KonMari Method Part 1: Clothing

Last week I shared a little overview of the KonMari Method, created by organization expert Marie Kondo, and how it has been working so well for us. One rule of the KonMari Method is to discard and organize by category, not by location. The first category is clothing.

The KonMari Method: Clothing

One thing that makes the KonMari method of tidying up different from other tidying or decluttering methods is that you are to take everything of one category and put it all in one place so you can see how much you really own and accurately assess what you want to keep and what you want to discard. I’m sure most people would be surprised at how much they own once they got it all in one place. I know I was!

First I started with my clothes, shoes, and accessories. I put all of it on the bed, held each piece in my hands, and asked myself if it sparked joy. If the answer was no, I let it go. Marie suggests starting with something you know sparks joy so that you will immediately understand the feeling. This sort of sets the bar for the rest of the tidying process.

Once you’ve sorted through all your clothes, then it’s time to organize. You want to fold your clothes in a way that they will sit vertically in your drawer. For a demonstration of how to fold your clothes the KonMari way, watch this short video.

| BEFORE – stacked horizontal and shoved in drawers |

| AFTER – folded and stored vertically |

| I stored undergarments in Y-weave baskets and it helps keep everything separated and neat |

| BEFORE: hats and purses stored on hangers (which warped the straps on the purses and the backs of the hats); Additional shoes stored in pink hanging shoe organizer (all shoes not shown here); Pajamas and sweatshirts stuffed messily in hanging organizer (far left) |

| AFTER: All shoes stored on shelving unit (this is an old bookshelf I had in my room growing up that makes a perfect shoe rack!); Purses stored neatly on shelving unit as well. Nothing hanging above, which makes the closet feel much less cluttered. |

| AFTER: Hanging organizer – Sweatshirts and PJ’s; Hats, ear warmers and beanies; Tights and boot socks rolled and stored in shoe box; Slippers |

I love the way my drawers and closet looked once everything was nicely organized. It seems like such a silly thing to get excited about, but it truly is so satisfying to open my drawers and see organization instead of a bunch of clothes just shoved in there. And to walk into our closet and feel like you have room to breathe.

Once I was done with my clothes, I moved on to Raley’s, then to Audrey’s. Theirs was a bit more involved because I had a few buckets of clothes they had grown out of that I needed to sort through. I ended up making several piles – keep (currently fits), store (clothes that Raley has grown out of, but Audrey doesn’t fit into yet), donate, consign, hand-me-downs to my nieces, and a pile to put away in keepsake boxes for each child. (Phew! That’s alot of piles!) I put everything I needed to sort through on and beside our bed, then started making all these different piles. It took a weekend to finally sort through and figure out what to do with everything, but it felt so good when it was done!

| Audrey’s clothes on the bed + all the boxes of stored clothes that I needed to sort through |

Fun fact: We discarded over 600 hangers between our closet + both the girls’ closets. What’s even crazier is that there was a time when a majority of those hangers were in use! Why in the world did we have that many clothes?! Here’s a picture of Raley’s closet – 254 unused hangers!

Another plus that comes with folding the KonMari way, is that it saves room in your drawers. I actually put MORE things in the girls’ drawers than was in there before, AND I had room to spare! As mentioned in my last KonMari post, Marie suggests using shoe boxes and their lids for storing things, and this is such a great idea. They fit perfectly in drawers and are a great size to store certain items. Also, folding socks in this way, instead of balling them up, makes them so much easier to find!

Raley’s drawers

| Socks (in shoe box lid) | Dance attire | Panties (in Y-weave basket), gloves, hats, tights, and undershorts |

| Pants | Shorts (in shoe box lid) | Room to spare! (Raley ended up storing her little slippers in this space) |

Audrey’s drawers

| Gloves, tights, hat, undershorts (in Y-weave basket) | Panties | Socks ( in shoe box lid) | Pull-ups (in small wicker basket) | Lotions, diaper creams, baby powder | Wipes |

| Pajamas | Dance attire (in shoe box) | T-shirts |

| Pants | Shorts (in shoe box lid) | Swimsuits (in shoe box ) | Slippers |

David was a bit reluctant to go through his things because he said he went through his closet just a year ago. I ended up going through some of his stuff that I thought he may want to get rid of (not against his will), and laying it out on the bed for him to sort through. He got rid of more than he thought he would. Some of it was stuff he hasn’t worn in years and (correct me if I’m wrong, Babe) he finally realized he’d probably never wear it again. He also let me organize his drawers, which, like all the other drawers in our house, now hold so much more than before. He may not admit it, but I think he likes being able to find things he needs more easily.

And that’s it for the clothes! Our closets and our drawers feel less jam-packed, and everything is tidy and easy to find. Getting this first category done felt like a huge accomplishment and the boost I needed to continue on with the tidying process as quickly as I could.