For our first-ever Enjoy Life Project, we are working on Creating Home. The first step is to purge my home of the unnecessary, anything that isn’t useful beautiful or loved. I am using the KonMari method, developed by Marie Kondo, a Japanese decluttering guru and author of two book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up {LM} and Spark Joy {SJ}.  You can check out my intro, discussion of her one criteria, and Part I of Category I: Clothes. Then head back over here for Part II.

It was not my intention to have two posts for Clothes but as I was drafting, I realized that I had a lot to say and the post was getting way longer than it should be.  So, I am back with some surprising discoveries, and bit more about my process and tips for tidying my clothes. It is a little long so get comfy. I will also be answering your questions from the previous Clothes post. Thanks for asking. I have been living with a tidy closet for just under a month so I also wanted to share my observations about that as well.

A Word About Folding

Marie Kondo has a very specific way to fold which is unlike anything I have ever seen.  Her folding method is THE only key you need to maintaining a tidy drawer. Her book, Spark Joy, and watching her show on Netflix provided all the examples I needed to learn her folding method.  But there are plenty of instructional videos on YouTube about how to fold the KonMari way.  A simple Google search revealed over 34,000 matches, some by Marie Kondo herself.

I had been discussing with the Hubby the possibility of purchasing another dresser.  We have an odd number of drawers and he has the extra large one.  After purging my wardrobe and following her method of folding, I sheepishly related to him that our dresser would suffice. Needless to say, he is very much relieved.

Look at my drawers before and after.  All because of the KonMari method of folding. Her tip to store vertically instead of horizontally, essentially, placing things upright in a drawer, has changed my life.  I didn’t think I would be able to use this hanging cubby that I purchased from Target during one of my closet cleanouts three years ago but it has worked beautifully.

And the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  They still look like this.  Further,  because I am responsible for putting away the laundry of our entire household, I went ahead and refolded the Hubby’s drawers using this method.  Keeping his drawer neat has been an underlying point of dissatisfaction for me in our marriage since forever.  Petty, I know but I am happy to say that Marie has relieved that irritant.  His drawers are STILL neat after about a month!

I must confess that I didn’t follow her folding guidelines that last time I attempted the KonMari process, three years ago.  You really do need to follow her instructions for maximum effectiveness.

Surprising Discoveries

I do NOT need any more boots.  In fact, all winter I have been searching for some boots that were somewhere between winter boots with fur and dressy boots with cutouts.  And a wedge would be nice.  Kind of like these. 

Yep! They were in my closet all along.  I’m so glad I couldn’t find any. It would have been a colossal waste of money. I do, however, need rain boots.  I have worn a crack into my Chooka’s.  I am sad.  I loved those things.

I have a lot of bags and I knew I didn’t need anymore.  Because of the type of bags I own, very structure, I am unable to store bags inside each other per Marie’s recommendation.  But I did purge a few and they are currently in their dust bags, one of them is blue, above my hanging clothes.  I need to remember what I own.  So I haven’t finalized that storage solution as yet. I have, also,  started following Marie’s advice to empty my bag every night into a storage box in my nightstand.  It has helped me switch to wear one of the other bags that I love, all ready instead of carrying the same one for laziness sake.

Then there were the undergarments! Undergarments have always seemed to be more of a functional thing that didn’t really matter.  Well, according to Marie, when dealing with undergarments, we should turn the “joy sensor on full”.  So, thinking that my panties should spark joy is something that I need to get used to. I did throw out anything that was old, had holes or was torn, and wonder of wonders, that number was over seven pairs, over half of my collection.  It is interesting that Marie states that after tidying, underwear is, by far, the top items that clients go out and replace, sometimes that same day. I didn’t replace them that same day. I bought some more the next day.

And I found the neatest storage place to store them. The questions was asked about the lovely and colorful pink and blue box sitting inside my closet. That was a gift from my dear friend, Domonique. Inside she had placed a number of spa items, candles, salts, etc. and presented it to me for Christmas.  Well, afterward, I was unsure of what to do with the box.  Now, it holds my underthings and everytime I go to put them on, I think of her and her lovely gesture.  Talk about sparking joy.

 

As I stated, I had been thinking we needed another dresser. The drawers in our main dresser are very deep, preventing easy access to clothes on the bottom.  But Marie suggest storing things in layers, filling the bottom of the dresser with folded clothes and resting a removable box or box lid on top of them which will hold other clothes, preferable lighter weight items. It worked. Which brings me to my first tip.

Tips

Hang on to ALL boxes that are in good condition throughout the tidying process.  You will probably be able to use them again sometimes in the most unlikely places.

If you are unsure of whether an item “sparks joy”, it’s in-season and you have worn it within the last two weeks, hang on to it.  It is a useful piece and joy can be found in that usefulness. I I have added the item to my shopping list and now am on the hunt for a replacement that sparks joy. Thanks for that question.

If you really love an item, it is highly sentimental, hold it for the Sentimental category at the end of your tidying marathon. I’ve included my wedding dress, shoes and purse; my faux fur coat and a coat from my Aunt; and some running tees, into this category.  I will come back to them at the end.

After clothes, ride your momentum and move to the next category.

Still to Do

My closet doesn’t have a light inside and with my affinity for black clothing, everything looks the same.  I need to get some lighting in there.  Additionally, I still have quite a few feet of storage space that I can use as I continue to declutter my home.  We will see what gets stored back there.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: Over the past year, on and off, I have been slowing working through Anuschka Reese’s book, The Curated Closet. Her process was also very helpful in decided things that didn’t necessarily spark physical joy but I needed to keep.  It helped me decide about a few things that I was on the fence about. That’s where I got my tip for if you have something in the last two weeks, you should hang on to it until you find a suitable replacement.

I also decided to follow Anuschka’s suggestion and store my off-season shorts, pants, and tees in a clothing storage bag underneath my bed.  I have tried keeping all season clothes in my closet before and don’t like it.  My storage bag is like a drawer so it allows for the vertical storage that Marie Kondo recommends. I can see everything that I put it in there.

Marie said that the tidying process represents a huge turning point in a person’s life. I’m already finding that to be true.

Did any of you guys work on your closets at all?

Next Up? Category 2: Books!

enjoy life…