Marie Kondo or Flylady. Methods for cleaning and decluttering your home

How to turn cleaning from a difficult task into an easy and simple ritual? Do you think cleaning is a boring and tedious task that spoils your mood, upsets your nerves, and gradually weakens your health? But the author of the bestseller “ Magic cleaning. Japanese art putting the house in order” Marie Kondo thinks differently.

In her opinion, this activity heals, calms and puts thoughts in order. And her approach is liked by both housewives and those who are interested in maintaining order in the house and in their lives. As proof of this, there are multimillion-dollar copies of the book, which are selling out like hot cakes.

Marie Kondo's cleaning system

Marie Kondo's style of cleaning is amazing in scale. As a result, as the creator of the method promises, serious changes occur in the lives of its followers; a person understands what he should do and what he should not undertake.

Marie Kondo views cleaning on two levels - spiritual and practical.

The spiritual side of the technique involves the following aspects:

Things should bring joy, not tire or irritate.

Everything that appears in living space, alive, and feels the attitude of the owner towards him. Therefore, things should not be scattered, but must be carefully folded and taken care of. Then the benefits from them increase and accumulate positive energy, and the service life is extended.

Items that have reached the end of their useful life and must be disposed of should be thanked as if they were true friends at a certain stage in life.

But the practical side of the technique is no less important. Order frees up energy that will be needed to complete other tasks..

The principle of cleaning: get rid of unnecessary things and figure out how to more conveniently store what you need.

Another rule is that “someday” will never come. Things should be useful here and now. There is no point in cluttering space in anticipation of poverty, life's hardships or for the sake of memories of the past.

Before putting things in order, Marie suggests asking yourself questions:

What should a living space ultimately look like to make you want to come home?
What activities await the home owner?
Why is this order needed?

On last question The answer is usually: “To be happy.”

The cleaning system is called KonMari, where the first letters of the author's first and last name are used.

Decluttering

Keep only the things you need at home

Decluttering is the process that begins with Marie Kondo's cleaning.

KonMari recommends getting rid of clutter in one fell swoop. After this, the person experiences a feeling of relief and enlightenment. The day on which this event is to take place, let it become a holiday and a starting point from which another life will begin - in a clean house, with clean thoughts, with energy for new achievements.

Each family member sorts out his things himself, with the exception of children who still have little life experience. Relatives should not be involved in decluttering. They will appeal to their emotions when they see an expensive handbag or memento being thrown away, and this will affect the outcome of the cleaning if emotions take over.

At the same time, you need to focus not on what is to be thrown away, but on the things that should remain. People surrounded by their favorite things become calmer and happier.

Tricks if you can’t get started.

Cleaning according to KonMari

Here are the cleaning principles that Marie Kondo suggests housewives use.

The pursuit of excellence

Get rid of everything that no longer pleases Other authors of methods of putting things in order advise not to try too hard, but to start small. So, it is recommended to throw away unnecessary things every day. As a result, by the end of the year the house will be free of 365 pieces of garbage. Kondo sets the highest goal - perfection. She believes that by working half-heartedly, it will not be possible to put the house in order, so all efforts are directed towards this. You need to figure everything out in a day. With at least one of the categories, which we'll talk Further.

Clean everything up at once

People don't store similar things in one place. They are usually dispersed throughout the house. Therefore, the method does not work when cleaning is carried out in one place - first in the bathroom, then in the kitchen. This leads to the fact that things only migrate from one place to another.

Throw away unnecessary things

The hardest thing is to throw away what you don't need. There is always a temptation to leave something for later. According to the method, you need to get rid of things that do not cause joy and do not give positive emotions. Things that were not useful previously will not be useful in the future. If a person, as planned, did not make a bag or rug out of old jeans within a year, then he will never do it because he does not want to.

Clean by category

clothes and shoes are the most liquid part of household property;
books;
documents and papers;
miscellaneous - CDs, hygiene items, cosmetics, accessories, electrical appliances, kitchen utensils, provisions;
objects dear to the heart - souvenirs, gifts, photographs.

Throw away unnecessary papers - stickers, old manuals, unused notepads, expired warranty cards, instructions for instruments and devices. Excess paper only clutters up space. The same applies to books not read during the year. The Japanese suggest using gadgets to take notes, using information from the Internet and online libraries. This not only saves space, but also protects natural resources.

