clothing you own (from all over the house) into one space.  Marie Kondo says if you tidy up in one shot, rather than little by little, you can dramatically change your mindset.  If you tidy a little a day, you'll be tidying forever.  So I literally went through everything:  Tops, bottoms, things that have to be hung, socks, underwear, handbags, accessories, seasonal/specific wear.

Go through every single item - in the right order.  Literally hold each item and decide to keep only those which "spark joy."  That's her main principle.  Keep it if it sparks joy.  Discard all items that don't. This was my keep pile, about a third of the amount I owned.

Tip:  Choose what you want to keep, not what you want to get rid of.

Discard all those items which don't spark joy.

I donated twelve 45-gallon bags to spark joy for someone else. 

I threw away three 45-gallon bags.

My closet was completely empty and ready to refill.  I stuck to the rule of not putting things back until I finished the discarding process.

Return clothes using the KonMari method by category:

coats, jackets, dresses, skirts, pants, sweaters, tops.

Each category is color coded like a gradient. Dark to light. And also long on left to short on right. Everything should ascend and get lighter to the right.

Color coded, lighter on the right. Hang all things that seem happier when hung (versus folded).

Next step to making space is to learn to fold using the KonMari method. Fold everything in thirds so they stand up on their own.  File vertically so you can see everything without rummaging.  My sock drawer used to be a jumbled mess of socks everywhere.  Now I can see every single pair.

Color code in drawers too.  Remember to file rather than stack so you can see everything.

Check out Marie Kondo on Ellen in this funny video, which teaches you how to fold her way:

Those are the basics.  Now for some 'before and after' photos for you.

Same corner of my walk-in closet before (left) and after (right).

I didn't even have room for all my stuff before (top).  Look how much cleaner after (bottom)!

Another before and after of a different closet.  I had my clothes in 3 closets in my house.  Why???!  After KonMari, I consolidated down to just my 1 walk-in closet.  So this second closet got repurposed for storing bedding.

Second closet - before

Second closet - after

I organized the entire house and by putting everything in one place to sort through it all, it helps you find like items and consolidate them into one location.  For example, I found over 50 gift bags all over the house!  Here I was the girl always late to a party because I had to stop and get a gift bag first, because of course I thought I had none at home.  What?  I had 50 strewn about.  Tsk!  Tsk! 

My nicely organized stock of gift bags now.

Beyond decluttering, here are other benefits I received from the KonMari method:

Getting ready in the morning is so much faster and easier.

I only shop for things I need because I know exactly what I still have.

Cleaning is much easier.

Putting away laundry takes less time.

I made more space in the house overall - no more clutter.

Here's my best testament to making more space. Before KonMari, I had one room that I never got around to turning into my office so it remained an empty room which just accumulated junk.  After organizing the house with the KonMari method, I basically got a whole new room from it.  All the junk was discarded and I turned it into a Reading Room which I love and use all the time. 

The gift KonMari gave me - a new sanctuary!

Mochi & Kenzo love relaxing in our new space too.

Obviously!

This was honestly such a game changer for me, I am happy to share it.  The KonMari method is my favorite organizing method and her book was one of my favorite reads.  Hope it gets to "Spark Joy" for you too!