At Flow, we (like the rest of the world) are fascinated by Marie Kondo and her series on Netflix about tidying up.
Second-hand stores in the US are suddenly having more stuff donated, and more and more people are exchanging an evening of scrolling through Instagram for an evening of tidying up the sock drawer. Yup, it seems that Marie Kondo’s series has created a wave of organizers and declutterers. Each episode is full of insights, practical tips and inspiration on how to make your home—and with it your life—a bit more organized. The following four stuck in our minds the most:
Tidy up per category and not per room
We often tend to tidy up per room. First the study, then the living room and, if there’s time, the bedroom. According to Kondo, it’s much easier to make things shipshape per category. For example: by first tackling all your books, even if you have bookcases in different rooms. The same applies to all your paperwork and your clothes—so you tidy them up in one go. It may sound overwhelming, but with Kondo’s tip of, for example, storing small items such as plugs in boxes, it already becomes better organized.
Discard anything that does not spark joy
When tidying up, we are used to asking ourselves ‘Is it practical? Can I still use it? Is it valuable?’ about everything we come across. Kondo tackles it differently and makes the American families in her series look at every object and consider whether it gives them pleasure. Or, as she says herself with her now famous phrase: ‘Does it spark joy?’ If not, you can throw it away and rest assured you won’t miss it any time soon.
Keep the stuff that you do not want to throw away
‘When was the last time you used this?’ or ‘Do you really need it?’: these seem to be the mottos of many tidying experts. Kondo looks at it in a different way, because not every object in the house is meant to be just ‘handy’ or ‘useful’. Sometimes it only has emotional value, or there’s another reason why you cannot throw it away. And that’s just fine, thinks Kondo. She even suggests displaying these valuables somewhere in the house and not hiding them away in a bottom drawer. Which means you can keep your children’s drawings and the birthday card with that beautiful message in it. What a relief.
The art of letting go
Letting go is perhaps the hardest part of tidying up or decluttering. If you have the strength to let go of items with a sentimental value, then Kondo has a tip: recognize the memory of the object and the pleasure you experienced from it and say ‘thank you’ before you throw it away. It may sound weird to thank your favorite, but worn, pants, but it seems to help in letting go and moving on.
- The series can be watched on Netflix.
- Flow’s Astrid followed Marie Kondo’s advice and delved into the world of decluttering for a year.
Source Homes to love Photography Brooke Lark/Unsplash.com