The most difficult category is memorabilia, as it is associated with memories and experiences. According to Marie, cleaning is not only cleaning the home, but also a way to deal with the past. Some things are stored by inertia. But they ask themselves the question: what are memories worth if they are forgotten as soon as the “beacon” disappears from sight?

Not everyone likes being ruthless about gifts, even if they are useless. But, according to the Japanese woman, every gift fulfilled its intended function; when it was presented, it caused joy. If it is no longer useful, it is time for it to move to the trash bin.

Used and broken items are thrown into a landfill rather than offered to friends and family.: What's the point of cleaning when the trash from one house moves to another, or worse - to the next room to your sister or brother. Memorabilia is often sent to parents. This is also not worth doing, since this box will most likely remain unpacked, therefore, its value is low.

Fold according to KonMari

Keep things in their place

When you have gotten rid of everything unnecessary, you need to properly organize what is left so that you have to clean up the house less often.

It is recommended to store all items of the same category in one place. So, books are placed in the bookcase and nowhere else, clothes in the wardrobe, etc. After use, they are put back in their place. IN otherwise they will again “spread” around the house and cause the need to carry out another decluttering.

Clothes are stored in the drawers of the nightstand. The products are folded vertically, having previously been rolled into a roll according to the sushi principle or folded into a rectangle, the height of which is slightly less height boxes, and form strict rows.

This arrangement has several advantages:

busy less space than in the closet on hangers,
it’s easier to get things out while maintaining order;
maximum visibility of objects is achieved.

According to the method, it is more convenient to use chests of drawers with drawers for storage rather than wardrobes, and instead of partitions and organizers, use shoe boxes.

But this does not mean that clothes are not hung. Coats, jackets, dresses, suits cannot be stored in bundles. These wardrobe items are hung on hangers according to the principle: the heaviest is on the left, the lightest is on the right. The sequence is:

coats, jackets;
jackets, suits;
dresses;
trousers;
skirts;
blouses.

The bags are stored one inside the other, with the handles facing up. Out-of-season clothes are not hidden, so as not to forget about any item of clothing later.

Organizing and storing things, video tip:

Advantages

Maintain order Those who have already used the system claim that in this way they manage to get rid of half of the things and free up space. Another advantage of this technique is cleaning in one fell swoop, which eliminates the effect reverse action when delay returns to the original disorder.

The advice that Marie Kondo gives in her book is simple. And they are suitable for the residents of our country. After all, the notorious “Khrushchev buildings” that the townspeople complain about will seem like royal mansions to many Japanese. After all, often the residents of the Country rising sun have to settle down 10 square meters. Therefore, a plump family album or wardrobe is sometimes an unaffordable luxury for them.

Marie Kondo how to fold things: video.

Another video on folding bed linen. Although it is in English, it is very clear.

Difficult steps on the path to minimalism

Angela Buttolph, style expert, author of articles and the best-selling book "The World's Most Famous Wardrobe: The Style of Kate Moss," was as impressed as we and many of you by Marie Kondo's revolutionary approach to decluttering and shared her experience of living in throughout the year using the KonMari method in a column for telegraph.co.uk.

ItWorked studied her experience and brings you the most interesting conclusions from the minimalist experiment.

Beginning of the experiment

When guests come to Vacation home Angela, their first impression is always: “This is a minimalist paradise. Where are all the things?” And all because Angela is obsessed with decluttering and Last year got rid of more than half of your property.

Angela Buttolph

The impetus for updating her life format was Marie Kondo’s acclaimed bestseller “The Magic of Tidying Up. The Japanese art of putting things in order at home and in life", which sold more than 3 million copies and made its author part of the TOP 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine in 2015.

And if you read it, you probably also thought about how decluttering will attract good luck and radically change your lifestyle. Well, then, most likely, they just put it on the shelf.

But this is not about Angela. It took her a year of stress, discomfort, doubt, carrying heavy loads and indefatigable determination to implement the essence of the KonMari method into her life.

“From the very first pages of the book, I became an ardent adherent of the KonMari method. I stayed at home with my child and hated my surroundings. So Marie's promise that getting my house in order would have a positive impact on all other aspects of my life - including work - sent me into a state of ecstasy."

Angela liked the KonMari method with its geometrically folded clothes, vertically stored clothes, thanks to which she could see all her things at once. She wanted fewer things, and only those, as the author of the method insists, that bring joy. She started on January 1, 2015 and never looked back.

