10 Organizational Tips inspired by Marie Kondo

Hoping to bring some more organization to your life? Have you been mindlessly collecting clutter in your drawers for the last couple of years? Are your closets officially an embarrassing mess?

Marie Kondo is inspiring millions of families to deal with all their mess through both her best-selling guide, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and also with her Netflix show, Tidying Up.

If you want to tidy up your mess, here are ten organizational tips inspired by Marie Kondo to get you started: 

 Discard before storing

It’s important to sort through your things first. Start by tossing everything that you don’t need BEFORE storing them. Remove all your belongings from where they are kept, evaluate each item individually and ask yourself, ‘Do I truly need this?’ ‘Does it spark joy?’

Be honest with yourself. Toss it in the trash or donate the item if you truly don’t need it. Getting rid of all the unnecessary things, in the end, will be SUCH a relief.

Tidy all at once

Your best strategy is tidying your entire house all at once. Yes. All at once! Chances are that by tidying a little bit at a time, things will just get messy again. It’s a good idea to give yourself approximately 6 months for the decluttering. It’ll take some time, but it’ll definitely be worth it in the end

Organize and store by category

It’s a good idea to sort through each category at a time instead of organizing room by room. Make separate piles for books, clothes, shoes, miscellaneous, etc. and start sorting through.

Store by category too. For example, stationery goes with stationery, shirts go with shirts, etc.

Donate, throw away or consign anything that you haven’t used in the last year. You’ll be surprised to find how much unnecessary stuff you’ve been holding on to and the best part is, you’ll probably never lose anything again.

We love using clear storage boxes for our storing needs!             

Tidy in the right order

This is probably one of our favorite organizational tips by Marie Kondo. Clean in order! Start with clothes, then move to books and papers, and then finally miscellaneous.

Store your clothes upright!

Instead of storing your shirts stacked on top of each other, Marie Kondo recommends storing them side-by-side so you can see each individual article of clothing. This way you’ll know exactly what you have in your dresser drawers and you probably won’t forget anything that may have landed at the bottom of the stack.

Tackle your shoes

Shoes tend to be a bit hard to let go of, especially that sentimental pair that you wore to your high school prom!

Ask yourself the following questions in order:

• Do you still wear them? 
• Do they fit and work with your new (decluttered) wardrobe?
• Are they in good condition and still in style?

If you answer no for any of these, toss them! There are plenty of shoes in the sea! Probably literally. The oceans are a mess.

Store your shoes heel to toe

For all your shoes, store one shoe in a pair facing you and one away from you to maximize space. Use a shoe rack or a shoe bag that hangs over the closet door so that all of your shoes are in one place.

Get rid of all that paper

We all shove our old receipts and bills into a random kitchen drawer. Toss out all those old warranties, forgotten manuals and empty envelopes. When it comes to paper, Marie Kondo takes a strict stance.

Spend your loose change

Collect any loose change from around your house and spend it! All those coins add a lot more clutter to your home than you realize. Chances are you’ll end up with a pretty penny in the end! Use a wallet with a zippered coin section so you can actually carry the change around without losing it in your purse.

Toss your old jewelry

Get rid of any ancient statement pieces, rusted rings and old earrings that you have lying around. Let’s be honest, you’ll probably never use them again! Organize your new (decluttered) collection in a cute jewelry box.

If you follow these organizational tips by Marie Kondo, you’ll have a home Ms. Kondo would be proud of in no time. 

Now, take all your old stuff to Goodwill–but just to drop off, not to shop!

Be sure to send us some pictures of your serene, decluttered home.

Looking for more organization tips? Read more about home organization from a naturally tidy person, and how to make your home tidy and serene.