Various systems for organizing space existed before (for example, “Fly Lady”, developed by Marla Seelly from the USA). But the approach of the Japanese specialist, described in the book “Magic Cleaning,” turned out to be revolutionary in many ways.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
The main idea: keep only those things that bring joy. And then home will turn out to be the most favorite place where you want to strive.
Order will be established in such an apartment for a long time, life will become more harmonious, and free time - the main scarce resource - will be added to it.
It all sounds nice, and the system seems simple at first glance.
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In fact, for it to work, you need to follow certain steps in the right sequence and work on forming new habits.
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Cleaning the house using Konmari
This concept appears in many sources. But still, this method does not apply to cleaning in its classical sense.
Cleaning is the process of getting rid of trash and dirt. Moreover, it is regular, requiring attention every day.
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Konmari doesn't talk about dusting or washing dishes. She offers a new philosophy of life. And he even announces that by reorganizing your life, you can radically change your thinking, occupation, attitude towards the past and attitude towards the future.
Marie is convinced that everything we do is necessary for happiness. Traveling abroad, buying delicious food, watching an evening movie in front of the TV. And when we do cleaning, our ultimate goal is also to get closer to a state of happiness.
The chain can be built like this: I clean so that the house is beautiful (so that the necessary things can be quickly found/so that I am not ashamed in front of guests/so that my mother does not scold), which means I increase the level of my own internal comfort.
Photo: Instagram lena__giesbrecht
By providing yourself with the most comfortable conditions, a person becomes happier.
The essence of the Konmari method
It can be boiled down to two points:
- getting rid of unnecessary things,
- storage organization.
Ms. Kondo likes to say: you only need to deep clean your home once! Then it simply won't be needed. By cleaning she means total decluttering.
Kondo Marie “Magic cleaning. The Japanese method of cleaning up once and for all"
Like the famous Fly Lady system, KonMari trash is not the ordinary trash that we take out of our homes every day to the landfill. The author suggests parting with things that:
- interfere,
- annoying,
- duplicate each other
- do not like,
- gather dust on the shelf for a long time without hope of use,
- do not match the cut, style, color,
- associated with unpleasant periods in life.
Photo: Instagram scandi_scandi
Once you get rid of the excess, you will be surprised at how cozy your home has become.
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Bathroom
According to the canons of “Magic Cleaning,” the area around the bathroom (including the walls) must be kept completely empty and all care products must be stored in cabinets. The good thing about this method is that the jars will not become slimy, their contents will not deteriorate ahead of time, and most importantly, cleaning the room will become super quick and easy. After use, Marie advises drying shampoos, shower gels, hair conditioners and other products with a towel and then putting them back in place.
- As the expert assures, such a routine only seems complicated, but in fact it greatly simplifies the care of the bathroom.
Illustration of a “joyful bath” from the book “Sparks of Joy”
Things to throw away
Not everyone can immediately determine what they really need to get rid of. This is especially true for experienced “Plyushkins” whose favorite phrase is “just in case.”
Marie offers a hint:
- newspapers, brochures and other advertising “printing” for one-time reading,
- expired cosmetics,
- unsightly clothes and shoes (worn, with holes, faded),
- empty containers (cans, bottles, boxes),
- broken things.
Remember how you usually go through your bins. What thoughts do you have? “Not a bad dress. I can’t say that it’s just “ah”, but you can wear it at home.”
That is, having found an unattractive item, the owners look for a reason to leave it: for the dacha, forays into nature, menial work, or just in reserve. And the ugly dress returns to the hanger. And the occasion under the code word “someday” may never come for him.
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Konmari suggests doing the opposite. Listen to yourself: “Do I really like it? It seems not? If in doubt, say goodbye without hesitation.
Another good criterion for identifying “candidates” for discarding is to focus not on the items you want to give away or recycle, but on those you want to keep.
In this case, the conversation with yourself will look like this: “No, I will never part with this bag! And this pendant is mine forever, I wear it every day!”
When going through things, evaluate them in this way, and leave everything that definitely appeals to your heart.
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And give away or throw away everything that does not evoke warmth, joy, a desire to wear and other pleasant emotions.