Implemented rules

One of Marie's rules is to declutter one category at a time. But the author is a tidying pro who never balls up his socks because “socks should have time to rest.”

And Angela is a working mother with a chaotic work-life balance without a car and a wife graphic designer, who does not throw anything away and considers it appropriate to display packaging from different means for washing on the bookshelf because it “inspires” him.

But she managed to adopt the method, and this is how she did it.

1. Get rid of unnecessary clothes

Clothes from mass-produced brands and children's clothing were sold to a Facebook friend who sold clothes on eBay, keeping 25% of the sale for herself. ( approx. ed. - in UkraineThere are also similar sites, for example,brand- fashion. com. ua, and for 10-15% of the sale there are people who will sell your things forolxand other sites, the rest can be donated to the Laska charity store).

Gradual decluttering freed up space and brought in cash injections throughout the year.

When you buy a branded item, you then have to squeeze a lot, and from its sale you get a pittance. Therefore, Angela decided for herself: “It is better to be a buyer of designer second-hand clothing than its seller.”

2. Find a friend for support

But it’s worth noting right away that a life partner is not suitable for this. The amount of things you plan to get rid of may come as a shock to him/her.

So Angela chose her best friend, who has twin boys the age of her daughter, and whose basement is filled with things that her children have long since outgrown. They exchanged text messages in the style: “Today I took 5 bags to a charity store. Congratulate me!”, and rejoiced at the transformation of the closets, in which vertical order now reigned.

“Start living according to the system of “gained one thing, got rid of one thing.” This The best way stop accumulating things. Don't you really love that thing that you have to get rid of by buying another one? For example, I now have 6 T-shirts, and it will remain that way.”

Previously, Angela spent a lot of time and stress cleaning, but now every thing has its own place, and there are so few of them that regular cleaning goes as quickly as possible.

When things are scarce, you stop always looking for something. It’s amazing how many things you can live without, Angela concluded.

3. Keep only what you really use

One day a rat got into Angela's house. While searching for the rodent, she and her husband were forced to move furniture in the kitchen.

As a result, they decided that a toaster is not needed - a grill replaces it perfectly, and a kettle too - a coffee machine can completely replace it. Now they have one pot and one frying pan. And they get by just fine with this set. And if a year ago there were 25 boxes with things in the attic, now there are only... the most necessary New Year's toys.

Read also :

Angela considers the fact that they do not have a box for small items to be her personal achievement. All things are organized, everything you need is in boxes. They do not have a box with unidentified cables, each gadget has its own charger, which is stored in the box. And yes, Angela is happy about this.

“Over time, it became more difficult to think of what else needed to get rid of. It seemed to me that I was living in an interior from a glossy magazine and from time to time I lazily asked myself if I was tired of this wooden spoon or if it was causing me this item joy is main idea cleaning using the KonMari method"

The fewer things you have, the easier it is to recognize those that you haven’t used for several years or that you no longer like.

4. Involve other family members

In the first six months of decluttering, the only thing Angela’s husband did was take things out of the “disposal” pile with the question: “Don’t we already need this?” or, even worse, put them in place.

But in the end, he too succumbed to the KonMari method, declaring in July that he was ready to reconsider his wardrobe of more than 500 items.

“For the daughter and for all other family members, the rule “one gift per holiday” was introduced. On Stuffed Toys a categorical ban was imposed. And in next year We will generally switch to gifts and impressions"

They stopped going to toy stores. As Angela explains, her daughter visits, goes to kindergarten, and has no shortage of toys.

“We made the only exception for books - we buy a lot and use the library. We must have at least some kind of whim.”

5. Set a deadline

Marie Kondo recommends setting a deadline in her book. Angela set December 31st for herself. What could be sold was sold, the rest went to charity shops. Often the second is preferable to the first. If you consider how much money you will receive and how much time you will have to spend on the sale.

It is done.

“You will definitely have bouts of regret about what you have done. At some point I decided that I would no longer waste my time straightening my hair. And when my girlfriends and I got ready for a party, I was furious when I didn’t find a single iron. I was very sorry. But, you know what? This year has taught me that things are not that important in our lives. And this is the most important lesson of all."

Agree, we have really accumulated too much junk...

In this article, I will talk about the 7 most powerful decluttering strategies that I have found so far in books on putting things in order and organizing everyday life. It will be long, but it will be worth it.

Download the most complete decluttering checklist

And you will receive Additional materials on organizing everyday life and putting things in order in the house

So let's get started.

