3 Ways To Marie Kondo Your House
Make A Home Organization Goal
The best way to start anything, including how to Marie Kondo your house, you need to start with the end in mind. Have a home goal - an ideal for what you are trying to achieve with organizing and tidying your home.
Some ways to do this might include a mood board on pinterest or a list of adjectives that describe how you want your ideal home. Most of all, some kind of goal or To-Do list is vital in ticking off those tasks to Marie Kondo your house to it's fullest potential.
On the KonMari website, Marie Kondo says that you need to "imagine your ideal lifestyle." She says,
"My tidying process is not about decluttering your house or making it look neat on the spur of the moment for visitors. It’s about tidying up in a way that will spark joy in your life and change it forever.
Think about what kind of house you want to live in and how you want to live in it. In other words, describe your ideal lifestyle. If you like drawing, sketch out what it looks like. If you prefer to write, describe it in a notebook. You can also cut out photos from magazines.
When you imagine your ideal lifestyle, you are really clarifying why you want to tidy and envisioning your best life. The tidying process represents a turning point – so seriously consider the ideal lifestyle to which you aspire."
Decide What You Want To Keep / Toss
If you really want to "Marie Kondo your house" you need to decide what to keep and what to toss. This is the key step. Decluttering your space. Volumes have been written about the benefits of decluttering and organizing personal spaces whether it be home or work.
"Numerous studies have shown that decluttering reduces anxiety and stress and helps improve mental and physical health. It can also save you time and increase your productivity. Physical clutter and an overabundance of possessions to manage, organize, and clean prohibits us from doing other more fulfilling projects."
To look at how to Marie Kondo your house look at the KonMari method of "letting go with gratitude." On her site, she says:
As you embark on your tidying adventure using the KonMari Method™, remember to above all focus on what you want to keep. Cherish the items that bring you joy, and let go of the rest with gratitude.
"There’s an opportunity to learn from all the things in your life, including the ones that you discard. If you let go of a belonging you never used, it taught that you have no purpose for something like this in your life. Thinking deeply about each item you discard will affect how you live and acquire new things moving forward."
If you need some help in where to start - Keylock Storage published a great outline on how to cut out the clutter.
"Are you ready to cut out clutter in your life? It's easier than you think if you follow our 3 easy steps!
Cut Out Clutter: One Touch Rule
This rule is carried out just like it sounds. When you're walking around your house, cleaning, or doing anything at home - remember only touch something once! This means do the job all the way the first time to eliminate clutter. For example, if you're pulling laundry out of the dryer fold it right then instead of putting in a basket for later. If you're picking something up out of one room, put it all the way away. Don't move it to another location to be organized later. If you're putting dishes away, don't just leave them in the sink - go ahead and put them in the dishwasher.
By giving yourself a little mental reminder to only "touch objects once" you'll cut out clutter in your home and make life more manageable.
Cut Out Clutter: Tidy At Night
A great secret to cut out clutter is to tidy every night. You may not go to bed with a sparkling clean house, but if the last thing you do before bedtime is quickly tidy the house you can cut out clutter. By doing this easy step, you're making your home management maintenance instead of disaster clean up. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to empty the dishwasher, clear off the counters and put things away for the evening.
Once you get into the habit of your end of the day tidy it will become routine to you. And just think of the benefit of waking up to an organized tidy home clear of clutter!
Cut Out Clutter: Tidy As You Go
Our last easy way to cut out clutter is to tidy as you go. This may sound easy but takes some discipline. This step simply means not to leave a bigger mess for the end and to keep things clean along the way. This could include clearing out your car every time you get out. Cleaning as you go during cooking. Putting food back into the fridge, rinsing off pans and throwing away waste in the middle of the cleaning process. Doing this frees you up from having a huge overwhelming mess at the end.
If you want to cut out clutter, keep it from happening in the first place by tidying as you go!"
Leave Open Spaces
Another trick that will have you de-cluttering like Marie Kondo is leaving spaces empty. This is a psychological and functional trick that can leave peace, possibility and openness in a home or workspace.
About this, The Washington Post said,
"But even if you’ve been settled in your house for decades, you can still clear out unwanted items and create empty space. While you’re asking yourself whether an item “sparks joy,” also try to envision how you would like to use the newly cleared space. Use the cleaning-out process as incentive to rethink the possibilities of how to use a particular space in a way you may not have been able to when it was full. With some empty shelves, maybe you could use that linen closet differently, perhaps for craft supplies. And with an open bookshelf, you could set out a vase, picture frame or a treasured piece that’s been tucked away.
Even when things are neatly stored, having a jam-packed home causes emotional strain. “Out of sight, out of mind” is a fallacy. You may not see all the items in your basement or attic every day, but their mere existence can impact your productivity, mood, physical health and social life.
So this spring, try to live with a few empty spaces. Start small with a single bookshelf, the surface of your coffee table, or your kitchen counter. It might feel awkward initially, but the value of those spaces will become more appealing and clear over time, and eventually make you feel less overwhelmed, more in control and more thoughtful about your possessions. Clear the clutter, clear your mind."
Clearly, leaving that empty bookshelf or drawer is a huge game changer in mental health and function and beauty of a home!
Marie Kondo outlined on her site how minimalism relates to her method. She said,
"As a young girl fascinated with tidying, I thought the goal was to get rid of as many things as possible. This single-minded focus on discarding had a negative impact on my health – one day I actually fainted from all the stress!
Coming to, I had an aha moment: Tidying is about what you want to keep in your life, not what you want to eliminate.
This epiphany inspired what is the bedrock of the KonMari Method™ – choosing to keep what sparks joy."
We hope these 3 simple ideas help you organize things that "spark joy" in your home and "Marie Kondo" your house today!
In addition, you can visit Keylock Storage Blog for more interesting articles about organization and lifestyle: keylockstorage.com/blogs
