How would you describe your home in one sentence? Is it a sanctuary, or is it just a place to sleep? Is it relaxing, or is it adding to your stress? For me, it was the latter. I knew the clutter was getting a little out of hand, and that’s where the KonMari Method comes in. The KonMari Method is a minimalism-inspired approach to decluttering, organising and tidying your home by category, rather than room. The categories are clothes, books, papers, komono and memorabilia. At the heart of the method is surrounding yourself with things you love. Would the KonMari Method make me feel any different? Read on to find out!
Side note: I originally tried the KonMari Method in April 2019. This blog post was written at the time, when I was living with my parents. The experience would be very different if I tried it now, but as you’ll see, it was a great learning experience and I’ve added a couple of updates to this post that I feel are relevant now.
1. Clothes
This category includes:
- Tops – singlets, sleeveless, t-shirts, long sleeved
- Pyjamas
- Jumpers
- Workout clothes
- Bottoms – jeans, shorts, skirts
- Hanging clothes – coats, jackets, dresses, work clothes
- Underwear
- Socks
- Bags
- Accessories – hats, scarves, jewellery, belts
- Swimsuits and swimming accessories
- Shoes
The process:
The first step in the KonMari Method is to declutter your clothing. How’d you do that? Gather up all your clothing from around the house and put it in one pile on your bed. Next, get rid of any damaged clothing or clothing that doesn’t fit you properly. No excuses!
As you go through each remaining item in the pile, question whether it sparks joy. Not sure what this means? Try asking yourself, “Is this something I absolutely love?” If your clothes don’t spark any strong feelings, ask yourself if each item is necessary. For example, if you have 5 black t-shirts, you can probably get rid of 3!
Before you cast away unwanted items, Marie Kondo recommends thanking each one. Expressing gratitude can make it easier to part with them. When verbalising your appreciation for each item, you can let go of them, knowing that they served their purpose.
The outcome:
I’m going to be honest, I didn’t put all my clothes in one pile. I obediently gathered up the first half of the items in the above list and did the rest in a separate sitting. I simply didn’t have enough room on my bed for it all! Even with half the items, my pile was confronting. And I’m not joking when I say this: the pile was nearly as big as me!
Initially, my clothes pile was a shock because I didn’t think I had much clothing. I rarely go shopping! What I had been doing, however, was holding on to a lot of items that I hadn’t worn in years (hello, Year 9 cowboy boots!) and hiding them in different spots so I’d forget about them. Sneaky, sneaky.
Despite the initial shock, getting rid of clothes wasn’t too difficult. I generally cull my closet every 6 months, so I’m used to it. I also enjoy trying on my clothes and reminding myself what I have! I did find it interesting, however, to focus on whether my clothes made me happy. Surprisingly, it was generally the simple items, not the trendy ones that ticked the box. If you’re interested in coordinating a collection of staple pieces, check out how to create a capsule wardrobe.
Post-cull, I filled 9 bags with unwanted clothing. Most of these bags were donated to charity, but there were a couple of clothes and bags that I wanted to sell online. I decided if they didn’t sell within 6 months that I would donate them – and I did.
The “clothing” step was my favourite part of the whole process. In particular, I really enjoyed utilising the KonMari Method folding techniques! The way she recommends storing clothes is so practical and saves you so much space! 15 months later, I’m still utilising her techniques! Check out the folding videos in the next section for more information.
Do it yourself:
Marie Kondo has a very specific way of storing clothes. Once you’ve followed the process above, watch the following videos and prepare to transform the way you store your clothes forever!
How to fold outerwear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWJdOTMEp7E
How to fold underwear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tglp9eWQEhY
You may also like to buy some drawer dividers and/or drawer organisers to keep things even tidier! Drawer dividers are the perfect option if you want to keep different types of clothes firmly separated in the same drawer. Drawer organisers are excellent at separating items like socks, tights, pants, ties, belts and scarves more.