#8 – Don’t forget to be grateful
Skeptics should skip this advice. Remember that you should always clean with a pure heart and gratitude. Even those things that have now turned into trash were once new and very necessary for you. They just served their purpose. And before you throw them away, thank them for their work. And the house itself is worth thanking for the roof over your head and comfort. In this case, you can significantly improve the mental atmosphere in your home and attract positive energy into it.
Sorting things
The proposed algorithm applies not only to clothes, but to all “inhabitants” of the house. But let’s look at it for now using clothing as an example.
It is important to work with the categories of things, and not with the places where they are stored.
For example, children's things, especially those that the child has outgrown but would be a pity to throw away, can lie in boxes in different corners of the house, on different mezzanines. Once you decide to declutter, you need to collect them in a pile and go through them in one sitting. Of course, taking into account internal feelings: like it - don’t like it, beautiful - ugly.
Firstly, long-lost but favorite items of the firstborn’s wardrobe may be found that will fit the younger children. Secondly, when you see with your own eyes that you have ten quite decent T-shirts, it will be much easier to throw away the eleventh.
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We usually keep things when we are not sure that there is a worthy replacement for them.
If there are many family members, try to sort out at least one person’s wardrobe in a day. Start in the morning so that you can finish everything by the evening and not postpone the task until tomorrow.
For a clearer idea of the “assortment” of things, arrange them into piles:
- underwear,
- socks and tights,
- t-shirts and tank tops,
- sweatshirts,
- dresses,
- suits,
- trousers,
- scarves,
- belts,
- hats,
- outerwear,
- sportswear.
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Everyone can continue this list and adapt it to suit themselves.
Decluttering by Konmari
When you have taken out all the things of a certain category and put them into groups, the author of the system suggests taking each thing in your hands and “testing” it to see what emotions it evokes in you. Even if the item is of high quality and, by definition, “should be” in your wardrobe as a basic item, but you are not ready to wear it, get rid of it.
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Good clothes don't have to be thrown away. It can be given as a gift, but this moment also requires great awareness.
Marie Kondo advises to “thank” any thing that is no longer needed for its service. The writer, not without reason, believes: if you bought an ugly jacket, then it had its own mission in your life. Perhaps it boiled down to teaching you how to choose your wardrobe more competently.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Marie advises starting with seasonal clothing. And this also makes sense: by refreshing your memory of what exactly you have in stock, you will not buy too much in the run-up to winter or summer. In general, in her opinion, you should not put away either warm or light things.
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In the summer you may need a sweater, and in the winter you can wear a light dress under a warm coat in not very frosty weather.
Although for residents of those regions where the temperature difference is too large, such advice is unlikely to be suitable. After all, you certainly won’t need a fur coat in the hot summer, even on cool evenings.
When decluttering, we very often reclassify household items that are not suitable for going out in public. Marie thinks this approach is wrong. The way a person looks at home affects his mood and the perception of his family members no less than an elegant look.
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A mountain of household items, some of which will not be worn, is also trash. And it needs to be trashed regularly.
Special clothing
Every wardrobe has clothes for special occasions. We are not talking about special events and holidays at all. Tourism, sports and many other activities require a special “uniform”. Some people prefer to have a separate set for working in the garden or home workshop. Marie advises storing such things by categories. Namely: each set for a specific activity should be on its own shelf. If your special clothing is seasonal - let's say it's a ski suit - it can be put away on the far shelf of the closet, having first been protected from dust with a clothing cover. Ms. Kondo also includes “special” items that you wear at home and when you sleep. For home and night clothes, it is appropriate to allocate a whole drawer or shelf.
How to hand out things wisely
Everything that didn’t suit you or didn’t suit you, there’s always somewhere to put it. Place clothes or other items in a separate box. Interview relatives, friends, acquaintances - perhaps they will be useful to someone. Do not impose under any circumstances. People may take things from you out of politeness. And they will end up as trash with your loved ones.
If you see that your mother or friend refuses, take the contents of the box to church - for those in need. And you can sell something through bulletin boards on the Internet.
