By Linda Castillo
As soon as I clean my house, it quickly gets cluttered again. It is a never-ending battle to fight the clutter. Between my two young girls leaving all their toys around the house to the fact that I don’t have enough storage space for everything, within a day of cleaning, these little stacks of clutter quickly start piling up again.
Not only does the clutter drain my energy when I look at it but there are other consequences as well. Clutter sucks up my time. I can’t tell you how many times I have spent more than an hour looking for something that should only take 5 minutes. Coupled with the fact that there are instances that I have to move boxes because the thing I need is stored below, behind and on top of other boxes. It’s so exhausting. On top of all that, being unorganized is costing me money, literally! There have been so many times when I have bought an item and later found that I had two bottles of the product in odd locations.
Here is a photo of my desk (sadly not staged) to show an example of my current clutter situation.
This spring, I am committed to stop feeling overwhelmed and transform my home to a peaceful space for my family. Enter in the world-renowned tidying expert Marie Kondo who helps clients clear out the clutter — and choose joy! Right now you can go to Netflix and catch the “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” series. Kondo demonstrates the innovative KonMari method from her best-selling book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.”
I am obsessed with the show and it has inspired me to get my house in order in a way that is not overwhelming. Her method is unique because she organizes by category rather than location. Her technique is easy enough to start organizing by the following five specific categories:
- Clothing
- Books
- Paper
- Komono – Kitchen, Bathroom, Garage and everything else.
- Sentimental Items
Marie Kondo says to only keep things that spark joy! Hold each item one by one and only keep the items that give you a warm, positive feeling. When you let go of an item, you must thank the item.
I have made this year the year I get organized. I have started the process and so far it is tiring and rewarding at the same time. Hopefully by the end of the year I can share some before and after photos of this transformation.
I am ready to choose joy starting this year!