How to declutter your stuff once and for all (aka the Konmari method)

In my last post, I talked about how I had read two books by Marie Kondo last year: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy, an Illustrated Master Class.  Amy got me the Konmari journal, where you write things each day that "Spark Joy."  (What's sparking joy today: heat, hot tea, blankets.)

As I said before, when I first started reading the book, I thought it was a little too "magic-crystals-hippie-feelings" for me.  And again, I have a yoga mat at work, one at home, and another in the car.  I've done hypnosis to get over my needle phobia (it worked).  I like colonial era cocktails because of the curative properties of shrubs (vinegar + macerated berries, not the foliage).  I'm predisposed to hippie stuff, and even this seemed a little much.

Can I interest you in a healing crystal?

Still, I decided to give it a try, because so many people on Reddit shared the same story: "I thought it was BS, but then it changed my life for the better."  So I decided to follow it exactly:

• Tidy (declutter) by category, not location (i.e. tidy all of the tank tops, not "clean out the drawer in this dresser.")
• Physically hold each item, and ask if it 'sparks joy.'  Now you know why I said it sounds a little hippie.
• If it does not 'spark joy,' thank it for its service, and then discard it.  Discard could mean donate, sell, or give it to someone that truly wants it.
• Tidy in the right order: clothes, books, papers, komono (everything else), sentimental items
• Discard before you place things back.  Don't put things back as you go--once you see everything that you kept, you'll know where to put it and how to store it.
• Only tidy your stuff.  You can't tidy for others.  Once you start tidying, others are likely to follow your lead.

 As instructed, I started clothes first, specifically out-of-season tops.  Tops are supposed to be first because the're closest to your heart.  (Okay, yeah, sure.)

The reason to start with out-of-season clothes first is that you don't panic as much if you don't have much in your "keep" collection, and it gives you time to do some intentional shopping.  Fortunately, I didn't have many summer tops.  Or so I thought...if you asked me to tell you how many short-sleeved or sleeveless tops I had, I might have guessed less than twenty.

I had 51.

Now, in slight fairness to me, 6 of those are workout tops, and 6 were used-to-be-tops-but-are-now-pajama-tops.  Konmari is FIRMLY against turning "nice" clothes in to "loungewear."  So those went.  But not before holding each shirt, asking if it 'sparked joy' and thanking it for its service if it didn't.  (Chris asked me if I was having fun "talking to my clothes.")

I also took all the tops off of hangers and out of drawers (as instructed) and looked at them all at holistically, then held them one by one.  This is important: you may think that you have items of clothing that you can just leave in the closet because you love 'em so much.  But when I looked at my well-loved stuff, I discovered holes, discoloration, and small stains.  Whoops.  So some of my favorite stuff either got repairs or got thanked and went away.

A big Konmari principle is that things should be kept vertically, not horizontally.  In other words, don't stack things.  I prefer to hang EVERYTHING, but again, she discourages this unless it is an item that will wrinkle.  I was skeptical, but then ultimately really happy with her method of vertical folding.

Summary of T-shirts: 3 are Game of Thrones, 2 are from Colorado, and 3 reference beer or whiskey. 
And then a white t-shirt, because everyone needs one of those.

Speaking of folding, I used to hate it.  But I love the way Konmari does it.  It's super therapeutic and makes a ton of space.  The first book doesn't do a great job of explaining it, but the second one does.  I'd also recommend watching YouTube videos of how to do it.  At the end, your folded clothes should "stand up."  This really works--I even got a mesh laundry bag to stand up once folded.

Next up was socks.  I began by being super proud that my socks & hose were all really well organized.  But it turned out that I was balling them all up like potatoes, and according to Konmari, I was being so cruel to my socks that someone should call CPS on me.

If you do this to your socks, you are apparently going straight to hell.

I'll let you read the book (if you want) so you can discover why folding or rolling your socks is better, and why you potato-ballers are making your socks so unhappy.

Konmari-ed sock drawer!

 I then got on a roll:

• Out of 47 winter tops (sweaters, long-sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, and long-sleeved exercise shirts) I kept 31.
• I had 24 pants (dress pants, jeans, pajamas, yoga, running capris, long running tights) and kept 19.
• Of my 10 shorts, I kept 6.
• I wear dresses pretty exclusively to work.  I had 43, and kept 25.  I realized I was really holding on to dresses that I hated, or that didn't fit, "just in case."
• When I started in on shoes, I didn't even count, I just started thanking them for their service.  Now they all fit on 2 racks.
• I likewise didn't keep stats on swimsuits or lingerie, but suffice it to say that my swimwear collection included every size from 6 to 12.  Bye, Felicias!
• For scarves, I also didn't count, but found 3 that belonged to my sister (sorry about that Amy).  I wasn't planning to do scarves, hats, gloves, and jackets so soon, but Chris saw what I was up to, and I came downstairs to find allllll of that stuff--for both of us--spread out on the floor so we could make decisions.  This is where one of the advanced techniques really helped--instead of just making a pile and picking out an item from the top, look at every item in a category ALL AT ONCE and consciously pick your favorite scarf (or whatever), then your second favorite scarf, then your third favorite scarf.  It becomes evident very quickly when you are done picking out items that 'spark joy."

Long-sleeved tops before.  (Including empty hangers due to laundry procrastination)

Long-sleeved shirts after.  It feels like a carefully curated wardrobe--because it is!

Deciding on pants (with cat helper).

Folded pants.

  

Folded pants in drawer.

 I have to say, the vertical storage thing is the bee's knees.  I can find everything so much easier.

And finally, my dresses (which I didn't think were that bad) before and after.  One of the things the book said was to hang them from longest to shortest, which again, I thought sounded stupid.  But it does make a difference!

Dresses before.

Dresses after, longest to shortest.

 So now that I'm almost done with clothes (I still have jewelry left), why am I such a fan?

1. I love that I have a curated wardrobe of ONLY things I love.  It makes getting ready and packing for trips a thousand times easier and way faster.  (Also, I'm super excited to see what life is like when my entire house is only things I love.)
2. It also became obvious what I actually needed to buy instead of buying what's just a really good deal at TJ Maxx.  On the list: new pajamas, a black cardigan, another pair of yoga pants that I like.  Already got the pajamas for Christmas.
3. Because I like the folding method, I'm way more likely to put laundry away faster.  And the folding method takes up way less space.  I did all of this in November, and I've been able to maintain it for 2+ months so far.
4. The appeal of Konmari is that you get really good at making decisions quickly, deciding what is actually useful and/or makes you happy.  This starts to spill over in to other areas of your life, which is helpful.
5. It also gives you a different way to think about your stuff.  I didn't get in to it much here, but Konmari talks a lot about what to do with things you're holding on to "just in case," or because they were gifts, etc.

If you decide to Konmari your space, let me know how it goes!