Tuesday 24 February 2015

The KonMari Method


She's everywhere it seems, well everywhere in blogland anyway,  Marie Kondo and her brilliant book 'The Life Changing Magic of Tidying - a simple, effective way to banish clutter forever'.  It seems to be gripping our imaginations .... and for those of us that have been putting some of her ideas into practice she's changing our lives.


Take our chest of drawers for instance in the bedroom ....


... once filled with 'stacked in the normal way' clothes.


First the drawers were emptied and wiped out  one by one ....


... each item held, pondered over and then if it was staying ....


...folded into a neat rectangle ....


... then a smaller rectangle ....


... and finally into a rectangle that was the same height as the drawer.


Then replaced with the others that were in the drawer, and in this case with another six that now also fitted into the same space the others had taken up.  As you can see folding and storing in this way means that you can see at first glance where every one of your items is and get it out without having to move anything else out of the way.  So much easier. 


My neat knicker, sock and tights drawer ..... who would ever have thought I would show you this, but now it's tidy I will ;-)

Another thing that this has highlighted for me is that folding this way means that suitcases will be able to be packed so much easier, and instead of actually unpacking at a destination you could simply and very neatly live out of your suitcase all week for a holiday ... if you even need a suitcase, seeing how small things can be folded has made us both realise that perhaps for us the way forward will simply be a piece of carry on luggage if we ever fly again.

I'm currently working on my Summer clothes that have been stored in our large suitcase under the spare bed, now that things have been sorted everything I own is now fitting neatly into three of these drawers and my half of the wardrobe, so the suitcase will be filled with car boot items and sold while we are there.


To help with my tidying mission I purchased eight of these 'under the bed' storage boxes from Asda, at just £4 each they were a bargain.   I am using them as drawers on the shelves of our wardrobes, because before we had piles of 'in-use' and out of season bulky things stacked on the shelves.  It meant if we wanted something off the back stack we had to lift down the front stack, remove the things we wanted and then replace the stacks, all this for me whilst being stood on the end of the bed!!


Now the boxes slide onto the shelves like drawers and I can pull them out and lift down easily.


And I can see at a glance all the woolly jumpers and cardigans I own.



You can see from this picture where the 'drawers' will slide in on the shelves.  I was very lucky with the dimensions of the boxes .... it was as though it as meant to be!!

There's still some more sorting to do but once it's done that will be IT, no more tidying and a complete banishment of clutter.  How this fits in with my P333 I'm not sure yet, as I am simply putting all my clothes into the wardrobe for now regardless of counting what I have.

In Marie Kondo's words .... if it gives me joy it stays, if it doesn't it goes.

Oh well enough talking about it time to get back to actually doing it.

Sue xx


26 comments:

  1. Thanks for this- I'd seen the phenomenon, but this is the clearest writing about it! Love the drawers- love your quilt too!

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  2. That's why I have so much clutter! It all gives me joy xx

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  3. Is it wrong that this gives me a bit of a thrill? X

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    1. I know .... I keep opening drawers just to peek ;-)

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  4. I think it would take more than magic to remove the clutter from our house! We're slowly Chipping away at it. One day I'll have a tidy house!

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    1. Don't worry about it Kev, I didn't have a tidy house until both boys moved out!!

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    2. Just managing to get the family to actually PUT things back in drawers or bookcases, or put rubbish into the bin instead of leaving it lying on the work surface, would be an achievement in our house let alone folding things up in a certain way. Kev, I think it's almost impossible when you've got kids and their 'stuff' is important to them. They like to keep what they've drawn, made or written at school, home or clubs, they love their toys and books and as they get older they accumulate more things and often don't like letting go of the older things. It gets easier!

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  5. New thoughts on old ways are always welcome. I shall be following your example methinks.

    Jean
    x

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  6. I need to try this, thanks so much!

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  7. When we moved from our big house we only kept the things we needed or loved. Managed to get rid of half our posessions that way. Your drawers look lovely and neat, great work. Pam

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  8. I've got a digital version of the book, it's an easy read. I did follow some of the advice, sort by categories. Now everything is where it belongs. I'm part way through. I love the folding method.

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  9. I must be the odd one out :o))

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  10. I just ordered the book...maybe it will arrive and be read in time for some "spring" cleaning and organizing!

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  11. Sue, I have actually gotten my hubby the collector (boarding the hoarder) to start tidying up a bit and getting rid of some the paper he insists on collecting. I hope it continues.

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  12. Hi Sue I have just bought this book out of curiousity. I am hoping it will keep me tidy when I have tidied.

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  13. I'm reading that book right now!

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  14. From Margie in Toronto - my copy just arrived from Amazon yesterday. Still going through the throwing out/giving away stage (and I can't believe how much STUFF has left this small apt.) and will be moving on to the folding very soon. I'm also heading to the 333 Project for my clothes - I've given a number of items away and I'm not purchasing anything until I've lost another few pounds (well quite a few more pounds) - the weather here probably won't really change until the end of April so I'll be concentrating on Spring/Summer items first. It will be a challenge so thank you for the inspiration.

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  15. This is inspiration indeed. I will start tonight:)

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  16. my scarves are all in a jumble in a basket !

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  17. I think you have convinced my: I definitively have to read that book!!
    This is my first comment on you blog but I read you since you were blogging about your challenge 365 days - £ 365!!! And, as you have motivated me to spend less money on groceries, I think that now I have the possibility to be able to organize my drawers !!! Thanks

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  18. That is a very clever idea. I wonder if it also makes better use of the space? Time to test it out methinks.

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  19. I'm a fan too - your drawers are a beautiful testament to the book!

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  20. OMG your sock drawer looks so good! :) I think it's time to KonMari my closet as well.

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  21. Your method of explaining the whole thing in this post is really pleasant, all
    be capable of effortlessly know it, Thanks a lot.

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