1. Decluttering according to Flylady

2) If you bring something new, throw away the old one. Every time you buy something, find a similar item and put it in a bag for disposal or donation.

3) Extinguish “hot spots”. Hot spots (hotspots) are places that attract all sorts of rubbish. Identify and check your Hot Spots twice every day.

4) Five minutes to save the room. Spend just 5 minutes a day on the most cluttered room and it will soon be transformed!

5) 15-minutes on Fighting junk. Are you intimidated by the amount of work? Set a timer for 15 minutes and start cleaning. As soon as the timer rings, stop cleaning. You will be surprised how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes.

6) General cleaning. Before spring cleaning, you should have a list of specific, measurable tasks ready for each area in your home. Marla Cilley suggests doing general cleaning according to this scheme:

15 minutes cleaning in one area
15 minutes cleaning in another area
then again 15 minutes in the first zone
15 minutes break

And in these 15 minutes, she suggests moving around the entire apartment until you put everything in order.
The essence of the system is daily steps. Every day we move towards our goal, we will certainly achieve results.

The house didn't get dirty overnight, and it won't get clean overnight. Marla Seeley

2. Decluttering the KonMari way

Bestselling author of The Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo, calls tidying up a holiday and says it only happens once in a lifetime. You simply won't need to clean things up anymore. This will become your way of life. You just don't want to live in clutter anymore. The only thing you will need is to learn how to clean properly.
Marie gives the following tips when putting things in order:

Declutter in one fell swoop.
Declutter by category, not by storage location. Here's the order Marie recommends: clothes, books, documents, komono (miscellaneous), memorabilia. She did not choose this order by chance. So we move from the simplest to the most complex.
Choose things you want to keep, not things you want to throw away.
When you part with things, thank them for their service and for the experience you gained thanks to them.
Declutter alone.

In her book “Sparks of Joy,” Marie compiled six basic rules for Magical Cleaning into one list.

Commit to cleaning up
Imagine your perfect image life
First, completely throw away everything you don't need.
Organize by category, not by location
Maintain consistency
Ask yourself if this thing brings you joy.
3. Decluttering “Simplify your life”

Erin says: Simplicity is the new revolutionary idea.

To get rid of the clutter that has already accumulated, Erin recommends asking yourself a series of questions. You can adjust the questions to suit your own needs, but you shouldn’t deviate too much from them.

List of questions about things you already have:

Do I have other similar items?
If two things duplicate each other, then which better condition, best quality and can it last longer?
Is the item in good working order or does it need repair or replacement?
Is the item useful? Does it save money, make life easier, or satisfy an important need?
Why is this item in your house? Is this the best place for this thing?
If I want to know how well an item suits a particular need, do I need more information?
If this product has an expiration date, has it expired?
Does this thing help you move to a new desired level of life?

4. Spiritual decluttering

Lauren Rosenfield and Melva Green are the authors of the bestselling book on physical and spiritual decluttering called Breathe Freely. Spiritual experience Lauren and Dr. Greene's medical experience helped create a decluttering technique that combines scientific and spiritual approaches to not only help you get rid of unnecessary things, but also free yourself from mental clutter.

Decluttering is the process of giving up unnecessary things in order to gain space, time and positive emotions that you are missing.

The main idea of their entire book: a person is like a house. And home is a reflection of our personality. And only you are able to make your home and your life open, bright and joyful.

The authors of this book have created a spiritual method for getting rid of clutter, SLICE. This is an abbreviation for three stages: stop and listen (align and listen), intend (formulate goals), clear and energy (release energy). This is a holistic approach to decluttering.

When you declutter your home, you also need to clear out the clutter in your soul, in your relationships, in your work, and in your commitments, otherwise you will not be able to enjoy life in a transformed space.

5. Zen decluttering

Regina Leeds, author of " Perfect order in 8 minutes: Easy solutions to simplify your life and free up time,” teaches us the so-called Zen organization. She says that after organizing a space, its energy changes. The vibrations that a clean, structured and well-groomed space creates are completely different vibrations than chaos and disorder.

Regina Leeds says decluttering any space involves the same steps: get rid of the clutter, categorize the remaining items, and organize them. She called these steps the “magic formula.”

Step 1: Removal

This step helps us take control of the room and get rid of unnecessary things. We can not only throw things away, but also donate them to charity organisations, re-gift, give to loved ones, return to owners, give for recycling, come up with a new purpose for them.

