Do you ever look around your house and want to throw everything away and start over? I’m guessing at one point or another, the answer is yes. With life, comes stuff; lots and lots of stuff. Everywhere there is a flat surface, there is stuff, at least, that’s how it goes in my house. I’m no hoarder, but the rate at which stuff comes into my house is far greater than the rate at which it leaves. So naturally, Marie Kondo has peaked my interest.
EVERYONE is talking about Marie and her minimalist style of organization and decluttering. Her show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” on Netflix and her books of organization and decluttering techniques are helping even the truest of pack rats reconsider with the prospect of a more organized lifestyle. Marie’s concepts seem so fundamental, yet brilliant. Her methods and checklists offer freedom from clutter one discarded item at a time.
Marie’s “Konmari” decluttering method seems daunting and emotionally taxing, but the payoff of an organized, clutter-free space sounds delicious. Marie starts by having her clients clean by “category”. They amass a huge pile of like items and sort one-by-one, discarding the items no longer relevant, only keeping the ones that ‘spark joy’ as Marie has termed it. But what about all those family heirlooms and sentimental items we have stored away? Marie suggests giving sincere thanks to those items, to reduce or eliminate guilt when the time comes to discard them. Easy right? Easier said than done, in my opinion.
On a positive note, I’m sure consignment and second-second hand boutiques are surely enjoying the benefit of donated items from those giving the Konmari organizational method a try. Kudos to those sifting item by item, giving decluttering a shot in the new year. I cant help but think we’ll soon be hearing about the stories of priceless or rare items being discovered at donation or thrift stores. Will my vintage, hidden away in storage tchotchkes be worth more, because everyone else is purging them from their lives? Time will tell.
Perhaps there IS a happy medium somewhere for those of us who might not be able to go completely minimalistic, but who could really use a solid purge. Until then, feel free to show off YOUR neatly organized drawers, rooms and spaces by emailing me at [email protected].
