I recently finished reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and went through the process of cleaning and purging our home using the methods outlined in it. For those of you who haven’t read the book yet, the idea is that you go through your home one category at a time and purge anything that doesn’t spark joy in you. It’s a really great way to pare down your belongings and get your home in order, and I have to say that it was honestly pretty life-changing for me!
I’ve always been the type to purge…I hate extra clutter floating around my home, and I drive Mr. Garland crazy trying to constantly get rid of all of our unnecessary stuff. However, despite my best efforts at keeping the excess to a minimum, we always seemed to have way more in our home than we actually had the space for.
The book has a fair amount of cheese-factor to it – Marie Kondo suggests that you thank your belongings before you get rid of them and that you completely empty your purse every night to allow it to “rest”… I definitely have no intention of following through on those tips. However, the bulk of the book has some really practical suggestions that changed my perspective on organizing my home. The very idea of letting go of the guilt surrounding purging things from my home was pretty revolutionary. It was also so helpful to me to begin thinking about my belongings in terms of how much happiness they brought me – I finally recognized that there was no point in letting things stay in my home unless I truly wanted them to be there. It was so freeing to let go of all of the things I didn’t love and my home feels so much lighter now!
As I was going through the process, I learned a lot about myself and my organization style. It was so eye-opening to really go through every single item in my home, and everything is so much easier to keep neat now. Another really helpful side-effect of going through this process is that I’m much more discerning when it comes to shopping now. I used to be really bad about buying things that I didn’t absolutely love, end up regretting the purchase, and allowing the unwanted item to sit around in my house for months or years before I actually discarded it. Now? When I go shopping I take my time making decisions, think long and hard about whether or not I really love the things I’m looking at, and end up with fewer (but way better) things in my home.
One of the biggest lessons I learned while I was going through this method is that when you have fewer possessions in your home, you don’t really have a need for all of the organization systems that we all get so excited about. I mean, I love The Container Store just as much as the next girl, but now that we have fewer things in our home I don’t really need to keep all of the fancy organizers anymore. The shelves we have in our closets and cabinets are plenty. This was pretty revolutionary for me, because I always thought of organizing as being 1 part purging and 2 parts shopping. Now, however, I’m able to use what I already have to keep my home organized and I still have more than enough room for everything else.
I also learned the importance of being honest with myself about the things in my home. There were so many different decorative objects or other silly little things in my house that were there simply out of habit. I had become almost blind to them over the years because they had just always been in my home, but they weren’t really things I actually cared about. Once I opened my eyes a bit more and started paying attention to what was in my home and what I actually wanted in my home, I was able to let go of so many things that I had almost forgotten were even there!
And finally, another favorite lesson I learned while I was Kondo-izing my home is that I need to keep the items in my home that fit my actual lifestyle, not the dream lifestyle I have for myself in my head. I had so many different pairs of heels that I never wore but I kept them because I wanted to want to wear them. We also had a lot of different cooking supplies and tools floating around my kitchen that we absolutely never used but I thought we might someday be in a situation where we needed them, so I held onto them. Once I started tidying, though, I began to get a lot more honest with myself about what we truly need for the life that we live, and I recognized that there was a lot of stuff that we would honestly just never use. Admitting that to myself made it a lot easier to get rid of it, and made me end up feeling a lot more happy about my home!
Have you ever read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? What’s your method to keeping your home organized?
grape / 87 posts
I read this book while I was pregnant and it really helped me purge lots of clothes and books. Our apartment certainly isn’t all that tidy with a toddler running around, but the idea of letting go of things that do not bring you joy.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
i would love to do this, but i get a bit overwhelmed thinking about what to do with the stuff that i am getting rid of. some stuff will obviously go to trash or donated, but what of the things that have possible resale value? ugh, that’s what trips me up, thinking about posting things on craigslist. what did you do?
kiwi / 511 posts
Gretchen Rubin has pointed out a similar concept if you purge and clean up then often you don’t need a new organizational system what you have works once it is at a manageable level. Which is great then you save money not buying baskets, boxes etc.