2. Books
This category includes:
- General – fiction/non-fiction
- Practical – reference books, cookbooks, fitness books
- Visual – photo collections
- Magazines
The process:
The next step in the KonMari Method is to declutter your books. If you’re not a booklover, or if you read everything on Kindle, feel free to skip this step. For everyone else, bad news: you can only keep 30.
First of all, shake your books to wake them up. Hold each one and ask yourself if it sparks joy and/or if it has any further use. If you don’t like it, get rid of it. If you haven’t read it and probably never will, let it go. Oh, and don’t forget to thank it.
While culling your collection to 30 books can seem daunting (and impossible), Marie Kondo wants us to really think about which books we keep and why. If you’re resistant, is it because you see your book collection as a representation of your intelligence? If so, you may need to do some work on your mindset. Investing too much of your identity into items or how the world views you is just a recipe for unhappiness.
The outcome:
I don’t know how many books I own, but it’s definitely more than 30! I could probably fill one of those large, deep antique bookcases, so I wouldn’t say I had an excessive amount. While I understand what Marie Kondo’s trying to get at, books bring me joy and my desire to have my own little library when I move out is something I’ve been looking forward to for 10+ years.
While I couldn’t constrain myself to 30 books, I did manage to donate 14 of them. Getting rid of my books almost felt heretic, but I comforted myself with the fact that someone else might enjoy the ones I disliked if I gave them away. There’s literally no reason to keep books you don’t like!
Magazines aren’t something I buy much anymore, but I used to love collecting fashion magazines like InStyle, Vogue and Shop. I even held onto a few hair style magazines for hair appointments (even though I’ve had the same cut for about 5 or 6 years). I’m not sure how many magazines I had, but they took up half a shelf and most of them were around 10 years old! I never read them, so I wasn’t sure why I was keeping them. In the end, I hung onto my favourite 5, just so that I had some scrapbooking material.
What challenged me most about decluttering my books was actually getting rid of my old teaching textbooks. (You may or may not know that I used to be a teacher and the transition to a new career was a tough one for me.) To be honest, I couldn’t quite bear to let go of that part of my identity, so I will have to revisit them at a later date. The main thing is that I tried.
Do it yourself:
You can recycle, sell, donate or even swap the books you get rid of. I’m not sure if you have them where you are, but here in Australia we have local book swap boxes or book swap areas in places like shopping centres where you can take a book for free if you leave one in its place. I quite like this idea, but in this case, it would be more like a donation.
To discard unnecessary or unwanted books, all you need are some good old-fashioned bags or boxes. Don’t have any? Your local shops regularly throw away cardboard boxes. Just ask and they should give you some for free!
3. Papers
This category includes:
- Study materials
- Important documents – bank statements, insurance fees, superannuation statements, payslips, tax information
- Receipts
- Manuals
- Official letters
The process:
The third step in the KonMari Method is to declutter your papers. Follow the same general process as before, although it’s easier to lay all your papers flat on the floor, rather than putting them in one big pile. Your papers probably won’t bring you much joy, but before you get rid of everything, there are some papers you should keep.
According to Marie Kondo the three types of paper you should not discard include those that:
- Need attention – bills to pay, paperwork to submit or forms to sign.
- Are needed short-term – current tax documents or current warranties.
- Are needed indefinitely – birth certificates, marriage certificates, tax file documents and driver’s licences.
When getting rid of paper, it’s good idea to shred any documents that have personal information on them and recycle the rest. For those papers that you keep, find a way to store them that brings you the most joy. You could use folders, a desk organiser, a letter holder or even storage boxes to keep things neat and tidy.
The outcome:
Purgatory, for me, would be doing this part of the process again. My filing system over the last 8 years was a backpack where I stuffed all my important documents, and don’t even ask about the random piles of receipts I had hidden all over the place! Going through all my paper took me 2 full days. NOT fun!
While the process was tedious, it was SO necessary – in the end I threw out a couple of bags of junk. A better storage system for your papers is using files – yes, you can use files to organise your home!
