So I think we all (or at least most of us by now) know Marie Kondo as the "spark joy" lady. If it doesn't spark joy in your life, throw it out! But even if you've seen all of Marie Kondo's show, I have some more organization tips you've probably never even thought of before!
First of all, if you're not familiar with Marie, her style is all about minimalism. (And no, not the kind of minimalism where you sell all your possessions and live out of your van traveling the country! Not that there's anything wrong with that, I think it's AWESOME!!)
But Marie Kondo's type of minimalism is more about how you should take every object in your home…in your life!…and be able to explain why it sparks joy.
Now, this doesn't mean you have to feel super giddy about it, but it should provoke either some significant emotion, or a good idea of its function. It should either be able to create joy for you by what it does…like a mixing bowl that allows you to make your favorite cookies…
Or, if it's, say, a book or DVD or collectible tchotchke…you should immediately be able to think of why you love it and why it has some sort of sentimental value. If you can't quickly answer the question, "Why do I have this and want/need it??" then, well, you probably shouldn't have it!
Seems simple enough, but I think Marie Kondo's very catchy question, "Does the spark joy?" is an interesting and exciting, fun enough new take on organization that people are more likely to actually follow through with it. You could say, her new, more fun style "sparks joy" in the dusty old chore of organization. 😉
But now you know what Marie Kondo's show is all about: sparking joy in people's lives, by decluttering them.
So now you're ready to learn about the slight bit of DRAMA that is occurring!!
Now, I don't think this drama against Marie is fair. But the problem some people have is, you'll see on Marie Kondo's show that she advocates things like throwing most of your books away. She recommends keeping only 20 or 30 books. Personally, not that I'm an organizational expert, but I also feel like there is some gray area…where a thing may not spark joy in itself exactly, but it adds to a collection, and doesn't clutter your life. So you should keep it!!
Organization truly does make you feel a lot better. I know that was definitely the case with our farmhouse entryway!
Here are my personal organizational tips that you might try instead, if you would rather. My tip number one is, decrease your storage space. Rather than decreasing the amount of items you have, tell yourself that you are only going to fill up half of the closet on this type of thing, and half of the closet on this type of thing.
Or get a shoe rack (like a big one that has four plus shelves on it 😉 ) and tell yourself those are the only shoes you are going to keep. So rather than deciding on the objects and whether they spark joy…which I think can be difficult…you are just giving yourself a limited amount of space. And so the things that spark the most joy will kind of naturally float up to the top in your mind as things that need to make the list!
You could also try folding and storing your stuff in a different way, which is a big part of Marie Kondo's show. She recommends folding shirts in drawers not "one on top of the other," but stacking them all on their side, so you can see all the items at once.
That way, if something JUMPS out at you as something you don't need and want to throw away, you see it! You don't forget about it at the bottom of some pile!!
Also, it's easier to stay organized when you're not constantly digging through a drawer, right?
Overall, I think the tips on Marie Kondo's show are great and I really recommend watching (binge-watching!!). But I think you could also modify some of these rather strict ideas to fit your own life, like limiting your storage space rather than limiting your items. Whittling my book collection down to 20 or 30 would be impossible, sorry!
Which method would you personally rather use in your life? Are you the type of person who needs to go cold turkey…and would have to follow Marie Kondo's show 100%…or you wouldn't accomplish anything? That is definitely valid, I think!
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