Have you Heard of Marie Kondo

I love to shop and acquire mementos and nesting.  I also love to organize.  Recently I’ve been realizing I need to reduce my belongings.  I was getting to a point where I started thinking I might need a bigger place… for all my stuff.  And that was the wake-up call that it wasn’t my place but my stuff that needed to change.  This was around the time that I started using pinterest and pinning wonderful photos from designer magazines and beautiful houses.  I loved the looks and it was something to aspire to.  This last year I’ve been going through every nook and cubby, doing deep dives in questioning everything - do I really need this, do I really want this, does this go with my style.

It started with the clothes.  After taking a few books out from the library in preparation for my Paris trip, I was reading about the French style for women.  The whole principle of having a small closet with a few, really good quality pieces that is your style.  I took all my clothes out, dumped it on my bed and started realizing I was schizophrenic with all the looks I liked.  I had one shirt I liked the style it evoked.  But was it really my style?  Did it even look good on me?  I did one pairing before my trip, and then repeated again in the spring, after my Paris trip.  The first shop keeper was really helpful in pointing out what colors looked good with my skin tone and which ones to stay away from.  I had another look at the closet and paired even more down.  I also pulled out only my absolute favorites and put the rest in the coat closet and packed up the winter stuff.  It was the first time I had a fairly barren closet and really stepped back and thought what do I want my look to be.  I started pinning more photos of women that I liked their style and started to get a feel of what style I was after.  Ines de la Frassange is prominent in the pins.  I have to say it’s been so much easier getting dressed and I love the outfits so much more than before.  Which is ironic since I have less to choose from but the stuff I have are within the same style and easily go together.  I’m finding new outfits every day - I was pleasantly surprised with the outfit today.

Same thing for the house.  I started taking a look at the pins and narrowed down what style I was looking for in each room.  By doing so, I’ve been able to declutter because it’s all about the look and not all stuff fit in with the look.  I went through my linens and got rid of a bunch of napkins and tablecloths and placemats that just didn’t go with the look or even with each other.  It helped as I got ready for the garage sale, going through everything and really touching everything I own and asking the hard question of does it fit in with my life today.

And then, this week, I came across Marie Kondo and her book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”.  I checked the library and there are over 600 holds and I don’t really want to buy the book new, so will wait until the initial rush is over and pick it up at my used book store.  In the meantime, I’ve been reading all the articles and blogs that talk about the Kondo method.  She’s this young Japanese woman who loves to tidy and organize and was encourage by her clients to write a book.  I’m pleasantly surprised that a bunch of what she recommends I already do - it’s good to see it in writing.  For example, she has people tackle one subject at a time and put it all in the middle of the room.  For example, me and putting all my clothes on the bed - emptying the closets and dressers and bins.  She also recommends storing everything vertically.  I already do this for many things including my dishcloths, napkins, socks, underwear which I’ve done for years and people all get a kick out of.  After reading some more last night, I realized, why stop there and followed her recommendation and refolded my dresser drawer items and they are all now vertical - from my shirts to my pajamas.  Strangely enough, I can fit in more.  But the point is to let your belongings breathe and to provide them with respect.

I’m excited to read her book and learn more and remind myself of stuff I already know and just need reinforced by an outside voice.  It’s very liberating to lessen the load and only have your beloved items around you.  I did have a hard time letting go of some of my childhood items in the garage sale, but realize now, that the items served me well when I was a kid but are no longer needed and I should respect them and let them go so they can fulfill their mission elsewhere.  I loved my old doll and it served me well and it is disrespectful to keep her boxed up in the corner of the loft.  It’s nice to think of letting go in this new way.  It served me well at the time, but does it still.  Does it give me joy, now?

The chapter I do need to read is on mementos.  I have boxes of old cards, and memories.  That I just move from room to room but don’t have the heart to purge.  She recommends tackling mementos last since they are the hardest.  So my goal is to tackle everything else and once everything is nice and tidy and there is a ton of room, I’ll pull all the boxes of memory stuff and dump it all out in the loft and finally go through the lot.  But not until I have everything else simplified.  I think it helps I’m heading to Scandinavia which also has a simple life approach so will be super inspired when I come back.

BTW, on the travel front, I’m up to 13 pounds for my backpack packed.  Granted it includes the outfit I’ll be wearing and food for the plane.  But it has almost everything other than the last minute stuff (glasses, make-up, etc).  I did decide to forgo an extra pair of pants or shoes.  Granted I limited who I discussed this idea with based on which way they would lean.  Basically, I only mentioned it to Nick when I helped him move his stuff on Sunday to my place for storage.  He agreed you can get away with not having much and can always buy stuff if needed.  Here's hoping.