Over the past few weeks, you may have heard the name ‘Marie Kondo’ and the term ‘KonMari’ for the first time and wondered who and what they are. Marie Kondo is a Japanese organising expert, with a passion and talent for decluttering. Her 2011 book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, became an international bestseller and has sold millions of copies in 30 different countries.

Following the success of her book, on January 1st this year, Netflix brought out Kondo’s first TV show Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, in which she visits families to help give them advice on how to organise and declutter their homes. The show has exposed more people to her KonMari method of tidying, as well as giving more tips to her already huge fanbase. In this post, I’ll be explaining the KonMari method, as well as practical ways you can use it to get your house organised and tidy for 2019.

The KonMari method is divided into five categories. When tidying up and sorting , Kondo recommends following this order of categories:

  1. Clothing
  2. Books
  3. Papers
  4. Komono (anything miscellaneous)
  5. Sentimental Items

Marie Kondo advises people to follow these steps exactly, without skipping any or disrupting the order.

As well as the five categories, Kondo has six steps to follow when actually sorting through your things:

  1. Commit yourself to tidying until you’re finished.
  2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle as motivation.
  3. Finish discarding before you tidy.
  4. Tidy by category, not location.
  5. Follow the order.
  6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy.

What does ‘spark joy’ mean?

Kondo says that when you hold an item in your hands, it should spark joy in you. Perhaps it is an item of clothing you feel good in, or a photo frame that you treasure – these are the things that make you light up, therefore the things you should keep. Everything that doesn’t bring joy is to be discarded.

Here are some tips on how to use KonMari in small ways in your home.

  • Fold everything into thirds to make rectangles – then stand up your clothes in your drawers rather than laying flat.
  • Make a home for everything (and make sure everything returns to its home).
  • Use clear storage containers so that you can easily find things by seeing what’s inside, like these.
  • Sort items into drawers by their size and likeness.
  • Your home may look more messy before it gets tidy – trust the process.
  • When throwing things away, appreciate and be grateful for the way they once served you.
  • Don’t save things that are broken – you probably won’t find time to fix them.

Finally, here a few things to keep in mind when following KonMari.

  • Some mundane items simply won’t spark joy (such as a sink plunger, etc) but are completely necessary for your home.
  • You don’t HAVE to get rid of anything. There’s been a lot of discussion about the idea of getting rid of books – if you love to be surrounded by books, that is perfectly fine and you can’t be forced to part with them!
  • Actually MAINTAIN your new tidied up house.
  • Be mindful of how you’re discarding items – where you can, donate items to friends or a charity/centre.
  • Try to HAVE FUN tidying – while it is often seen as boring, tidying is a very positive experience and can be truly life changing!

So there is a quick rundown of KonMari! I hope you found the post useful, and let me know if you follow the method when decluttering your own home!