My Tips for KonMari De-Cluttering, Part 1

Now that the world has gone crazy again for Marie Kondo's KonMari tidying method, thanks to her recent Netflix TV series, I thought I'd share some insights from my own KonMari 'journey'. To be fair, I'm only about three-quarters of the way through my KonMari process, but I've done all the major categories and have discovered some things that have definitely helped me along the way. Perhaps they'll help you, too. I actually had so many tips that I've decided to split this post into two parts. You might also like to have a look at my other posts: 8 Reasons Why I like the KonMari Method and more tips in Re-Starting My KonMari Quest.


＊ allow plenty of time
Laying out everything you own and sorting it takes a lot of time. I consistently found that sorting and discarding took a lot longer than I thought it would. Sorting my beauty and bath products alone took me a whole afternoon! With the more emotionally-charged items, I find I have to stop and take a break during the discarding process to avoid feeling overwhelmed. I found that I really hated leaving a category undone at the end of a day. Not only is it messy, but there was a huge sense of something unfinished looming over my head.

Don't forget, you will also need to store the items that you've decided to keep. Finding the best way to store your items (finding a place in the house, obtaining boxes or baskets to keep them in) takes time as well. The next point should help with this!

＊ divide into smaller categories
The categories that Marie specifies are extremely broad. In fact, there are only five: clothes, books, papers, komono (miscellaneous) and sentimental items. Break them down into subcategories. And then break them down again if you need to! At first I divided my clothes into tops, pants, skirts, etc. Then I found that I had over 100 tops alone and nearly had a mental breakdown! So I divided the tops into long sleeve, short sleeve and tank tops. I find that I tend to wear them in different circumstances, e.g. long sleeve tops only in Winter, tank tops only under overshirts, etc. Thinking about each of these types of tops separately was a huge help in deciding which ones I liked the most. Remember, you don't have to work on or finish all of these sub-categories in one day.

* customise your categories
Depending on what you have, you may need to create your own categories, too. As an artist and crafter, I had a whole set of categories devoted to those supplies: paint, brushes, yarns, knitting needles, crochet hooks, etc. Some other categories I have that other people might not need are: bonsai pots, fridge magnets, washi tapes and tea tins.


＊ don't double-handle
When I first began tidying, I created a 'donation' pile and a 'keep' pile (and sometimes a 'bin' pile depending on the category). After I finished sorting, I would then put the items into bags. However, I found that touching the items again made me second-guess my decisions and hesitate. To avoid this, I started setting up bags for each pile before I began. I put any discarded items in the bag straight away. I didn't have to see or touch the items again before taking them to the donation bin, and it make the whole process faster and less emotionally taxing.

＊ do-overs!
Don't be afraid to go through a category more than once. In fact, you may find that you'll have to, as more of that item will keep cropping up. The very first thing that I KonMari'ed was my socks. As I kept going through the rest of my stuff though, I kept finding more socks! Husband and I had used clothes and socks as packing material when we moved house. So as I unpacked boxes, more and more socks kept turning up. I ended up KonMari'ing my socks three times, and re-doing their storage twice. It's worth the effort to make sure your home is exactly the way you want it.