After visiting Lar in Scotland last month, I was so impressed with how organized and spacious her 550 square foot flat felt. It’s all because of her devotion to Marie Kondo’s “life changing tidying-up” techniques. Read Lar’s original KonMari post if you’re unfamiliar with the concept. So I decided it was high time for me to jump on the tidying-up bandwagon and get started with the hardest category (for me, at least): clothes.
I’m totally embarrassed to show these before photos, but without them, you wouldn’t get the full “life changing” feel. So, here you go. My “closet” before:
My house was built in 1947 and has teeny, tiny closets by 2015 standards. Troy uses the small closet in the master bedroom and I use the second bedroom as my closet. I always imagined getting built-ins one day, but not anytime soon. So my closet consisted of two Ikea clothing racks, a Target cube storage unit and piles of shoes. Yes. I was ashamed of my closet.
So I spent one Sunday sorting through all of my clothes category by category and deciding which pieces “sparked joy” and were worth keeping. Marie Kondo believes that you have to sort through similar items all at once. So that means going through every item of clothing in your house – winter/summer clothes, coats, pjs – everything. It was pretty overwhelming to see exactly how many tops, pants, bags, scarves, jewelry, shoes etc. I had.
It took at least five hours: sorting everything, deciding what to keep, bagging up everything to give away, deciding what to fold and hang, folding almost everything (another Marie Kondo technique), reorganizing, and putting everything away. I gave away over nine trash bags full of clothes, shoes and jewelry to Second Life, my local thrift store. And after all of that, this is what I have left:
The photo above includes all of my clothes (minus jackets and coats), shoes, and scarves that I currently own and it feels amazing! Everything except some blouses and four dresses are folded KonMari style:
Including my socks and underwear. Yep. Underwear gets folded.
The fascinator is the only hat I kept and out of 20+ scarves, I only kept three:
Apart from five rings and three bangles, this board contains all of my jewelry:
And these are the bags that I kept:
Part of me can’t believe I gave away so much and the other part of me can’t believe I kept so much stuff for so long. It’s been a week since I’ve done my big clean-out and I still feel great about it. The only items I’m missing are a good black cardigan (the one I owned got a lot of use but it didn’t spark joy because it was shapeless and worn-looking), another pair of jeans (I only kept one pair!), and a winter coat.
The best part was that I didn’t buy any new organizational items. I used all the furniture I already have. Yes, someday I would like to own a proper dresser, but I’m fine spending my time saving up for something I really like. Until then, the Target cube unit will do just fine.
If you want more KonMari inspiration, read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, peruse Lar’s KonMari purse post and follow my friend’s KonMari-devoted Instagram account. Also Goop has a pretty great KonMari folding guide complete with videos.
Sorting through my clothes is only the beginning. I’d like to spend one to two weekends a month tackling different categories. I think books are up next followed by all of my papers. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!
Oh man, this is so inspiring! My closet is a total mess, I have to do something about it, and this might just be the way forward. I am going to buy the book and will also start on my clothes and my kitchen items + food pantry items second.
Keep me posted on how it goes! It truly feels life changing!
– Cath
This is amazing!!! I am totally blown away. The daylight streaming in on all of your hard work is a nice added bonus. 😉
Doesn’t it feel so good? I felt like I got “new clothes” when I went through this process. Or at least like I zeroed in on my style. Now when I get dressed in the morning I don’t spend any time second-guessing my choices. Have you experienced the same thing?
I don’t regret getting rid of anything – even though I donated nearly half of my clothes. But I do hear ya on the “black cardigan” front. I got rid of every raincoat I own, because they didn’t spark joy. Buuuuut, they did keep me dry when it rained! ><
Thanks for the insta shout out!
Of course! I love the IG account! It’ll keep me inspired as I go through this process with every category in the house.
I totally feel like I have ‘new clothes’ and I get a sense of calm every time i walk into my closet, which I never felt before.
Maybe we should go cardigan and rain jacket shopping together. It’s funny because I really prefer shopping online, but I won’t know if something sparks joy until I actually hold it in my hands.
– Cath
Wow, everything looks great, Cath! (And I spy grippy socks in there. How’s the barre class going?)
I still LOVE barre class. I haven’t been going as much because it’s crazy expensive. I’m trying to figure out how I can cut some things out of my monthly expenses so I can get back into taking it more than 3 times a week.
How’s it going for you?
wow! cath this is sooooooo impressive. i wish i had half of your motivation!!!
Seriously, if I can do it, you can do it! I was dreading it at first, but as soon as I started I became more energized. I still can’t believe I did it all in one day!
I have heard some people mention this method, and it sounds very interesting. And I can’t believe you only kept one pair of jean — seems scary! 🙂
It totally freaked me out at first and I will definitely need to purchase another pair. But that’s the beauty of KonMari. I really liked wearing that one pair of jeans and only wore the other ones because they kind of fit okay. I think the hardest part will be finding another pair that spark joy – I hate shopping for pants!
One day and 9 bags is super impressive!!! Especially considering you don’t regret anything!
Right?! I’m still kind of surprised. I need have a nightmare that night that I gave away all of my clothes and didn’t have anything to wear. I think it was my subconsciousness freaking out. But other than that, it’s felt nothing but great!
Cath, this is sooooo amazing!! I can’t believe how much you got rid of and how empty your closet room looks now! I will probably do a wee bit of Konmari-ing before I repack things to take out to Seattle. I know we have some stuff in Mom and Dad’s basement and in the West End home. I can’t wait to help you do other parts of your house too. I get to see you in 10 DAYS!!!!
xoxoxox
Lar
10 days!!! That’s insane! I can help you konmari stuff at mom and dad’s and at the west end house. I bet you don’t even remember what you kept!
I LOVE this! We are huge fans of KonMari and are in the process of getting rid of TONS of furniture (hello Craigslist!). I’m also in the process of cleaning out my closet and creating capsule wardrobes. A very similar concept, but it allows for a few things with the changing of the season and VERY selective shopping, if you desire.
So good to see you two!