As a Virgo, I believe I have organization loaded into my DNA. It somehow comes naturally. I have always loved stationary stores & school supplies. But I never really had a method for my madness. When I merged households with my husband, clutter started to take hold.
Several years ago, I learned of Marie Kondo and quickly read, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up". I followed her method and was immediately inspired by its effectiveness, so I wanted to share a brief synopsis so you can try it for yourself. I highly recommend reading her book, too!
The method is to collate, touch and discard your items in this order:
1. Clothes (and accessories - jewelry, purses, belts)
2. Books
3. Miscellaneous items
4. Sentimental Items
Clothes were relatively simple for me as we have limited space in our home for clothes. We live in an old house without any closets, so I continuously downsize clothes. But it was great to have the first category be relative quick so I could experience how empowering it was to do this process. But one of the profound promises of this method, is that if you follow the method and eventually organize all of your categories, in this suggested order, you will not have to do this again!
The method is to collect ALL of your clothes out of your closets, dressers, storage bins, everywhere they may be hiding around your house and place them in one big pile. This can be a pretty profound activity for anyone once we realize how much we are actually holding onto.This is where people realize how much they actually have and that we don’t really need or use most of it.
After you have collected your pile, pick up every single item and decide if it "sparks joy", ie "Do you love it? Does it make you happy?" This may sound trite and trivial or confusing and obtuse, but it begins to make sense once you start. Create two piles - one for the clothes that you will keep and one for the clothes that you will give away. Once you have a pile to give away, you can lovingly thank your clothes for all that they have done for you over the years and then place them in bins to donate to your local thrift store.
Your pile to keep is further divided into categories, like Shirts, Skirts, Pants, Shorts, Socks, Underwear, etc. This may help you further downsize once you realize that you have more of something than you could actually use in your lifetime.
Once you have narrowed everything down to only those items that you love, you will then fold them neatly. This is actually an integral piece of the whole method of storing your clothes. I am still perfecting my folding, but Watch this video from Marie Kondo on how to fold your clothes.
To Keep You Motivated, Ms Kondo's promise is that once you have whole-heartedly engage this method through entirely - through clothes, books, miscellaneous and sentimental, you will never have to do this again! And I promise that it feels so great that once you get started you will be motivated to continue. You just need to start. Let me know how it goes. I would love to know your experience in the comments below.