We’ve waited an entire week for the return of #MinimalistMonday! We introduced our series with a review of Marie Kondo’s book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and unpacked some major themes in our second installment of the series. It laid the groundwork for some intense “tidying up” and reevaluating of your home’s inventory. Make sure you read those two posts before you get thoroughly confused with the concept we’re about to unpack further. It’s called the KonMari Method.
So you’ve discarded of a large portion of your belongings and hung onto a small number of things that truly bring you joy. (As mentioned, read our last post to understand what we’re talking about here!) But now you have no idea how to incorporate those saved pieces back into the landscape of your home. Thankfully, Marie Kondo spells out a few major themes for reorganizing your space after you’ve tidied up. She of course delves into the subject further within the pages of her book, but here is the Reader’s Digest version of some of our favorite key concepts.
1. Purging feels good.
We mentioned this in our last post, but it is important enough to emphasize again. Now that you’ve downsized your list of belongings, look around. Stop what you’re doing, examine your new space and appreciate your hard work and the lack of clutter. This is an important step because it helps to solidify the minimalistic actions you have taken in hopes of continuing such a pattern from this day forward.
No one will argue that one of the best feelings of accomplishments comes when you go through clutter and drastically simplify. There is a reason why Marie Kondo, a professional cleaning consultant, has no repeat clients. This cleaning spree is not simply an annual activity to be accomplished, forgotten and repeated often. It is a drastic lifestyle change, a new way of thinking, and hopefully something that lasts forever.
2. Fold, don’t hang.
This might completely go against your preconceptions about reorganizing, but Kondo swears by this method while putting clothing back into a closet or dresser. She recommends folding clothes rather than hanging them, as this maximizes your space and keeps your storage area in the most tidy form. However, Kondo does not just recommend folding and leave it at that. She has a specific guide for folding that she carefully outlines in her book. Long story short, the key is to store things standing up rather than laid flat. This ensures that you can glance at a drawer and see all of the contents instead of lifting piles and digging through everything.
3. Don’t repurpose items as loungewear or hand-me-downs.
You might think you’re doing your family members a favor by passing along boxes of clothing or miscellaneous items for them to dig through and go “shopping” for free. But the chances are, they have a few things they could get rid of as well, and adding to their belongings isn’t helping them move towards simplification. Instead consider donating to a shelter or donation center in the Northern Colorado area. Some of our favorites include Fort Collins Rescue Mission, Neighbor to Neighbor and Habitat for Humanity.
Similarly, it’s tempting to hang onto clothing items that are on the fence between keeping and donating, as you might intend to reserve ratty t-shirts for loungewear or sleepwear. Kondo discourages this alternative, as it simply delays your eventual simplification and means you really should just get rid of those things now. Maybe consider repurposing those sentimental shirts into a t-shirt quilt. It’s a resourceful way to keep those t-shirts around, and you can even make your own! This would be a wonderful project to tackle during the holidays or a low-key weekend. Not the crafty type? No problem — you can have a company make your quilt for you.
4. “Storage experts” can be hoarders.
Pinterest and home improvement books are ironically filled with various storage methods, organizational ideas and general tips for storage. Kondo spent years practicing some of these storage concepts until she realized that it wasn’t improving her space at all. She had a revelation of sorts and discovered that she didn’t actually need the items she was storing away!
And that seems to be true for all of us — there’s always a chance that you’ll need that obscure craft tool, so you stow it away and discover it during a move ten years later. You didn’t need it for the past ten years, so there’s a chance you should have disposed of it in the first place. Kondo explains that “putting things away creates the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved.” So it can be a dangerous trap to fall into! But it’s a temptation we all face in regards to decluttering and organizing.
Put some of these mentioned ideas and the main points from last week to the test this week! After the fact, let us know how the simplification process was for you, or what victories and challenges you encountered along the way. Next week we’ll take a scroll through some of our favorite minimalist interiors, hoping to glean some inspiration for our own spaces.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF: Decoist, Modern Mrs. Darcy and Killer B Designs
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