Not only did using files make my papers more organised, but it’s now a lot easier to find important documents when I need them! I tried to stick to one file for all my important papers, but it the end, I had to go with two.
I split my folders into the following sections:
- Identity
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate
- Citizenship certificate
- Passport
- Tax file number
- Bank
- Bank statements
- Account details
- Health
- Medicare documents
- MyGov documents
- Private health insurance details
- Health records
- Optometry details
- Education
- High school graduation certificate
- Exam certificates
- University letters
- Bachelor degree certificate
- Additional certifications
- Industry registration letters
- Car
- Driving test documents
- Department of Transport letters
- Insurance details
- Service history
- Recall information
- Roadside assistance details
- Superannuation
- Letters from superannuation fund
- Superannuation details
- Home
- Home loan information
- Property information
- Phone
- Phone contracts
- Other phone information
- Voting
- Electoral Commission letters
- Membership
- Membership documents
Do it yourself:
It’s time to take a trip to your favourite stationery shop, because you’re going to need some pretty storage solutions! I advise you to look online first to see what’s available and then consider what and how many items you need before you pop in. There’s nothing worse than having to make multiple trips, but even worse? Buying more items you don’t need!
Consider if folders, file dividers, a desk organiser a letter holder or storage boxes are required. Personally, I have all of these, but that might be excessive for some people. You will also need a recycle bin or shredder to dispose of the paper you don’t need to keep. Pretty easy, really!
4. Komono
This category includes:
- CDs and DVDs
- Skin care products
- Makeup
- Valuables – licence, passport, credit cards
- Electrical equipment and appliances
- Home office equipment – stationary, writing materials, accessories
- Household supplies – medicine, tissues, cleaning products
- Kitchen equipment
- Food supplies
- Hobby equipment
- Cushions and bedding – sheets, duvets, pillows, blankets, throws, cushions
- Other – ornaments, random items
The process:
The penultimate step in the KonMari Method is to declutter all your miscellaneous items. For many people, this is the most time-consuming step as it spans multiple rooms, but don’t let that stop you. You’re on a roll!
The process for decluttering your miscellaneous items is generally the same as the previous steps. Firstly, gather up all items of the same type (e.g. kitchen equipment). Secondly, place them flat so you can see exactly what you have. Thirdly, thank each item you let go of and recycle, bin or give it away accordingly.
The difference in this step is the focus. Rather than focusing on which items bring you joy, you should focus on practicality. Example? Do you need 5 wooden spoons or that tattered drying cloth you never use? Probably not. Work out how many you need and get rid of the rest.
The outcome:
I didn’t have that many miscellaneous items to declutter as at the time of writing I was still living with my parents, but I did go through my study cupboard, bathroom drawer and makeup supply. As you can see in the pictures, they were stuffed to the brim! I couldn’t find anything, so I needed to organise it for easy access. I also needed to cull a good portion of the products in there.
For both bathroom products and makeup, did I feel much of a connection to the items? Not really. The worst part was feeling guilty about the waste. In the end, it became a case of practicality and whether or not products had passed their used by date. I was able to get rid of some items from my study cupboard as well, but it mainly needed to be organised more effectively.
Storage is a great way to keep items organised, so I used small boxes to separate my bathroom drawer into sections. One section was for dental products, one was specifically for my husband’s items, and the other was for creams and shampoos. For makeup, I have acrylic storage drawers and a brass tray for commonly used items on top of my dresser. For lesser used items like nail polish, I also have makeup bags in a bigger storage bag in my wardrobe.
Do it yourself:
Two words: storage solutions. Storage is essential, and it can be relatively inexpensive. You can buy storage boxes, storage drawers for makeup, trays, cable solutions, storage jars and drawer dividers almost anywhere these days – Kmart, Target, Ikea and even Amazon can hook you up!
