#Decluttering and #organizing go hand-in-hand, according to organizing expert Marie Kondo. Decluttering by category (clothing, books, papers, komono or miscellany, and sentimental items) allows a person to get an accurate picture of their entire inventory of #stuff, The Creative Cottage says, helping avoid duplication. Once you pare each category down to the essentials and #organize them so you can quickly find anything you need, keeping even a small space such as an apartment or condo #clean will no longer require a lot of effort. Just don’t fall into old habits and buy things that don’t bring you joy — or allow any new possessions you bring in to build up, uncategorized and untidied, over time.
Tag: KonMari
Build a Capsule Wardrobe to Reduce Closet Clutter
One strategy to add to the #KonMari #organizing toolkit is the capsule wardrobe, says Classy Glam Living. The concept is to build a foundational wardrobe for each season out of just a few essential, high-quality items that you love — those that “spark joy” — and build upon it with accent colors and textures. Once you decide which garments make up your capsule wardrobe, can get rid of almost everything else — #streamlining your style, #decluttering your #closets and even making it simpler to get dressed for the day. Bonus: You can always #donate the many #castoffs to ClothingDonations.org.
Marie Kondo for Condos and Small Spaces
Marie Kondo’s bestselling how-to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up can offer advice for dwellers of small spaces such as condominiums and apartments. To KonMari a 215-sq.-ft. apartment, one of The Kissters bloggers discarded everything she didn’t need and #decluttered entire categories (i.e., clothing, books) of stuff instead of areas (i.e., hall closet, dresser drawer). Figure out what still “sparks joy” and thank the rest for their contributions, she says. And finally, learn to look at your home as a sanctuary in order to keep things #neat and #tidy long after the initial #purge and #oganization is done.
Binge-Watch These Shows to Cut the Clutter
If you’re anything like The Organizing Blog staff, you’re probably spending lots of time indoors this month to avoid exposure to the coronavirus and the frigid temperatures. That likely means you’re doing lots of binge-watching of broadcast and subscription TV.
It’s been nearly two years since the pandemic emerged, however, and your surroundings may have gotten a bit #cluttered with all of that at-home time. What if there were a way to binge-watch and learn how to #streamline your space at the same time?
Good news! There are multiple programs that will help put you on a more #minimalist path. Watch them, then get off the couch and practice what they preach to cut the #clutter in your home.
First up is maybe the biggest #decluttering show of all time, Netflix’ Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. Since the show’s premiere in 2019, the organization expert has helped people organize their lives to “spark joy” starting with their sock drawers.
HGTV’s Hot Mess House offers harried homeowners a video one-on-one with organizing expert Cassandra Aarssen to help them figure out their organizing style. They (and viewers) then can take her tailor-made tips to make their homes happy and clutter-free.
Nashville-based organizers Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin offer a glimpse into their celebrity clients’ lives in Get Organized With the Home Edit while offering useful tips for the more quotidian declutterer-to-be, targeting specific stresses and decorating styles.
Finally, no #organization playlist would be complete without A&E’s long-running Hoarders. Offering sobering cautionary tales of what can happen when people allow their #stuff to run amok, the show will have you cleaning out your closets in no time.
Binge-watch a few episodes of the above shows; before you know it, you’ll be inspired to tackle the clutter in your home. And be sure to schedule a #pickup with ClothingDonations.org to #donate any of your lightly used, unwanted #junk to a good cause. Happy #decluttering!
Marie Kon-Don’t #4: Don’t (Necessarily) Get Rid of Books
While the KonMari Method recommends eliminating anything that doesn’t “spark joy” in one’s life, it doesn’t necessarily advocate getting rid of all one’s books, IndieWire says. Marie Kondo limits herself to 30, but tells would-be declutterers to discover what they value in their lives — and if it’s lots of books, so be it. “If the image of having only a few books makes you angry, that should tell you how passionate you are about books,” she says. “That, in itself, is a very important benefit of this process.” On the other hand, “if you’re retaining so many that you’re not reading, you might have to let go of some.”