Tidying with KonMari: Step 1

Yesterday I posted a bunch of pictures and dialogue on Instagram and Facebook about my first day of tidying by the KonMari methos.  I wasn't looking for a new inspiration to purge, but I had read some recommendations about this book, and I had a credit on my Barnes and Noble Nook account, so that was that!  The book is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up:  the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo.  (Her nickname is KonMari)  Click on the book picture to link to the B&N site.

I'll be right up front:  I have a few reservations about the book.  I think her method of keeping only what sparks joy is very good.  I suspect that her recommendations about where to keep stuff is also pretty good.  My reservations come from learning that she is in her early twenties.  She became passionate about storage and interiors at the ripe age of five.  What?!?  As far as I can tell, she does not have a family and has never been responsible for the upkeep of a home that involves a husband with his own ideas and offspring who make a trail of disaster everywhere they go.  As I read further, it gave me the queer feeling of learning how to give birth by some who had never done so.  It's certainly possible, but maybe there's a lack of thorough understanding.  HOWEVER, she is a professional "tidier" and has undoubtedly helped numerous families become clutter free.  So she must have gained some knowledge / understanding through that, right?  Anyway, I thought I'd come right out and say that I'm not "in" hook, line, and sinker, but I see enough good things that I'm willing to give it a go! 

So, a recap of yesterday's events:

First up, she insists that you start with your clothing. I was resistant because I recently did a big clothing purge. But as I start, it's clear that this could use some more work. Some can do this in one step. I have a lot of clothes, so it's recommended to start with tops. This picture is ALL my tops from every closet , nook , cranny, and shelf. Oy.

KonMari's says to hold each one and decide if it sparks joy in your heart. You know, the clothes that you always wear first after they're out of the wash...
Oh yeah. One more thing. Be respectful to the things that you give away. Thank them for serving their purpose. Weird, yes, but it's all in the psychology... As Jeeves would say.

The keepers

The purged

So, that was yesterday!  Today is folding and putting away.  KonMari recommends a specific way of folding shirts that creates a very neat little bundle.  The goal for each one is that it will stand on end by itself.  Then when you put all in the drawer, you can see each one.  Here's a few pictures to help out the inadequate explanation:

Start out by laying the shirt on a flat surface, smooth out wrinkles.  (I see I did a fab job of this.)

Fold into thirds, creating a neat rectangle.

This part varies by shirt type, but you want to generally fold it into thirds or fourths.

This is the desired end result.  It should stand on its own.  These came to remind me of little burrito bundles. :)

Here's another one, this time with a thicker sweater.

Fold in thirds, careful to keep the sleeve all within the rectangle.

Fold the other side in.

Here's where I varied a bit.  I just folded my sweaters in half.
 I tried to make them all the same width so they stack very nicely.

I did a bit of experimenting with this to see what worked the best for what I had.  My t-shirts are all folded in the burrito method, ending up maybe 8" x 5".  My tank tops are in a similar fashion, but I folded them in half, top to bottom first, then in thirds, then the burrito fold.  They ended up smaller than the t-shirts.  I knew that I would not be putting my sweaters in a drawer (I don't have a dresser that they would fit into) so I made them squarish to stack neatly on a shelf.  This is what worked for me.  You may want to vary things according to your personal preferences.  This might be rolling the shirts after you fold it into thirds.  But the key points would seem to be making them NEAT [no flopping sleeves, no slipping or sliding once folded] and that when they are stored, you need to be able to see everything.  For drawers, this means storing them vertically.  For shelves, either rolled or neatly stacked.  Here's all my keepers folded and sorted by type (this helped me determine where they were going to go):

 My hanging shirts are all hung. These are the ones that do not hang.  A note about hanging clothes as pointed out by KonMari:  folding clothes takes up much less space than hanging clothes.  She claims the ratio is about 10 : 40.  That means that in the space that it takes to hang 10 items, you could store 40 folded items.  Interesting.  There are clothes that are much happier when they are stored on a hanger.  Button up blouses, jackets and the like.  The rest should be folded.

Then to put them AWAY!  Here's where I ran into a dilemma.  The closet in our bedroom isn't quite big enough to store all my clothes if I have to share it with my husband.  My office, which is right next to our bedroom, has a very modest sized walk-in closet.  Previously, I stored some clothes in each closet.  But KonMari wants you to store ALL your clothes in the same place.  This is to help prevent you from not knowing what you have and stockpiling extras, because you can't see that you already have one (or two, three, four...)  The office closet may not be big enough either, but that is what I decided to go with.  I think I can made it work, but I may have to change it later.

My shirts actually fit in this stack of drawers that has been in my closet, being mostly useless. 

See what interest Pumpkin has in my progress!

The drawers are labeled as followed: short sleeve tees, work tees and 3/4 sleeve tees, long sleeve tees, turtlenecks, and tank tops. (The label site I used was this one, but there are many free printables out there if you do a Google search.  Of course, you can do plain labels, but WHY? when you can have lovely ones so easy?) The drawers are interchangeable, so in winter, turtlenecks are towards the top, and in the summer, the tanks are towards the top. 

My sweaters are on the top shelf of the closet.  As is, this has the potential to be a mess, so I'm planning on installing a second shelf above that one so the stacks aren't so tall and inclined to fall over.

I totally recommend sorting by color.  It makes it looks nice, and then you can see that you have four grey jackets already.  Actually, you'll get a quick overall glimpse of your color preferences, which is kind of interesting.  My hanging clothes and sweaters are clearly in the grey, navy and green department, and my tees are much the same with punches of reds, corals, and yellows.   I'm so in love with grey right now that it's slowly taking over my closet!   I'm also surprised by how much navy I have.   I don't think of myself as a blue person, but I'm slowly overcoming my prejudice against blue. :)

Also, a note on hangers.  This is totally old hat for most of you, but having all one type of hanger will drastically improve the look of your closet.  As a kid, I hated the plastic tube hangers and preferred wire ones.  Now, it's just the opposite.  They just look so "uniform".  But they have to be the same color.  White is definitely a preferred, but we have tons of blue ones, so I try to keep those in Andy's closet.  I also have a few flocked hangers for things that like to slide off hangers, and then I have a few old school wooden hangers that I use just because I think they're cool!  :)  There are a few wire hangers that hang out for emergencies (whatever that would be!) but they are moving downstairs soon.  I do love the closets that have all lovely new hangers, but have you priced those buggers?!  It would cost me a small fortune to have a hanger for each item!  So, using what I have is more than adequate.  I just tried to make it as uniform as possible.  

Side note: before we moved, I kept a horrendous "hanger box", keeping all the hangers that weren't in use.  I didn't count them, but it was A LOT!  After hoarding them for 15+ years, I finally said adios and donated them to a thrift store that was surprisingly happy to get them.  What a dumb thing to hold on to for so many years!  Besides that getting one out when you needed one was a nightmare..

Pumpkin is very concerned about the shoe placement here.  Ha!  Actually, she is the crazy dog
who chases sun glares like they were rabbits!

One last thing for the day.  I ran into this video on Pinterest.  Apparently, they made a "dramatization" of the KonMari method in Japan.  If you have the patience, it's kind of cute.  And maybe a little bit helpful to see someone else sort their stuff and have some of the same questions, struggles that you do.  It has English subtitles and is around 45 minutes long.

So, have you been utterly discouraged or a little bit encouraged?  If you are joining me, please let me know how it's going and send some pictures!!