Not-so-shocking confession: I’m messy. Always have been. Neatness and organization are not my strong suits. I heard there are people who are “Born Organized” and then there’s the rest of us. For some of us organization comes naturally; some of us have to work a little harder at it. (I’m not one for pigeonholing yourself, but I think this one is kinda true- not immutable but true.) But whichever category you fall into, the idea of a decluttered, tidy home is appealing. If your home is already “tidy,” new ideas for organization probably get you excited the way a shopper gets excited over a big sale. If the idea of “tidying up” makes you feel a little queasy and overwhelmed, I’m right there with you. But there’s hope!

I have constantly searched for ways to bring a little order to our home. For years it was just a struggle. I’d try new ways to make sense of things, creating schedules and checklists, only to end up with things pretty much the same way.

For a long time, I beat myself up about this. Feeling like a failure at this domesticity thing. But I’m kind of over that now. For the most part. Sure it would be nice to have pretty handwriting and wrap things up just so. But it’s ok. I’m good at other things.

I’m not completely letting myself off the hook for becoming a tidier person though. Clutter and mess are not good for the soul. I believe that. It’s also nice to let someone in your house and not feel embarrassed by the mess!

Now that my children are a little bit older and more self-sufficient I feel like I can breathe a little. Just getting through the day was task enough back when we had babies and toddlers. Without the excuse of having little ones home making a mess all day, it’s time for me to grow up and get my sh*t together. My husband feels the same way. So…we are trying to get our acts together around the house. Spruce things up, get organized.

Before I ate healthily and exercised, I read a lot about eating healthily and exercising. I’m hoping this whole organizing thing will work the same way. I’ve always been intrigued by how the other side lives. My “Cleaning and Organizing” board on Pinterest is quite impressive, not to brag or anything. So I think I can turn this mess around.

The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up

So, a while ago, I came across a book: The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo. I probably saw it on Facebook and/or Pinterest, eventually bought it, and started reading it with a mixture of hope and resentment. (That’s how I usually feel when I read about clean people.)

It’s interesting, but a little dry, and not exactly the “fun book” I like to read before bed. I ended up giving up on it and, lo and behold, it got buried in the clutter of my bedroom.

Recently this Marie Kondo person resurfaced in my world. I heard that she has a show on Netflix- Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. I made my husband and children watch it one night and will either regret or celebrate that day for the foreseeable future…

My husband and oldest daughter are obsessed.

The bright side: My husband has taken over all laundry responsibilities! This is life-changing. The Life-changing Magic of My Husband Doing the Laundry.

The downside: My husband made me sort through all my clothes and get rid of stuff.

I’m a little touchy about my lack of neatness skills. And I have slight-to-moderate packrat tendencies. So I bristle a little bit when the topic comes up and we may have had a few fights about it over the years.

This part actually wasn’t as bad as I thought, though. And I have to say it feels pretty good so far.

How We (and by we I mean my husband) Are Approaching It

Marie Kondo recommends tidying up by category, not location. So you don’t do a room at a time. You tackle one of her 5 categories at a time. We may not follow her method exactly, but we are taking one thing at a time, starting with clothing.

We’re also sorting and decluttering one person at a time. My husband and Rose were first, then me. Next weekend we’ll tackle my younger daughter’s clothes and the following weekend the boys’ clothing. Finally, we’ll address the bins in the attic containing hand-me-downs and seasonal clothing.

This is how the process for my clothing looked in the beginning:

We pulled all of my clothes out and piled them on my bed. There’s something to be said for seeing it all out there. Nothing can escape! And it forces you to grasp how much stuff you have.

Another main premise of Marie Kondo’s method is only keeping items that “spark joy.” You hold each item of clothing and ask yourself if it really makes you feel joyful. If it doesn’t you thank it and place it lovingly in the “toss” pile. (I’m not sure if you really have to place it lovingly…but I did thank each item and in some cases, it really made it easier for me to give it up.)

The joy part might be a stretch for most of my clothes. Very few items sparked joy. If I tossed everything that didn’t I would be wearing pajamas to work.

She is also big on folding things a certain way. You make little tripod kind of shapes so things stand up, lined up in your drawer. This way you can see what everything is without having to lift up the stuff on top. I think this is the part that really sparked joy in my husband and daughter 🙂

Can we get back to the laundry part for a minute? Like he does everything- throws it in the washing machine, then the dryer, then takes the clothes out of the dryer, folds them, and puts them away. That last part is the most strange and shocking part.

This “putting them right away” thing is so foreign to me. And brilliant! And how about the folding?! Folding the clothes like this so you can see what everything is? Amazing!

Look at my drawers!

These two are my favorites. My “workout tops” and “workout bottoms” drawers. I used to have all my workout clothes crammed into one drawer. To get something out I would have to tug and yank for fear of having to pull the drawer out all the way. And the drawer NEVER fully closed. Now it opens and closes easily and I can see what everything is!

When we finish all the clothes we’ll move on to another category. I think the sentimental stuff will be the hardest for me…let’s see how I feel about Marie Kondo then.

While Luke and Rose tidy, I will read the book. Ha! Just kidding. They are fighting over who gets to read the book first, then I’ll get to read it. My part of the deal? Keep my stuff neat. Stay on top of everything. And use the time I would normally spend doing laundry doing other things around the house.

The Beauty of the Book

Oftentimes, the best part of how-to or self-help books isn’t necessarily what they teach you. It’s what they spark in you.

In the case of The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing, I do think we’ll learn a lot. Not one of us has even finished the book and we’re already implementing what it has to teach.

But even if we don’t follow Marie Kondo’s method exactly, her book and her show have sparked in us a desire to clean up our home. To get our acts together. To make our lives a little better.

Feeling overwhelmed by clutter and neverending piles of laundry sucks. Your home should be a haven. I’m hoping my husband’s obsession with “tidying up” will whip our house into shape, rub off on me, and leave us organized and peaceful.

Imagine what we can do with the time that gets freed up? When we get a handle on the laundry, pare things down, and stay on top of the cleaning. We might find ourselves with time on our hands to do more things we love. And think about the mental space that tidying up will clear. Space that is now spent feeling overwhelmed, weighed down. I’m really excited about the changes we’re making and what it could mean for all of us.

That’s what is so great about reading personal development books. (See some of my favorites in this post!) Even if you don’t dive in and completely overhaul your life, each book will give you a little something.

You can check out the book here on Amazon. Let me know if you read it! I’d love to hear what you think.

How do you feel about tidying up and clutter? Is it something you struggle with? Or are you one of those born-with-it neat people?

 

 

 

 

 

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