Here we need to sort items into categories with similar characteristics: clothing, toys, food.

Step 3: Organization

Here our task is to complete the process and create beauty, convenience and functionality in the use of things.

This is exactly the order that works. There is no point in buying organizers and storage devices until you get rid of the excess and evaluate the real volume of your things.

6. Decluttering according to the “One suitcase” principle

While exploring this country, she realized that simplicity is a value that carries positivity and richness.

In her book she teaches how to live to the fullest life to the fullest and master the art of simplicity.

After giving up unnecessary things, life begins to take on a deeper meaning.

The less you have, the more free and fulfilled you feel.

The ideal is to possess only strictly necessary things, but at the same time live in the place of your dreams, in an impeccable interior and in a healthy, flexible and well-groomed body; At the same time, you need to live completely independently. And then the spirit will remain free and open to everything that it has not yet discovered.

According to this strategy, everything a person owns should fit into one or two suitcases: a well-thought-out wardrobe, a travel bag, an album of favorite photographs, two or three personal items. Everything else that can be seen in the house (bed linen, dishes, TV, furniture) should not be taken as personal items.

Adopt this way of life and you will be able to live in peace and tranquility. You will become the owner of something that few people have: readiness for anything.

7. Decluttering the Russian way

Irina Sokovykh in her books “Minimalism. Life without trash" and

“Happy Housewife” offers her own decluttering technique.

Irina is sure that by getting rid of unnecessary trash, we invite into our lives new and useful things for us, which will be of some use and which will serve us faithfully.

Here is the de-littering algorithm that Irina suggests:

Choose a place to declutter.
Take out all the things.
Imagine what things you would ideally like to see in your home.
Select everything that does not fit into your new life (broken, outdated, out of fashion, etc.)
From the rest, throw away those things that are not useful.
From the remaining things, throw out those things that do not bring you joy.
Repeat steps 4-6 until you feel that nothing else can be thrown away.

It took a long time, but it was worth it, you must agree :)

Happy decluttering!

If you want to completely declutter, put your home in order and learn to spend a minimum of time on cleaning, then I invite you to mine.

With faith in your success, Irina Igolnikova

Olga Nikitina is a housewife with 25 years of experience, loves to cook and make her home cozy.

A A

One of the first to launch the idea of “decluttering” the home space was the author of the well-known. Today she has a very respectable competitor: the Japanese specialist in organizing everyday life - Marie Kondo.

The girl’s books are now sold all over the world in large editions, and, thanks to her, complex science Housewives on all continents are learning about “decluttering an apartment.”

Putting things in order in life and throwing away trash according to konmari

Marie's main idea is to throw away everything unnecessary that does not bring you joy and pleasure, and organize the rest.

It sounds strange, of course, “not bringing joy,” but This is precisely the rule that prevails in the KonMari system. We constantly store things in our homes “in reserve”, store what we have accumulated, stuff it into bedside tables and cabinets, and then test constant stress from the clutter of the apartment, the lack of “oxygen” and the irritation that haunts us.

Focus on what you truly value, and on those things that make you happy in everyday life.

And generally speaking don't bring things into the house that don’t make you feel happy!

Video: Keeping your home in order using Marie Kondo's method

So, how to get rid of excess?

We start not with premises, but with “categories”. We dump all the things from the house into one room and begin the “debriefing”. This will make it easier for you to understand how much “junk” you have accumulated, whether you need it, and whether it makes sense to keep it.
The very first category to start with is, of course, clothing. Next are books and all documents. Then “miscellaneous”. That is, everything else - from household appliances to products.
We leave things for “nostalgia” until the very last moment : after you sort out the bulk of your things, it will be easier for you to understand which souvenirs/photos are vital for you, and which you can easily do without.
No “gradually”! We declutter the house quickly, without much thought and in one go. Otherwise, this process will drag on for years.
The main rule is the joy of feeling a specific thing in your hands. You’ve picked up a well-worn T-shirt in your hands – it’s a pity to throw it away, and it gives off some cozy nostalgic warmth. Leave it! Even if you can only walk in it at home, as long as no one sees. But if you pick up jeans that are very “cool”, but don’t evoke any sensations and generally just lie there for growth, feel free to throw them away.
Part with things easily! Say goodbye to them and release them - to the trash heap, to needy neighbors in the country, or to people for whom these things will no longer be theirs. great joy. Distribute bags for things that have lost their “positive” - a bag for the trash, a bag for “giving to good hands”, a bag for “selling to a second-hand shop”, etc.