What you choose to use will depend on what you decide to keep, so think carefully and shop around before you buy. In some cases, you may not even need to buy anything! I already had the boxes I used in my bathroom drawer – one of them is a Mecca box! There’s no harm in reusing items you already have around your home, so have a look around. You might be surprised at what you can reuse!
5. Memorabilia
This category includes:
- Diaries
- Cards
- Personal letters
- Childhood items
- Photos
The process:
The final step in the KonMari Method is to declutter your memorabilia. This is the last step because you need to have a clear idea about what sparks joy for you to tackle this area effectively. Sentimental items are the most difficult to declutter.
Why is it so difficult to part with memorabilia? Many people believe that when they get rid of objects, they’ll lose the memories and legacy that goes with them. But will truly precious memories ever leave us? I don’t think so.
The previous steps apply again here. Instead of focusing on what to trash, focus on what to keep. When you touch each item, what do you respond positively to? And before you pack up a box to keep at your parents’ house for “safe-keeping”, don’t even think about it! Not only will the contents never be looked at, but you will clutter up someone else’s house in the process!
Instead of hiding sentimental items away, find a way to display them. Got a fancy teapot that your granny left to you? Make it a feature in your kitchen! This will bring you joy every time you see it. For heirlooms that you’d rather not keep, genuinely thanking items for their service and the role they played in your family’s life can alleviate the guilt you might feel about letting them go.
If you’ve accumulated a lot of physical photos, turn the decluttering into a family activity! If you have any loose photo packs with negatives still in them, these should be the first things to go. Next, remove all photos from their albums and lay them out according to the year/period they were taken. Finally, try to choose the best one from each day and let go of any photos that are similar or are from events you don’t remember. Ideally, you should only keep the pictures in which you or the person you care about looks good. Enough said.
For digital photos, the same principles apply. Choose what you want to keep, not what you want to get rid of. Start by making a new folder on your computer or phone, and then move all the images you love into this folder. Delete the rest. Done!
The outcome:
Have I got heirlooms? No. Childhood items? Not many. Diaries, letters and cards? You bet! Seems easy enough then, right? Unfortunately, I love writing and I kind of have a thing for holding onto (items from) the past.
The Polly Pocket diaries of my childhood have long since been discarded, but the diaries I wrote 10 years ago still amuse me, so I couldn’t quite part with them. Letters were also a challenge as they reminded of specific moments in time – sharing cultural superstitions with my pen pal, writing to her about getting engaged and seeing photos of her new life in Japan. These are items that I treasure, and may need to revisit at another time.
The most significant collection of memorabilia I had were cards. Many were birthday or Christmas cards from family, most of whom live on the other side of the world. I think I’d been keeping them simply because they were from family, but I had to ask myself, “Do I ever look at these?” (No.) “Do they have heartfelt messages inside?” (Rarely.) When cards didn’t pass these criteria, it made it a lot easier to recycle them.
According to the KonMari Method, you should try to display any memorabilia that you keep so that it brings you joy whenever you see it. I know it seems weird, but there were cards that I decided to keep. Those cards deserved to stay as they were ones that I love and read all the time. They aren’t on display, but they’re in one of my favourite boxes near my desk. In the end, isn’t loving your items what this process is all about?
Do it yourself:
The final DIY is pretty simple. You’ll need bags or boxes to discard memorabilia that doesn’t serve you, a creative mind (or an internet connection) to come up with ideas on how to display items that you intend to keep, and possibly storage boxes.
Weigh up what your needs are and decide accordingly. Pinterest can be a great resource if you want ideas on how to display your memorabilia in a creative way. One idea I found? A framed wedding dress! Why not?
Your home should be your sanctuary. At the end of the process, I felt lighter and happier. I had less junk weighing me down, and I genuinely felt happier with the items that I chose to surround myself with. By declutting your clothes, books, papers, komono and memorabilia using the KonMari Method, I’m certain that you’ll feel more relaxed and more content in a space that you absolutely love too! Try the KonMari Method today!
Good luck!
Grace x
