The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Have you heard about this book? Nope, the title of this post is not original content. This is actually the title of a bestselling book by Marie Kondo about, you guessed it, tidying up.

All you mom’s out there probably know “tidying up” all too well because that’s mostly what we do, right? Tell me I’m not the only one who cleans a room (and am so proud!), only to walk into the next room and see every book off the shelf or poop on the floor (this literally happened on Saturday).

Tidying up is endless. Endless I say! Well, according to the author of this book, it doesn’t have to be so.

The basic idea behind her tidying philosophy is: look at your stuff, if it doesn’t spark joy, toss it. I’m only about halfway through the book, but stopped after the first category to tidy. The first category was clothes (she groups accessories in here too like shoes and bags).

So, Saturday afternoon I roamed the house and literally threw all my clothes on the floor.

I have to admit, I sort of regretted doing it immediately because then I had to deal with them. I mean, they were all over the damn floor. So, I got started.

I sorted (or tried) my clothes into piles: pants, shorts, tank tops, sweaters, etc. Then I started my pile of giveaway clothes.

I feel like I need this chick here in my house so she can really hammer on me… “DOES THIS SPARK JOY!?” Most likely, to most clothes, I would say, “no……..but……” But nothing. Just no.

Since it was just me, I’m thinking some clothes may have fallen through the cracks, but I’m proud of my giveaway pile! Or giveaway piles…5 LARGE garbage bags full of clothes, shoes, and bags.

Maybe I should “tidy up” my Halloween decorations, no? I’m getting there I swear.

I’m not quite done tidying the clothes. I do have some in a storage unit (ugh..I know, it’s endless!). Not many, but they’re still there. I’m thinking that I may just give them all away (I’ll double check first). They’ve been in a storage unit for almost a year and I haven’t missed them. Most of them are dresses that are all about 7-10 years old (college clothes) and let’s be honest, I don’t hit the clubs often anymore.

The author, Marie Kondo, had a good point about clothes that I tried to keep in mind. Take a look at a piece of clothing and think about when you wore it/bought it. What was your life like then? Well, in my case for my dressier clothes, they were all bought while I was in college (or immediately after). I was living in cities, going to bars, and partying a lot more than I am now. Those clothes served their purpose. But my life is different now, so I no longer need them.

Obviously I am keeping a few dresses. Dresses that I love, that, like she says, “spark joy.” But I think I did a pretty good job de-cluttering…at least my clothes. Next up: BOOKS.

I honestly didn’t plan on posting about this so I don’t have a “before” closet picture, but here’s my after!

Yes, our baby sleeps in our closet.

Since I haven’t finished the book, I can’t say yet if I recommend it. I certainly recommend the idea though. I think we all could use a little de-cluttering. Like I said, books are next, then baby clothes, baby toys, MAKEUP (a big one for me) and who knows what else I’ll get my hands on.

 

Do you de-clutter? Have you tried this method?