Stuff. It’s everywhere.
Many homes house stuff shoved into corners, papers strewn everywhere, and things forgotten about amongst all the clutter.
I never really thought about being intentional with my home until about 2 years ago. For most of my life, I threw, shoved, dropped, kicked, and did other things to my clothes and products. I didn’t look at my home as a living, breathing thing, didn’t have gratitude for the walls and ceilings and floors, and didn’t see each and every object as intentionally there.
For most of my life, I never spoke to objects (I know, it sounds crazy), held them to my heart to see if they “sparked joy,” or thanked them for being a part of my life.
But I can personally attest that after going through the KonMari process in our home, I’ve been able to relax deeper, breathe easier, and truly bask in what I love about my home!
So if you’ve found yourself:
- Shoving things in closets
- Throwing things in corners
- Opening crammed drawers
- Flooded with clothes you never wear
I 100% recommend the KonMari method for you!
Who is Marie Kondo and what is the KonMari method?
Created by Marie Kondo, a Japanese organizing consultant, the KonMari method has been a revolutionary philosophy of tidying up that’s about so much more than simply decluttering your home. Instead of it being about reducing and minimizing, the Marie Kondo method is about mindfully curating a space that sparks joy, and fostering a deep, meaningful connection with the belongings that truly enrich your life.
Marie Kondo’s unique approach invites you to ask a simple question about each and every single item in your home:
“Does this spark joy?”
If the answer is ‘yes,’ the item earns its place in our home. If the answer is ‘no,’ we thank the item for its service and let it go, clearing space for more joy and less clutter.
By doing this, we’re doing so much more than just tidying up our physical space; we’re creating an environment that actually aligns with our personal values, aspirations, and truest loves, no matter how simple they may be.
Through this, I’ve noticed a very clear shift in the intentionality and joy in the possessions in our home. If you’re still exploring your options in how to organize your home, take a look at these reasons why, in our opinion, Marie Kondo’s methodology is the best!
33 reasons why KonMari (Marie Kondo’s method) is the best way to organize your home
- Before everything, it encourages you to imagine your ideal lifestyle, so you can see how you’d like the process to look once you’re finished and how it can support your day-to-day.
- It helps you foster gratitude for each and every item in your home by speaking to your clothes as if they were people (it’s not crazy, I promise).
- It brings intentionality with each and every item; as opposed to simply dumping anything you haven’t worn in the past 6 months, you’re forced to take each and everything into your hands and decide if they spark joy for you or not.
- It doesn’t require silly rules like needing to throw something away every time you buy something new.
- It forces you to fully address one category before moving on to the next. It’s easy to get distracted, then overwhelmed, then stuck on organizing when there are so many things, but with KonMari, you have simple categories and steps to follow.
- Each category is intentionally ordered from least sentimental to most, so you can build up your ability to decipher what sparks joy. It starts with clothes, then books, then papers, then komono (miscellaneous), and then sentimental items last so you’re used to the process for (sometimes) the most difficult one.
- Your decision-making process is meant to come from your heart, not some weird formula that could have many exceptions.
- It has you see objects as people, and when letting go of things, recognize that it served a purpose (even if the purpose was teaching you what you don’t want).
- It requires a sense of gratitude, which eventually goes into the way you treat your home far after your Marie Kondo process is finished. Eventually, you’ll start learning how to see if something sparks joy before you bring it into your home.
- If you do it correctly the first time, you never have to do it again; there becomes no such this as needing to do spring cleaning, or decluttering, more than regular upkeeping and resetting spaces.
- It teaches you folding techniques that don’t hide items like stacking would. Now, you’ll be able to see all of your clothes clearly and cleanly.
- The folding techniques you’ll learn will force intentionality when doing your laundry, allowing you to go through each clothing piece to see where it’s fraying or stretching so you can stay close to your belongings.
- It doesn’t make you throw away things that spark joy! If something sparks joy, then you can keep it— it’s as simple as that! (You’ll just have to make sure you know how to feel for that joy.)
- It teaches you sock organization that keeps socks together and doesn’t let the tops get stretched out!
- The methodology uses tidying as a tool, not as a destination— it’s to live a clean and clutter-free life that sparks joy, not to make your home look like a Crate & Barrel catalog.
- It makes the act of tidying a ritualistic moment and a celebration, rather than a chore. There’s gratitude, appreciation, and presence in the tidying experience.
- It has you give everything a home, grouping things together so you don’t have several places for one thing (a common issue for many people striving for a more organized home).
- Some KonMari consultants create a “Spark Joy” board (or you can do this on your own!) which helps you determine whether something sparks joy later in the process when you’re trying to decide.
- Gets you to take everything, and we mean everything out! Those items lurking in the back of your closet are finally going to see daylight so you can make a solid decision about them once and for all.
- It has you immediately make decisions about clothes and get rid of them promptly— no waiting around for days to decide on something.
- You can follow along with others doing it on the Netflix special, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo!
- You’re following a technique that Marie Kondo used after trying pretty much every other organizational process. She’s done it all since she was a little girl, has trial-and-errored the other different types, and knows the solution to all of them.
- The technique has you discard before you organize, so you can have a cleaner slate to work with.
- You’re instructed to fold in small rectangles, which both save space and look amazing!
- You’re encouraged to make each and every part of your home spark joy, including the little nooks and crannies like drawers, the corners of cabinets, and the bottoms of closets. Everything is meant to be joyful and intentional.
- The clothes sorting process is meant to go along with the psychology of our brains, getting sorted based on darker clothes in the back and/or on the left and lighter clothes in the front and/or on the right.
- The hanging technique for clothes also goes along with human psychology with the longest clothes on the left and the shortest clothes on the right.
- You’ll realize how many useless papers are clogging up your life and how many pounds you’ve been storing just because, especially manuals that you can easily look up online!
- There’s no required number of things you need to get rid of, nor is there a minimalistic standpoint— if you have many more things that spark joy than your neighbor, you still can work through the process successfully!
- Once your home is cleaner using the method, it’s so much easier to clean and more enjoyable, since you’re only cleaning things that spark joy (everything).
- the “Spark Joy” mentality tends to blend into other parts of your life— like relationships, get-togethers, and other things that happen in your home and life. Things, events, and people “Sparking Joy” becomes more relevant the more you practice it.
- The method itself forces you to stay focused, so you’re not walking around with bins ready to be organized for weeks. Speed and efficiency are encouraged, so you can get a more organized home faster.
- The method encourages teaching children how to be mindful of their objects through folding and being intentional with what they have.
If you haven’t yet, check out The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy, both by Marie Kondo and both of which arm you with everything you need to know about tidying up your space.
The process might seem overwhelming, especially when you see pictures of people with piles of clothes stacked up on their beds, but it completely changed our lives for the better and I know it will change yours too!
Enjoy exploring KonMari and all the amazing benefits of introducing its magic into your home. I think one of the biggest steps to basking in the magick of your home is starting with the KonMari process. Only after it, did I start understanding the importance of truly intentional and joy-filled living.
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33 reasons why KonMari is the best way to organize your home
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