Kondo - One Year On

Last year, I started off with a few posts on my experience with the Konmari method.  I proudly recorded how I managed to get rid of bags of clothes, books, and junked several bags worth of shredded bills, old cheque books, old lecture notes etc.  But the question in my mind was whether I could keep it up.  Would the neat shelves, toiletry cabinet, book shelves remain neat and tidy?

My T-shirt drawer

Well, I am pleased to report that slightly more than a year on, all is well.  My t-shirts remain relatively neat and tidy, with all the clothes folded and stacked on their end. It was such a simple innovation but indeed, it helps me pick out the clothes I want to wear easily without disrupting the rest.  And, it proved easy to maintain.

Likewise, my toiletry cabinet looks neat and tidy.  The extension rods which I inserted (to form an extra shelf) helped me separate and organise some of my smaller items from the larger containers.

And my bookshelves?  Well, aside from the fact that it took me a number of trips to the library (to put the books on the exchange shelf),  and that I've had to restrain my book purchases over the last year, my bookshelf indeed remains quite organised and not as cluttered as before.

And paper!  Organising paper!  I have to confess that it is not quite done yet and there's still about two drawers' worth of papers to sort, organise and shred.  But, there has been some (slow) progress.  And as for the new paper coming in, I just junk it all in one box rather than attempt to sort the bills upfront.  Next year, I'll go through and decide what to shred and which really needs keeping (hopefully only a few key records).

As for miscellaneous and sentimental items, they remain in their sorted boxes for now.  Maybe I'll get round to clearing those later in the year.

All in all, I can confidently say that Marie Kondo has indeed helped create lasting change in my overcrowded room.  My surfaces have remained largely clutter-free, my shoeboxes are valiantly storing my socks, umbrellas, toiletries, etc etc.  Can't say that there's been life-changing magic at work but I'm quite happy nonetheless.