Tidying Up Marie Kondo Style

I love a good Netflix binge, so when I started seeing a lot of friends post about their major house tidying because of a show, I knew I had to see the show. To avoid giving away anything to those who haven’t seen Marie Kondo’s series Tidying Up, I won’t go into any major details of her method on this post.

I will say that her main idea is to only keep things that spark joy. Meaning, if you hold something in your hands, ask yourself “Does this spark joy in me?” If the answer is no, say bye bye to it. So with that in mind, I forced my husband to help me tackle our first category according to the KonMari method: clothing.

The Before

I will admit that my husband’s ridiculous amount of clothing caused me to want to start this in the first place. Sorry Corey if you are reading this, but your clothing was Out. Of. Con. Trol.

My husband’s clothes in the guest room dresser.

He had clothing strewn all about the house. In the guest room dresser drawers, in the guest room closet, in the hutch in our dining room, in his assigned bedroom drawers, in his half of the closet, and in a bin under the guest bed. As well as clothing on top on the dryer and in the hamper. I’ll admit, I too had a ridiculous amount of clothes, but at least all of mine were in my side of the closet and my assigned bedroom drawers.  

So, after making him watch about an episode and a half of the show, I did what Marie Kondo tells her clients to do. I took all of my clothing, every single piece, and made one giant pile on the floor. My husband begrudgingly made his pile on the bed.

My son crawling over my mountain of clothing.

 

Then the real work began. We each had to hold every single piece of our clothing and decide if it sparks joy. I started with clothing that I already knew I wanted to get rid of (hint: it’s way easier to start with clothes you know you don’t want anymore).

My prom dress from 2004.

So I started with what are my fancy shmancy dresses. AKA, I still had prom dresses from my high school days. As I held one of them, I pondered why I even still had it. I would never fit into it again. Seventeen year old me used to run about 5 miles a day for cross country and track, plus she didn’t even really have boobs yet.

So the answer was, it would never fit again and was simply taking up space in my closet. But, it still sparked joy. It was so pretty and brought me so many happy memories. 

I knew I wanted to give it up, but I didn’t want it to go to some random person. I wanted to see it again. So, I donated it to the costume department at a theater in which I participate. I hope to see it on stage one day and feel joy in seeing it being used for something I love.

And so it continued, my clothing purge. There were so many clothes that I hadn’t worn in at least a year. I had “work” clothes I was saving for some day in the future when I was done being a stay-at-home mom even though I hadn’t worn them since I became pregnant with my son three years ago. There were even old t-shirts from high school and junior high days, many with holes in them.

I had simply held on to certain articles of clothing for sentimental reasons. Those t-shirts that I couldn’t stand to get rid of because of their sentimental value will now piece together to become a nice t-shirt quilt.

My missing holiday sweater after it was found!

I even found my favorite holiday sweater that I had been looking for all Christmas season. I had even gone so far as to blame my husband for its loss. I incorrectly thought he had taken it to work for ugly sweater day last year and lost it. Nope. I had lost it within the mass amount of clothes I had hanging in my closet. 

 

 

 

 

The After

After about six hours my husband and I had 6 giant trash bags full of clothing, shoes, belts, and purses to donate.

All of our other clothing that sparked joy, was now safely folded the proper KonMari way and tucked into our dressers (only the dressers in our bedroom I might add) or properly hung in our bedroom closet that now had a whole heck of a lot more space. 

My KonMari folded and stacked clothing.

I am loving our new space. I used to hate going into our closet because it was always a mess. I avoided it like the plague and had really only started to wear clothing that was accessible from my dresser drawers since I hated rifling through my closet clothes so much.

We can finally see the floor of our closet again! I can actually walk inside my walk-in!

And I must say, I am so proud of my husband. He did a great job weeding through his things and recognized just how ridiculous it was that he had clothing in random drawers throughout the entire house.

Tidying up our shared clothing space was a great way to start out our 2019 and we know we have a lot of work cut out for us in the other KonMari categories.

I know not everything will be as easy as clothing, and I am really not looking forward to our next category: books.

I am a self professed bibliophile who always dreamed of having her own library a la Belle in Beauty and the Beast, but I know I will feel so much better when it’s done and our house will be much tidier. And after all, isn’t a tidy house all we moms dream of? Well that and a night alone in a hotel room with room service where we can get some decent sleep and watch whatever we want to watch, but who’s to say?

 

 

Where to Donate:

Donation time!

Looking for places to donate things that no longer spark joy in you? Check out these great local spots and spark joy in others:

  • The SAFE Alliance –  “The SAFE Alliance is a merger of Austin Children’s Shelter and SafePlace, both long-standing and respected human service agencies in Austin serving the survivors of child abuse, sexual assault and exploitation, and domestic violence.” 
  • Austin Pets Alive – “Austin Pets Alive! is not your average animal shelter. We maintain comprehensive, innovative programs designed to save the animals most at risk for euthanasia.”
  • Texas Baptist Children’s Home– “Texas Baptist Children’s Home (TBCH) embraces children and families in need in order to empower and equip them for a promising future…Our residential programs provide a safe home and a stable family environment where they can learn, grow, and ultimately experience a happy, healthy future.”
  • Front Steps – “The individuals and families that come to Front Steps find themselves in a range of circumstances. Some have recently lost their home, job, or health insurance. Others have been living on the streets for years and are at various stages of having their needs addressed. Some are dealing with health issues, mental illness, substance abuse, or emotional crisis, in addition to their income and housing needs.”
  • The Caring Place Georgetown, Tx- “Since 1985, The Caring Place has provided basic human services for families in financial crisis in Georgetown and northern Williamson County.”
  • The Settlement Home for Children– “The Settlement Home is a private, licensed nonprofit that cares for children who come from abusive and neglectful backgrounds. Our mission is to promote healing and growth in children, young adults and families by providing a continuum of care, support and resources.”
  • Your local school district’s Clothes Closet that help to provide clothing to students in need within each district. Some examples are the Leander ISD Clothes Closet and the Round Rock ISD Clothes Closet
  • Your local high school theater department or local community theaters often have costume departments or prop departments in need of things.
  • Your local Goodwill or Salvation Army

Have you tried tidying up Marie Kondo style?? 

Veronica DeSantos Ryan
Hi Austin mamas! I am Veronica DeSantos Ryan, a mama from Round Rock. My husband and I moved to the area in 2014 and love every minute of it. Our baby Oliver (May 2016) is the light of our life and we are enjoying every minute with him. After spending seven years teaching, I decided that I wanted to be a stay at home mom and teacher of life to my little boy. As a family we love running with Ollie in his jogger stroller, having picnics outside, playing with our two dogs and exploring all the the Austin area has to offer! I am also a performing princess for Lexi's Little Princesses Princess company, a teaching artist at The Georgetown Palace Theatre, and a member of the singing group The Vintage Dreams. I am an avid reader, piano player, singer, and occasional actress in community theater, and have recently been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles and More.

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