About a year and a half ago I read this book, called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo, a Japanese organising and de-cluttering guru who, as the media says, has taken the world by storm!

I won’t go into all the nitty gritty details as there are many articles online now devoted to this (and youtube videos as well).  But I wanted to mention it as it really has made a profound difference to my life in one significant way…the way in which I organise and fold our clothes.  This extends from our own wardrobe, to the children’s chests of drawers, to the way I pack for holidays.  I am constantly telling friends about it, which probably is incredibly irritating, but I am really that enthusiastic about MK’s methods, or Konmari as she has dubbed it.

So far I haven’t managed to do the full Konmari on my house, but I have taken on some of the principles and hope that one day I’ll have the time and dedication to make it happen.  In the meantime, I am satisfied that life is just that little bit more organised with the new folding method.

Here is how it looks in a drawer:

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And here’s how it looks in a suitcase:

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The benefits may not be readily apparent, and it may seem to take a lot longer to fold each item the Konmari way whereby it is supposed to stand up on one end unaided and be the same size as the next item (this doesn’t always happen for me!) but trust me it’s worth it.  The advantages for me, are as follows:

  1.  The clothes take up much less room.  After I folded my daughter’s clothes this way, lo and behold, I had an extra drawer that was now completely empty!  Previously it seemed to be stuffed to the max.
  2. You can see all of the items in the drawer at once, just like when you look at books or DVDs on a shelf.
  3. You can then pick the item you want, and remove it from the drawer, without upsetting all the other items irrevocably so that they turn into a crazy mess in the drawer (the pointlessness of which has always put me off bothering to keep any semblance of order in a drawer)

Even my husband, who thought it was a little ridiculous to start with, is now a convert and has been seen to be folding his clothes, her way, on occasion.

It really is incredible, and life-changing.  So thank you Marie Kondo!

I highly recommend reading the actual book.  She describes her early life too, and it is fascinating to find that she has been into tidying since she was a child.  It also puts you in the right frame of mind, to only keep the things that “bring you joy”, and to enter the process the right way, by categories rather than room by room.  Happy organising!

 

If you wish to take a closer look click on the picture of the book below and it will take you to amazon.co.uk where you can read more reviews or purchase the book. Please note it is an affiliate link, so amazon will pay me a few pence if you click through and buy. However please note I only ever endorse any products and places I truly rate highly and believe to be worth recommending!


Mummy Times Two
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6 Replies to “Konmari and how it has changed my life (so far)”

  1. I nearly bought this book but didn’t in the end. Still some of the ideas I’ve heard of from others seem to be working their way into the way I declutter here. #PostsFromTheHeart

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