The KonMari Method

 

People tend to accumulate things over the course of time. In fact, within just a few months, the items in your drawers, cabinets and closets can grow dramatically. As a result, your home can become increasingly cluttered and disorganized in just a few months.

 

While there are several ways to combat the ever-present problem of clutter, including adopting a minimalist lifestyle, many people appreciate the lasting results of the KonMari Method.

 

What Is the KonMari Method?

 

The KonMari Method was developed by Marie Kondo and published in her book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” Her method has gained incredible attention and rave reviews, and it is increasingly used to help people overcome their clutter.

 

 

Marie Kondo, a Japanese home organization expert, invites people to remove things from their home that are no longer useful or bring them joy. Rather than toss almost everything out in a minimalist fashion, her method involves keeping the things that are meaningful and useful.

 

The method takes several months to initially complete, but it also involves consistent effort going forward. With the KonMari Method, your home can be clutter-free without the need for major cleaning and organization sessions.

 

The 6 Basic Rules of Tidying the Marie Kondo Way

 

The KonMari Method is simple, and you can start enjoying the amazing results from day one. However, to fully take advantage of the benefits of the KonMari Method, you should apply the steps and principles routinely going forward.

 

Commit Yourself to Tidying Up

 

 

If you have been living in a cluttered home, your mindset may likely be wired to accept clutter as a default. To enjoy the lasting benefits of the KonMari Method, you will need to adjust your mindset. This means habitually identifying items of no user or importance and consistently eliminating them from your home. This mental adjustment is essential for lasting results.

 

Imagine Your Ideal Lifestyle

 

There may be several reasons why you want to enjoy a cleaner and more organized home. You may be tired of hunting for the things you need, or you may be embarrassed by the clutter. Perhaps you are simply ready to live in a clutter-free home.

 

To harness the full power of the KonMari Method, you need to embrace the process and be motivated to see the results. Imagine your ideal lifestyle which includes a clutter-free home. Analyze your motivations for doing so. Keep these motivating forces in mind going forward.

 

Finish Discarding First

 

The KonMari Method is broken into two stages. The first stage is removing the items that you no longer need or that no longer enhance your life in meaningful ways.

 

 

The second stage is to organize the items that you are keeping. Hold each item in your hands, and decide if it is going in a keeper pile or a discard pile. Specifically, keepers are things that either “spark joy” in your life or that are useful. Items that do not fall into one of these groups should be discarded. This may mean giving them away, donating them, selling them or simply tossing them in the trash.

 

Tidy By Category, Not By Location

 

Many organizational methods describe working room by room and cabinet by cabinet, but this is not the case with the KonMari Method. With this method, you will start by reviewing your clothes. This is because you may have the least sentimental attachment to your clothes. The clothing can be followed by books, stacks of papers and more.

 

Kondo’s approach places significant emphasis on the art of folding garments. If your clothing isn’t meant to be hung, it must undergo a specific folding process as outlined by Kondo. This distinctive folding method ensures that the clothes occupy minimal space while remaining conveniently reachable.

 

Check out this video and see how its done:

 

 

Follow the Right Order

 

For each of these categories, focus on sub-groups. For example, start by getting rid of worn and singleton socks. You can then move to the shirts, pajamas and pants. This same strategy applies elsewhere throughout the home. Focus on a specific type of thing rather than a specific area of the home.

 

Ask Yourself If It Sparks Joy

 

The fundamental philosophy behind the KonMari Method is to keep only the things that are useful or that spark joy. A knickknack may simply be a meaningless item that you picked up in a gift shop years ago, and it can probably discarded.

 

On the other hand, a knickknack that is a family heirloom likely has meaning or “sparks joy.” Keep in mind the decision to keep or discard an item is yours to make. Do not allow others to influence your decisions.

 

How You Can Do The KonMari Method At Home (The KonMari Checklist)

 

The KonMari Checklist establishes the specific order to declutter items in your home. What is on the checklist?

• Clothes (tops and bottoms, outerwear, sleepwear, swimwear, backpacks, accessories and jewelry)
• Books (Fiction and non-fiction, textbooks, comic books, cookbooks and magazines)
• Papers (Bills, tax documents, letters, manuals and warranty docs)
• Kimono or Miscellaneous (Tech and electronic items, pet items, office supplies, cleaning supplies, kitchen items, children’s toys, personal items and tools)
• Memorabilia (Photos, journals, trophies, letters, souvenirs and others)

 

Kondo provides a further breakdown, and you can see examples of this process in Kondo’s show, watch the official Netflix trailer:

 

 

Does the Konmari Method Really Work?

 

With the KonMari Method, you are eliminating items that do little in your home other than collect dust and take up space. More than that, you are actively thinking about the purpose and meaning of each specific item in your home. This means that everything remaining in your home has been intentionally selected rather than randomly discarded to its current location. The method has changed the lives of people around the world.

 

Even with the right cleaning method, the household chores can pile up. Rather than being regularly stressed by your cleaning to-do list, you can get the help you need through Cleanzen. To learn more about our Boston maid service and to inquire about availability and pricing, reach out to our team today.