One of my favourite reads of last year was Spark Joy by Marie Kondo. Much like her first book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, this book shares the KonMari method of decluttering to make your home an organised, tidy and more peaceful place. She advocates only keeping the things you really love and that spark joy when you hold them. I read Spark Joy from cover to cover and I couldn’t wait to start putting these ideas into practice. That is, until I began looking around my home…
Even though the idea is relatively simple, I’ve been putting off getting the process started because it just seems like such a huge task. The trouble is that, since I moved into my house, I haven’t yet fully unpacked. So, technically, my cupboards and wardrobes only have in them the things I use and love, because the rest of my belongings are still boxed up! Job done, yes?
In fact, I don’t even know how many boxes still need to be unpacked because they were put away in the outbuilding and in my caravan and I’ve kind of forgotten about them. Nonetheless, boxed up belongings means that I still have oodles of clutter to clear. Even though my shelving already looks tidy, that doesn’t mean that I can ignore the things that haven’t made it to into a storage space of their own. The job is not done yet.
The reason why I can tell that I need to tackle all those boxes is because I feel the ‘weight’ of those packed-away items behind me. I have such lovely clean surfaces and well-organised cabinets that make me happy, but those spaces where boxes are stashed – the porch, under the stairs etc – haunt me as I walk past them and try not to make eye contact.
So, it’s time to get started on clearing the bulk of my belongings – either putting them where they’re going to ‘live’ or getting rid of them. I read an article titled An Introduction to the KonMari Organisation Method on the Six Hot Chicks blog and it really helped to clarify the ideas I’d read in Spark Joy. It’s well worth a quick read to get you started with your own decluttering. After this quick refresher, I remembered just why I wanted to clear the clutter and how I could put it into practice in my own home.
The first category of belongings to tackle is clothing and I was very happy to do this. There was a period of time before we bought our house that I was living out of a suitcase, so I know that I don’t really need a full wardrobe of clothing. I just don’t wear or need most of it! That said, the KonMari method doesn’t tell you to chuck out everything and live a minimalist life; it’s still fine to keep clothing that makes you happy, such as a wedding dress or those shoes you wore to an awards ceremony. 
Okay, so I didn’t clear out all my clothes but when I came across anything that didn’t quite fit, or that I didn’t enjoy wearing, or wasn’t flattering, or made me feel ‘meh’ when I wore it went straight to the charity shop. Even though I thought I’d cleared out a lot of my wardrobe before we moved, I was amazed as I added even more clothing to the ‘donation’ pile. You won’t believe the sense of achievement I felt as I closed the wardrobe doors on a very well organised collection of clothing that I loved.
Doing this also helped to highlight what items were missing from my wardrobe. You know when you put on a skirt and think to yourself ‘if only I had a navy top to go with this’? And then immediately take it off again because you don’t have anything to go with it? Clearing out the clutter helped me make a list of clothing items I need, so that I can make the most of the things I’ve kept. Plus, I’ve spotted a big gap in my wardrobe in terms of leisure wear (maybe that’s what’s stopping me from doing all the exercise?) I’ve hopped onto the CorsetWe website and have ordered some bargain yoga leggings and sports bras already. That’s my reward for the clear-out!
The next step is books, and I have to admit that I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to books. You only have to look at the number of book reviews I write on this blog to see that I just can’t help adding to my collection regularly. In fact, I’ve bought three more books within this week. I think I need to start using the library more – before my house becomes a library!So, that’s the next task to tackle, and I’ll be taking a look at my book collection this coming weekend. By the way, the shelf above has already been organised – yay me! I’ll let you know how I get on with the rest of the big shelving clear-up soon. Let me know if you’ve tried the KonMari organising method yourself and how you got on with your own declutting process by leaving me a comment below.
PIN THIS POST FOR LATER..!
This article is a sponsored collaboration. The pink links in the content indicate a sponsored link or information source. The blog post reflects my own experience and the sponsor hasn’t had any control over my content 🙂
