Tips on Decluttering Your Home, Marie Kondo Style

The Marie Kondo Netflix special swept the nation upon its release in late 2018. While many people have reverted to their old habits, there are a few tried and true methods worth hanging onto.

The idea behind Marie Kondo’s approach is that a cluttered home creates a cluttered mind. Here are some helpful, practical tips for decluttering your home based on the Kondo-Mari method.

Sort and Digitize Your Memories

Old photos and tapes take up a lot of space. However, this is a challenging area to declutter as many people feel an emotional connection to these items. Photos and home videos often depict treasured events or beloved people who have passed on.

The best way to declutter your photos and videos is to make it a family event. Bring everyone together to sort through the images and determine what should be kept and what should be discarded. Choose high-quality shots or rare photos to add to the keep pile. Reflect on the memories of images you’ll be discarding and send them away mindfully.

Once you’ve narrowed down your selection, use a service to digitize your memories. You can add old photos to a sleek photobook or convert tape recordings from your child’s Fisher-Price tape recorder days using a service to convert audio cassette to cd.

File Your Clothing

One of the most impressive takeaways from Marie Kondo’s teachings is the clothing folding method she uses. Rather than stacking things in your drawers, fold your clothes into neat packages and arrange them like a filing cabinet.

Not only will you use up less drawer space by following the Kondo-Mari folding method, but you’ll also be able to see everything. As a result, you won’t have to shuffle through your clothes and make a mess to find the shirt you want. Instead, you can take a quick look and see what you need.

Plan Your Storage Bins

When most people feel compelled to declutter their home, they rush out and buy storage bins. Instead, take a look at what you have to store and plan accordingly. You might discover that instead of five new blue tote bins, you could benefit from a few plastic magazine racks for your kitchen or baskets for your closet.

Don’t buy storage systems without having a plan in place. This comes back to the idea that everything in your home should have a purpose.

Take Donated Items Out Immediately

After you’ve chosen items to donate, get them out of your house immediately. This might mean making multiple trips to the donation drop-off, but it’s well worth it. Why? That way, you don’t have second thoughts about what you’re donating or have to justify your decisions to any visitors.

Take it Room By Room

Decluttering your home is like trying to lose weight— it didn’t take one week to get this way, so it won’t take one week to get to your goal. Take a strategic approach and handle your decluttering efforts room by room. There might be some overlap as you reorganize, but by breaking it into sizeable chunks, you’re less likely to get overwhelmed.

Does it Spark Joy?

If all else fails, you can always fall back on the “does it spark joy?” approach to decluttering. Hold each item for a moment and ask yourself if it brings you joy. If not, it can be donated. It’s ok not to feel attached to gifts or inherited items any longer. Take a moment to reflect on the joy the thing once brought you, then pass it along.

One word of warning to this approach: cleaning supplies, clothing you wear to funerals, and tax documents may not spark joy, but you should still keep them.

By using these proven techniques for decluttering your home, you can embrace the minimalist lifestyle and free up more space. Just don’t fill that space with new items you don’t need.

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