Expert Reviewed
SHARE
As a nation, we’re fascinated by how others live behind closed doors. And, it’s fair to say that almost all of us would like to declutter more often and live in an immaculately tidy home that makes us happy. It’s not that simple though, is it? With the konmari method, maybe it is.
Well, according to Marie Kondo, the tidying process can be fun and rewarding – if you know how to go about decluttering and tidying the right way.
Or should I say, the KonMari way.
One of the surprise-hit series of 2019 so far is Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. An 8-part Netflix series following Marie, a Japanese tidying specialist, working with people to help them transform their homes into organized, tidy spaces using the konmari method.
Marie Kondo is someone who takes tidying up very seriously. In the preface of her best-selling book Spark Joy, Marie says, “Life truly begins only after you have put your house in order.”
Have you been thinking about decluttering and organizing your home, but you’ve been putting it off for one of the many reasons we all use? Adopting the KonMari way might just give you the nudge you’ve been looking for.
In this article, you discover the 6 rules that make up the framework for Marie Kondo’s KonMari tidying method. By following these 6 rules and working through them methodically, you can turn your home into a wonderfully peaceful and well-organized place to live. Plus, you can do it in less time than traditional tidying methods.
Marie Kondo’s Golden Rules
1. Get Committed to Tidying Up
The hardest part is always taking that first step. Or in this case, picking up those first items and deciding to either discard or tidy them away.
The KonMari method is hard, and can be a lot of work. Some of the rules and methods are going to feel very foreign to how you’ve organized in the past.
But you have to believe in it and commit to following it through to the end if you want to achieve your ideal end result.
2. Visualize Your Ideal Lifestyle and How You Want It to Look
Marie always makes her clients visualize how they want their homes to look when they’re finished. She will get them to draw out how they want the rooms to look, write down a description, and even use photos from magazines.
With a clear picture of what you’re aiming for, it’s a lot easier to keep an eye on the goal and achieve your desired results. Marie talks about how undertaking a huge tidying process is a huge turning point in our lives. It’s not something to enter into lightly.
3. Discard First, Tidy Second
According to Kondo, the reason most people fail to finish tidying their homes is because they attempt to store too many items they don’t need.
Not only does keeping less stuff mean you will not need to find as much storage space, it makes managing your home and keeping it tidy easier.
It’s time to start getting ruthless and discarding any items you really don’t need. Or, as Marie has become famous for saying, discarding items that don’t bring you “joy.” More on that when we get to the last rule.
4. Tidy by Category, Not by Location
This is the rule that’s usually a big eye-opener for most people. We always thought that by tidying one room at a time, we were being methodical and speeding up the process. According to Marie, this takes longer than tidying in categories. And, of course, she’s right.
This means tidying all the items that belong in the same category, regardless where they are in the home. Clothing is a great example, as well as the category Marie recommends starting with. By tidying all the clothes in your home in one go, you will not find yourself in a situation where you need to find more space in your wardrobe later on.
5. Tidy Items in the Right Order
Marie has a very strict order for tidying. To follow her method, you must tidy the following categories of items in this order:
- Clothes
- Books
- Papers
- Miscellaneous items
- Sentimental items
There are practical reasons behind the ordering of each of these categories. Clothes, for example, take time to fold and require a lot of space. So, putting these away first gives you a good idea of how much space you have left.
Also, sentimental items are the most distracting items to sort through. So, it’s important to leave them to last to avoid stalling.
6. Ask Yourself – Does this item “spark joy?”
This is the part of the tidying process Marie Kondo has become most famous for. When deciding what to discard and what to keep, she has homeowners hold items in their hands and tells them to ask themselves if the item “sparks joy” for them.
If you can honestly say the item brings you joy, keep it. If you can’t, you should discard it. This is the toughest part of the process for most people. We all find it hard to let go of items, yet when we do, it’s a very liberating and freeing feeling. We recommend trying this.
If you dream of having a tidy, organized living space, the reality is not out of reach! Use the above steps to master the konmari method to clean your home and create the ideal home you’ve been visualizing. Come back weekly for more lessons on tidying, organizing, and other ways to spark more joy in your life.
The URL has been copied
