Clothing tidying

Generally I don't tend to embrace current fads. Something in me resists being a herd animal and following the latest trend. It's probably just plain old stubbornness--nothing fancy or unique about that! I tend to wait until the hype has died down and then see if the fad is still intriguing or palatable before trying it out. I held off on jogger pants for a long time, but now they're my main wardrobe staple. I never got into the patterned leggings craze a few years ago, and I could NOT do skinny jeans. Nay to all fad diets. No thank you to random new-age parenting strategies. Yes to waistband-free swing dresses. And so on. I'm a selective fad-consumer. 

Anyways, cleaning and organizing guru Marie Kondo published her book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" in 2014 and Netflix made a whole show about her organizing methods in 2019. So I have heard about the KonMari method and "sparking joy" off and on for years but never actually investigated it on my own--never watched the show or read the book. Because really, how can folding your clothes a certain way be life-changing? 

I already consider myself something of a minimalist, so it didn't seem necessary to test these much-praised organizational methods. But when the book became available at the library after months of continual unavailability, I checked it out just to see if there was anything to this long-standing social movement. This book didn't change my life, but I did find some very helpful tips on how to organize that made the process much more streamlined and effective. 

The KonMari Method has you divide your stuff into categories, starting with clothes, moving onto books, then papers, and from there onto the ten subcategories under "miscellaneous." Going down the list of categories in order, you gather everything in one category into a single pile. Then you go through the pile one item at a time, holding each item individually, and only keeping things that "spark joy." My favorite tips are: 

1. Keep all of your clothes in one place--all in one closet.
2. When an item used to spark joy and you feel the need to hold onto it due to past joy, don't! Instead acknowledge that it served its purpose when you got it, and then say goodbye. 
3. Hang as few clothes on hangers as possible--it takes too much space. Folding (rolling) clothes is more space effective.
4. Don't store clothes in boxes; store them in drawers--it's more accessible.

I decided to give it a try with my wardrobe, so on Wednesday I clambered all over the house gathering every article of clothing, outerwear, shoes, and wearable accessories that I owned. It was WAY more than I expected, and I was all sweaty once I had tracked down every last t-shirt, jacket, and shoe. I thought I didn't have that many clothes, but the truth was I didn't have that many clothes all in one place. I had clothes stashed in several boxes in the basement, plus my coats on the hooks, scattered shoes etc. It took all morning to assemble the heap. Then I began deconstructing it, tossing a satisfying heap of old clothes. I didn't really go too deep into the "spark joy" angle; I pretty much already knew what I wanted to get rid of because I am already SUPER picky with my wardrobe choices. Every now and then, however, I had to pause and really think about if a particular shirt or skirt was duty-bound or joy-sparking.

I had everything sorted and purged by Wednesday afternoon. I spent Thursday folding (rolling) and arranging the clothes. 

On Friday I put all of my freshly sorted and folded clothes away in my closet. They all fit easily, with plenty of room to spare! Clutter makes me stabby and irritable. Empty space soothes me. My narrow closet is now a spacious, soothing joy-sparking sliver of space.

So no, my life didn't change, but I definitely appreciate the organizational tips! I think I'll tackle the books and papers next. Although my minimalistic streak does not extend to my home library. 

Everything.

Half the floor is visible again!

The large discard box. 

I wasn't sold on rolling clothes at first. I do roll my clothes when I travel, but it seemed kind of high maintenance for everyday use. Actually, it is awesome! I fit all of my short sleeve shirts and tank tops into one 10x10 bin, and all of my long sleeved shirts into another. That's it. (minus a few button-up shirts on hangers) 

Usually I battle against my organizational tendencies so they don't take over my life, but I surrendered just a little while working on this project and let my inner-organizer run rampant. I love this picture so much. (I ordered a few more bins to put those last few items in). During this process, I discovered that the total mass of my sock collection is greater than the mass of all short sleeve shirts and tank tops put together. Clearly socks = joy.

The empty closet.

The finished, organized closet! I hung the five scarves I decided to keep along the back wall behind the hanging clothes, and they give me more joy there than they ever did in their old basket. 

So glad this project is over!