Of course, my mother had got her the exact same book.
So I kept and read the book instead. Further research online threw up lots of "before & after" pictures, testament to the efficacy of her method. So I decided to give it a try.
Marie Kondo's first step is to de-clutter, before deciding how to store what is left. Her default is to get rid of everything, except those things which "spark joy". And she starts off with clothes (including bags, shoes, etc), before moving to books, papers and komono (miscellaneous items). Thus far, this is what I've done:
1. Cleared out my t-shirts and my underwear drawers, and folded them Kondo-style, and stored vertically. It was amazing to see how orderly the drawers became and how much space suddenly emerged! And how easy it is to see my things after that.
I have to admit that I didn't quite follow her instructions with the rest of my clothing. Because I had recently done a mini-purge, and also because I found out that my relative was sending a box of clothes overseas in about a month or so. It made more sense to hang on for a fuller "kondo-ing" of my wardrobe nearer the date.
2. Cleared out my bag collection and got rid of three huge bagsful of bags. Because my umbrellas were stored with my bags, I took the opportunity to organise them as well (I didn't purge any because I have been known to leave my umbrella behind me, so will leave it to natural attrition to reduce their numbers).
3. Shoes. Ok, so I only got rid of two pairs. Not that I have that many to begin with. There was one "maybe" which I decided to keep for now. I'll throw it out when I next buy a pair of shoes; its partly the need to preserve my share of the real estate in the shoe storage areas.
4. Toiletries. This effectively means I've Kondo-ed my bathroom. Paid special attention to the cabinet under the sink (where I installed a few Daiso extension rods to create a shelf for good measure). Confession: I could not bring myself to get rid of my entire collection of hotel supplied goodies. I use them! I do!!! But maybe I don't need to keep on taking them back any more...
I have to admit that Marie Kondo's instruction to strive for "ultimate simplicity" in storage solutions struck a chord around here. For years I have had this little plastic chest of drawers under the sink where apparently I am supposed to retrieve soap, first aid things, etc. In practice the drawers were hardly used and the bandages inside seem a little old. My hotel "selections" were occupying one drawer but it was also very difficult to find what I was looking for in the drawers. I got rid of the drawers, and used a shoebox -Marie Kondo's recommended solution instead. That also put one empty shoebox to good use.
5. Books. Okay, this was not that much of a purge as others have done. Partly because I just can't bring myself to get rid of too many. I know that Marie Kondo says "sometime means never" but then I recently read a book which had been sitting there for years so there.... Maybe I got rid of some 45-50 books, but because the bookshelves were overstuffed previously, this means they have just reverted to being nicely full. And I can actually find books I want to read! My bookshelves, full as they are, spark joy.
I also worked on the family cookbook collection. Again, we could have gotten rid of a few more but my mother felt bad getting rid of some which were given as gifts.
What's left : paper (this is going to be a tortuous session) and komono. Looks as though I'll need to do another update.
I am hoping that all this decluttering will help me start 2016 on the right note!
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