Marie Kondo: Tidying Houses, Hearts and Minds, Part 2 of 2

When visiting clients, Marie greets their homes. Her method of doing so is inspired by the tradition of entering a Shinto shrine. She kneels on the floor and connects with the home in her mind. She introduces herself and asks for help in creating a space where the residents will enjoy a happier life. She then bows to honor the home and show gratitude for its protection. When clients join her in this exercise, they often express a feeling of appreciation for their homes. And when people have recently moved to a new home, Marie may invite them to greet their new home with her.

Another key element in the KonMari approach is to imagine one’s ideal lifestyle. This practice is based on the premise that the aim of tidying up and decluttering is to help us live the life that we want. To achieve this goal, visualizing in as much detail as possible is used to set the intention. This is an important step in the KonMari Method and people are encouraged to remember it.

Marie Kondo offers some great insights about sorting and organizing the linen cupboard, and these tips can be applied to other areas of the home as well. The first step here again is to declutter. Keep the items that spark joy and gratefully discard the items you won’t keep. When discarding old towels, blankets, and sheets, remember that rescue centers for animal-people are often grateful for donations of these items as many are in need of extra towels, sheets, pillowcases and bedding for the sweet animal friends in their care.

A helpful tip when organizing is to store those things that are used less often on top shelves and in harder to reach areas. Also, you might want to consider using storage containers, shoe boxes, baskets and even labels to keep things organized. When arranging handbags, one can store bags within bags to save space. This can also be done with reusable bags.

Yet, as many of us have probably experienced, discarding sentimental things can make us feel rather uncomfortable. Marie has a tip to help with this. She says, “Giving sincere thanks to an item will significantly reduce or even eliminate any guilt you may feel when you decide that you will no longer have it in your home.”

With belongings that we choose to keep, we can store and display them in several creative ways. Artwork and memorabilia from children can be displayed so that they bring pleasure to our lives and so that visitors may also admire them. Baby clothes can be displayed in an artful way, and we can take photographs of our children’s artwork before gratefully disposing of it.