First of all, who is Marie Kondo?
All over social media, I watched as those I followed started to use her name as a hashtag (#mariekondo) or a verb (Just Marie Kondoed my house!)
What was I missing?
It didn’t take long to figure out that she had become a bit of a Netflix sensation with her new series (and book), Tidying Up.
I made a mental note to watch the first episode as soon as I could sneak it in – and as luck would have it, an unexpected snow day happened!
Now, I’m not going to lie, I was a bit skeptical. Who had the time to spark joy and fold like this? Is she crazy? I sat my husband down to watch with me, but he kept leaving the room or making comments like, “Are you really going to thank each item as you get rid of it? Will you really get rid of anything?”
Noted. Husband is not interested in trying this out, so I needed support! I turned to social media – the only way to hold me accountable if I was really going to try this out.
(Screenshot of my Facebook post. A few people thought it was funny – especially because we were supposed to have a house showing as well.)
Overall, friends on both Facebook and Instagram encouraged me to start the process, and some of my friends were messaging me to ask, “Who the heck is Marie Kondo? What are you up to now?”
I watched episode one. I was inspired to start with step one (the clothes), and I realized Marie Kondo was actually using the KonMari method.
Now, I am going to fully admit that not all of our clothes even fit in our house right now, and I didn’t have time to finish but I sure spent a lot of my Monday attempting to spark joy, and I did accomplish a lot.
The next three pictures are the BEFORE of the clothing (just in the master bedroom).
Can you believe we have replaced the closet rod, because we had so many clothes hanging that it broke the rod last year? Also, note that Sears was going out of business, and I picked up an additional rack for the master bedroom. Overwhelming! Too many clothes. Admittedly, I don’t even know what I own at this point. That’s an issue.
My first step was to put all of my clothes on the bed.
I cheated. I only grabbed my clothes in the closet. To start with the closet plus the rack in the background was too daunting, and I had kids to tend to and a house showing!
Here’s the space with my clothes gone. I forgot we even owned some of the things in the closet.
Honestly, this really took a long time. You pick up each item to see if it sparks joy, and if it doesn’t you thank the item and gently place it in something to be given away. Make sure you schedule some time to do this. I decided to fold the items I kept in the new method I watched in episode one.
This is how I folded prior to Marie Kondo:
This is how I folded after Marie Kondo:
It’s hard to tell, but it is much smaller. The folding trick is “in half, in half, in thirds…” for most items.
Look at my drawers before:
Look at my drawers after:
At one point, my husband came upstairs and started joking around about his clothes. Then, he left and I noticed he spread his out in the closet! No way!
I was not having it, so then, I ended up doing his clothes as well! He’s so smart.
Here is what his side of the closet looked like after I finished. Maybe I was avoiding my clothes? Probably.
I chose to hang up my athleisure on my side until I have time to go through the large rack in the corner of the master.
Also, for now, we replaced the closet doors with some amazing curtains from Amazon. I love what they add to the room, and I’m not sure if I’ll go back to doors!
I am happy to add that we donated at least a garbage bag full of clothes.
(Here’s a link to my closet curtains: https://amzn.to/2T79LN9)
If you don’t have a Netflix account, you can purchase Marie Kondo’s book that is currently the #2 best-selling book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2RVgNaH
Marie Kondo also has this great book as well on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Mr4duC
I’ll leave you with some thoughts and a couple of personal video clips.
Our American culture is bombarded by stuff – I challenge you to try any method that helps you declutter – your home and your mind. If Marie Kondo’s method works for you, and you have the patience to try it, I highly recommend it. Personally, I plan to continue. If it’s a different method, it doesn’t matter as long as you take the time to give yourself a space that eliminates the stress of clutter.
This is a process and a large task. Write down goals and take small steps to try this out. Clothes really are a great place to start. It will be worth it.
Is Marie Kondo crazy? No, I actually believe we are crazy if we do not attempt to declutter and simplify our American lifestyle.
Finally, some video clips after my experience.
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Thanks for reading! Happy organizing!
Royale
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Michigan Mama 