@Edelweiss regarding the craigslist stuff I look at it this way I will post it once for what seems like a reasonable amount of money something small like $25 to get it out of my house, I am not looking for its real value. For clothes I will do groups, so a group of size 18 months summer clothes for $25 (I list how many shorts, shirts etc and take a picture but goes as one large group). This is really good for other things, we now have central air and I have 4 window ACs it would cost me $25 per AC to dispose of them, I will list them for probably $40 bucks a piece and someone else gets them and has to dispose of them and I don’t have to move them. Win win…if some one offered less I would take it just to have the room back. So ask yourself do you want it gone or do you want to make a ton of money.
blogger / apricot / 482 posts
Love Marie Kondo’s books. I’m a total convert and actually have a post on this very topic drafted (specifically applying it to our kids’ stuff). We’re not done with the process yet: we have a LOT of paper/memorabilia type stuff that we want to scan and then get rid of, but we have gotten rid of 25ish bags of stuff and it feels really good! We DID buy a new organization system, though, for the kids’ stuff because what we had in our home wasn’t really conducive to keeping things tidy and allowing our kids to access their stuff (for example, shelves in the closet being too high, or being too difficult to understand stacked boxes in a toy chest).
It has changed not only the clutter in our home, but also my mentality of buying things. I find myself much less likely to buy something just because it was on sale or a good deal and really think about whether I’m going to want it in my home long-term.
guest
Honestly I don’t really get the hype around de-cl uttering. I’m glad it works for so many people but I don’t get it. Why do I care if my closet feels overwhelmed because it is holding pumps I never wear? I do agree that with age and wisdom it’s good to become more and more thoughtful about what comes into your house and generous with what you give away. But I sort of like the comfort in my clutter.
olive / 62 posts
I did this with my clothes — I had a walk-in closet jammed with really cool clothes that I found interesting but they did not bring me joy when I wore them, as well as tons of things from my pre-mom days that just didn’t work with my life anymore. My walk-in closet was a DISASTER, and it made me miserable just to walk in there. I felt like the chaos was emblematic of my whole life.
Now I love getting dressed each day (and for bed at night, too!). I enjoy my clothes so much more now that I like what I’m wearing all the time, and I’m not just wearing something out of guilt because I spent a lot of money and don’t wear it enough. My closet is a calming, centering space for me now, and I feel that no matter how much or little I’m in there, I benefit from it in enormous ways.
grapefruit / 4466 posts
I love, love, love that book! I went through a period where life felt pretty overwhelming, and I knew I needed to simplify to make room for the things that were most important to me. I applied the method not just to my home but also to my calendar, being much more selective about what came into my life in general. I’ve gotten so much better at saying no. And now that I have less stuff in my home, things stay tidy much easier and it feels like a much more calming place to be.
pomelo / 5866 posts
KOn Mari totally worked for me. Started on my house and finishing up at work. Great motivation to start the day!
grapefruit / 4923 posts
@Mrs.Maven: thanks for the tips! i definitely am not looking to make a lot of money, but your ideas are helpful for getting some money back on some of the pricier and numerous stuff (think baby swing, carriers, and all my maternity clothes).
blogger / apricot / 275 posts
great insights. i read it during pregnancy and did some big sweeps through the house. and it helped me with knowing whether or not to make new purchases. good reminder!
blogger / nectarine / 2043 posts
I guess I really should read the book, huh? I’ve been avoiding it because of the cheese factor, but I have been following some concepts, like “does this bring you joy” and usefulness and such. I’m a declutterer by nature, like you are, and have ongoing declutter projects (though I wish my husband would let me loose on his side of the closet – how many white shirts can a person have?)
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
I typically just set all of the Craigslist/Goodwill stuff in a big pile and deal with it all at once. For things like clothes, I prefer to take them to a resale shop than try Craigslist – you may not make as much money but it’s MUCH less of a headache!
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
I think it’s more for people who are actively bothered by it – it makes me crazy! If the clutter doesn’t bother you, definitely no reason to declutter!
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
It’s really helpful! And yeah, I REALLY wish my husband would let me attack his side of the closet, too.
nectarine / 2436 posts
@Mrs. Garland: I love this book. I am always cleaning out stuff and minimizing. Like you said , it is so freeing! But my mother is a semi-hoarder; she goes to garage sales constantly and attaches meaning to stupid objects. she loves the thrill of second hand stuff. Now that I have a son she is alwayssssssss giving me stuff. I say no and we fight a lot about it but sometimes she finds great stuff. Sigh. I don’t know what to do. Guess I’ll just keep doing my Craigslist free piles!
guest
I’ll push back a little though. You LIKE the cute things that were in your house. Where is the line between clutter and life? I’ll also suggest for you de-clutter mavens- join your local but nothing group. Easy to give things away and easy to find a spiralizer if you have yours away and now want it back.
pomegranate / 3225 posts
The heels thing. You got me!
pear / 1696 posts
I am listening to this book on audio right now. Looks forward to trying her methods out. Now just have to get DH on board, he is more of a pack rat then I am ugh….