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Photo: Instagram organized.space
With this sorting, as a rule, up to 30% of the wardrobe is lost. You may want to stock up on items you really like. And it is possible that these things will not only be new, but also stylistically unusual for you.
Vertical storage of things in a closet using the Konmari method
So you're done with decluttering. Now you need to put things compactly. The crown jewel of Marie Kondo’s system is the storage it offers. She advises keeping things in drawers stacked vertically. Why?
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It also happens that changes in the house lead to a reboot of thoughts and vision of oneself.
First, the boxes have a limited size. When they fill up, you inevitably have to declutter or limit yourself in purchases. Secondly, this storage method saves space.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Konmari clearly shows how to fold clothes so that each pile looks perfect, namely in rolls or small smooth rectangles. Then vertically “placed” T-shirts, tights, shorts do not fall, but look neat, like the spines of books or files in a folder. In addition, they do not wrinkle as much as if they were simply thrown without straightening them.
HAUSMANN Linen storage organizer
Once you've folded your clothes, organize them into categories and give each one its own drawer. T-shirts will go to T-shirts, underwear to underwear, jeans to jeans, and so on.
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Make sure that things do not “peek out” from the drawer. Very small products can be rolled into a tube.
And in order not to waste time every day selecting a set of clothes, take into account its colors when sorting.
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By placing things from the same color palette nearby, you can get dressed in a hurry almost automatically.
To organize compact storage, Konmari recommends using dividers, boxes, and baskets. You don’t have to buy it all - we strive for minimalism. You can use your imagination and use materials available at home. For example, shoe boxes: they can be beautifully decorated.
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Magic origami from your clothes
When storing clothes, Marie Kondo suggests following a simple principle: fold and place vertically everything that can be folded. Simple small items of clothing - for example, stockings and scarves - can be folded into neat rolls along the height of the drawer (in one or two folds of the item). Folding things according to Marie Kondo's method is a real art, but anyone can successfully master it if they want. The author of this unique technique recommends folding complex-shaped wardrobe items - T-shirts, sweaters, trousers - into an even rectangle. In this case, you should focus on the shape and size of the item. Marie suggests first folding a standard T-shirt along the long side three times, folding the edges of the product twice towards the middle. The resulting long rectangle is folded several times in the same length until the optimal size is obtained. M. Kondo claims that things folded correctly according to this principle do not wrinkle at all during storage. It’s easy to check whether you folded the T-shirt correctly: the resulting rectangle should stand confidently without support.
How to hang things
Not everything can be compactly placed on a shelf or in a drawer. Marie also gives advice on storing clothes on hangers.
To always see how many blouses, suits, and dresses you have, hang them in groups. Otherwise, the shirt you need may get lost among trench coats, sweaters or trousers.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
You can also hang everything by length - place the longest things on the left and move to the right as they are shortened.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
According to KonMari, organizing your wardrobe in this way brings positive energy. Perhaps this is true. But what is true is that it is very comfortable.
The packaging must be the same
For containers used in the kitchen and bathroom, it is important that they are the same. For cereals, jars (preferably transparent) are purchased; for soap and shampoos, containers of the same type (or dispensers for existing ones) are purchased.
Bag storage
Yes, they also received the attention of the author of the system. The bags are good for their capacity, so they can be stacked into each other, but no more than three pieces.
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It is better to sort handbags by purpose - for shopping, walking, work, children's things, going to the theater.
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Cleaning nuances
Boxes
When you start decluttering, stock up on a few boxes. Each will have an individual purpose. One is for things you want to give away. The other is for those who will go to the trash. The third is for those who return to the dressing room.
Photo: Instagram pureandsimple_org
You can use more than three boxes. The main thing is not to leave sorted items in them for a long time, but rather to take them to their destination.
Cleaning time
Konmari does not recommend delaying this process. Taking small steps to declutter a little bit every day is not her philosophy. The author believes that it is much easier to go through one category of things at a time. For example, clothes one day, kitchen utensils the second, then books, and so on.
Spring cleaning is remarkable because it gives instant results and inspires. When raking a little at a time, you can give up, since there will be no end in sight to your efforts.
