With her new Netflix series Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, the expert on organizing is inspiring her viewers to do the same and only keep the possessions that “spark joy” for them. If you haven’t gotten on the bandwagon yet, now is the perfect time to start your own KonMari adventure.
Storage Advice
Store seasonal items someplace you can easily see them.
This is especially useful now that Christmas is over and you’re about to pack up all the Christmas decor for another year. Instead of storing these items in cardboard boxes, keep them in clear plastic containers so that you can easily identify them when it’s to take them out again.
When sorting through photos, display them in a photo album instead of keeping them in a box.
Throwing out photos is hard to do. But if you have multiple photos of the same shot, it would be reasonable for you to only keep one. Once you are done sorting through, keep the photos neatly in an album.
Use the “Bag in Bag” Method if you have too many bags.
If you have limited space to keep your bags, Marie suggests putting one bag inside a similar sized bag. You could keep the handles out just so you can easily identify the bag inside it.
Organizing methods
Keep things of the same size together.
As we learn together with the Friends family in episode one, you can sort small items like kitchen utensils according to their size. The KonMari Method believes that every item must have a home, so you can use small boxes to sort everything out.
In the kitchen pantry, organize your food items by category.
Match canned goods with other canned goods and keep coffee and tea drinks together. For items that come in small packets, store these together in a box for quicker access. By doing this, it will also make it easier for you to track how many of a certain item you have in your pantry.
In choosing which books to keep, keep only the books that reflect your life and your thoughts in the present.
Books can be overwhelming to declutter, so Marie encourages that you keep only the books with the information that you need for your life right now and your life moving forward.
Folding Tips
Folding tops
When folding a top, fold it to create a rectangle, as you would with your regular fold, then fold it in half, in thirds, and let it stand. When it comes to clothing, Marie asks her clients to keep only the clothes that spark joy and asks them to thank the ones they are ready to part with.
Folding jeans and trousers
Fold your pants in half twice, and then, fold it in thirds.
Folding fitted linens
Kondo noticed that many people have trouble folding fitted linens because of the garters on each end. Her solution to this is to fold a fitted sheet in thirds then fold it in half. If you have a linen closet, you may fold it in half once more. If you’re working with a deep drawer, fold it in thirds and put it in standing for a neat look. Finally, if you are working with anything smaller, you may roll the sheet.
Tidying Habits
When you’re living with toddlers, set an example for them.
Children love to copy, and when they see their parents tidying up after themselves, they all pick up the habit as well.
Mothers shouldn’t only be the one tidying up.
Everyone in the family should take responsibility for their own belongings. It’s also wise to give everyone an assigned space they must look after.
Deal with sentimental items last.
Because, trust us, you will likely get sidetracked many times while cleaning up. Marie likes to follow a flow when tidying up: (1) clothing, (2) books, (3) paper, (4) Komono (Kitchen, Bathroom, Garage, and Miscellaneous), and (5) sentimental objects last. Since tidying up means you have to let go of many of your possessions, you all have to hone the ability to choose which ones spark joy for you, and which ones donate. Once you have mastered that through all these steps, it was finally time to tackle the most difficult items: the items with memories attached.