The bestselling Marie Kondo book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, has a lot of fans and detractors. I decided to read it after several people,whose opinions and values I shared, had recommended it, Many of her practical suggestions include organizing like-things together, storing things for optimal access and viewing, and letting go of extraneous things; all which resonated with me. Sometimes her suggestions were outside my normal scope of organizing activity; e.g., in one section, she instructs you to roll your socks in pairs and to thank them for their service in taking care of your feet. As one article I read about the book noted, if millions of Americans have read it, and even a fairly small percentage follow her edicts, then we have thousands of people in America talking to their socks.
My take-away on the book was the way she makes you think about organizing, which trumps any misgivings I have about speaking with my garments or household items. While I first thought some of her methods were a little extreme, or too sentimental (or inaccessible, as far as time commitments goes), I eventually found that I began looking at spaces and re-organizing them without over-thinking it after reading her book. It feels more organic now. Thus far, the changes have been ‘sticking’ so I feel like the book is as much about the mindset as it is about the practical advice. I manage organizing with minor incursions through cabinets, drawers and closets instead of the wholesale practice she recommends. It works for me, as waiting until I had time to do a major sweep through all the cabinets or all the closets would be like waiting for Godot.
The before and after of my pantry; I am no longer embarrassed if the door is left open-
…Before…
…After
Then, I moved onto bigger game. A client’s heavily used laundry room in a co-housing space for 5 adults had fallen into disrepair and was choked with clutter. I was able to offload many bags of trash, and organize other items into the laundry room so shared items are easily found; this opened up space in other parts of the apartment for much needed storage.
Before..
After…
Best of luck in your organizing endeavors! Tell your socks I said hello.