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Photo: Instagram idealniy_remont
Cleaning direction
The author of the system advises choosing the vector of your movement around the room so that it is not chaotic. In particular, you can disassemble things by moving from the entrance and clockwise. With a systematic approach, not a single nook and cranny will escape decluttering.
Make cleaning enjoyable
Turn on your favorite music - it will give you more drive and positivity. You can set a timer, thus adding a competitive moment.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Work alone
It’s better to waste time alone, because each person has his own criteria for what is considered useless, and the advice of loved ones can “throw your aim off.” And even if their opinion does not affect your confidence, unnecessary disputes may flare up.
Often, people of the older generation are painful when their children throw away whole bags of things. Even if parents don't try to rescue them and take them to their room, they may be upset by the process.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
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Features of the method for different objects
How to fold bed linen using the Konmari method
Treat sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases the same way you would treat clothes. Everything old, torn, washed out, lost color - go to waste. There are also different sizes of underwear, which are leftovers from previously existing sets.
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First we put one category in order, then another. For example, sheets, then duvet covers, then pillowcases.
After sorting, fold the bedding into rectangles. Also vertical, like clothes (yes, Konmari is a fan of vertical storage; as she admits, even carrots stand in a column in her refrigerator).
Bed linen is heavy and bulky, so it may not stand in even rows like piles of T-shirts. It will definitely fall apart on an ordinary shelf in a closet, so a chest of drawers, drawers, boxes will come to the rescue here too.
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In order for things to stand in neat rows beautifully, you need to practice folding them. But the result is worth it.
How to sort out the contents of bags in Konmari
One of the rules: upon returning from the street, empty absolutely everything from your bag and put it in its place (and every item in the house should have a place!). Ms. Kondo believes that the bag needs to rest overnight.
However, this idea has a prosaic basis: by shaking your reticule, you at the same time declutter it.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
How to store things in the bathroom according to Konmari
The writer does not recommend keeping personal care products on the sides of the bathtub. Moisture and temperature changes can greatly reduce their shelf life, and visual noise does not in any way contribute to peace and relaxation.
Photo: Instagram mariekondo
Place all supplies in cabinets or baskets away from wet areas.
How to get your documents in order using the Konmari system
One of the most capricious categories is paper. They accumulate almost daily and almost all of them are vital. You can drown in their avalanche. We need to declutter, but how? According to the diagram given above.
We form two piles.
First: documents whose importance we have no questions about.
Among them:
- passports,
- birth, marriage, divorce certificates,
- insurance,
- medical policies,
- employment contracts,
- documents for an apartment, house, car,
- warranty cards for equipment.
Phoenix+ Folder for documents Documents A4
Second: documents that need to be sorted out.
What you want to throw out of this:
- old receipts, tickets, flyers,
- outdated receipts,
- letters from banks with offers to issue credit cards.
You can also throw away the instructions for the equipment - all the information is on the Internet. But if you are going to sell this equipment, or it can still be returned under warranty, keep it.
For your safety, it is better not to throw away the papers entirely, but to get rid of them in a more sophisticated way - put them through a shredder, burn them, or, in extreme cases, tear them into small pieces. So that the information cannot be restored.
Photo: Instagram orglady
The remaining documents should be divided into folders. Rigid ones are ideal: yes, Marie Kondo advocates verticality here too.
Documentation
- The basic rule for sorting documents and papers: throw everything away. You only need to leave papers that fall into these three categories: 1). Currently used; 2). Necessary for a limited period; 3). Those documents and papers that need to be stored for a long time. Instructions for using household appliances and irrelevant educational materials should be thrown away.
- Store documents by dividing them into just two categories: those that need to be kept and those that need to be dealt with. The last category includes letters that require a response, questionnaire documents, etc. It is better to store these papers in a separate vertical organizer. At the same time, you need to try to keep it... empty. Its fullness will mean that your affairs are not being solved very productively. The first category of documents is most conveniently divided into rarely used (warranty cards, policies, etc.) and frequently used (for example, current educational materials).
- Organizers with too many compartments make it difficult to sort and find the documents you need. For example, you shouldn't use accordion folders.
See also: How to store receipts, papers and documents: 3 steps to order