Video: Decluttering your wardrobe using the Konmari method

Konmari storage organization - basics

A huge cookie jar filled with Soviet buttons, thimbles, pins, etc. That you never use. 2 rubber heating pads. 4 mercury thermometer. 2 boxes of documents that lost their value 10 years ago. A whole closet full of books that you will never read.

In every apartment there are such deposits of “let it be” things, and Marie inspires everyone to great deeds with her advice!

So, you've thrown away all the unnecessary things, but what to do with the remaining things?

How to properly organize their storage?

Determine your end goal. How exactly do you imagine your home? Look at pictures of interior design on the Internet and choose the ones you like. Recreate yours future home(from the inside) in the head and, perhaps, on paper.
Clean out the space as much as possible. Leave only what is most pleasant and dear to you (and what you absolutely cannot do without). Once you experience the convenience of “minimalism,” you won’t want to go back to “littering.”
Don't let your relatives peek or interfere! All the “experts” with advice on the topic - “leave this”, “this is expensive thing, you’re crazy” and “there’s a lot of space on the mezzanine, let’s put it there, it’ll come in handy later!” - drive away!
Let's sort things by category! We don’t clean the closet or hallway, but books or cosmetics. We collected all the books in one place, sorted them into “causes joy” and “throw away”, the 2nd pile was taken out, the 1st was beautifully folded in one place.
Cloth. We don’t turn tired clothes into home “outfits”! Either throw it away or give it to good hands. Even if no one sees you, you should walk in what brings you joy. And these are unlikely to be tattered “sweatpants” with a faded top.
How to fold? We fold clothes in piles, but vertically! That is, when you look into the drawer, you should see all your blouses, and not just the top one. This makes it easier to find the item (no need to dig through the entire stack), and order is maintained.
Put everything you don’t wear this season on the back shelves. (umbrellas, jackets, swimsuits, gloves, etc., depending on the season).
Documentation. Everything is simple here. 1st pile: documents that are needed. 2nd pile: documents that need to be sorted out. For the 2nd pile, take a special box and put all questionable papers there and only there. Don't let them crawl around the apartment.
Do not store pieces of paper, postcards, or documents that have no value. For example, instructions from household appliances that you have been using for more than a year (unless it is a warranty card), paid rent receipts (if 3 years have passed since payment), papers on loans paid off long ago, instructions for medications, etc.
Postcards. It’s one thing if it’s a memorabilia that gives you a wild rush of joy and nostalgia at the same time, it’s another thing when it’s a box of duty postcards. Who needs them? Say goodbye to such things with confidence!
Coins. Don’t scatter “change” around the house, pouring it on the refrigerator, then on the coffee table, or in a piggy bank that you will never open, because it “is no longer money.” Spend it right away! Place it in your wallet and use it on small items in stores.
Present. Yes, it would be a shame to throw it away. Yes, the man was on duty trying to congratulate you. Yes, it's somehow inconvenient. But you still won’t use this coffee grinder (handle, figurine, vase, candlestick). Get rid of it! Or give it to someone who will enjoy this gift.
Equipment boxes. What if it comes in handy? - we think and put another empty box in the closet, without putting anything in it. If only those unnecessary buttons, 100 instructions for medications that you never look at (because there is the Internet) or 20 extra mercury thermometers. Throw it away immediately!
Go there to the trash bin - all the things whose purpose you have no idea at all , or simply never use it at all. Some strange cord, an ancient non-working TV, microcircuits, an old tape recorder and a bag of cassettes, cosmetics samples, things with the logo of your university, trinkets won in the lottery, etc.
Photos. Feel free to throw out all the pictures that do not evoke emotions in you. We leave only those dear to our hearts. Why do you need thousands of faceless landscapes if you can’t even remember when, why and who photographed it? This advice also applies to photo folders on your PC.
Bags. If you use them, store them inside each other so that they take up less space. Cracked, faded, out of fashion - throw away. And be sure to empty out your everyday bag every day so as not to turn it into a warehouse of strange things.
Every thing has its own place! And all things of the same type - in one place. One closet contains clothes. In the nightstand - things for sewing. On the upper shelves are documents. And don’t even think about mixing them with each other. A thing without a place - new way to the old mess.
Bathroom. We do not litter the edges of the bathtub and sink. We put all the bottles with gels and shampoos in the nightstand and cabinets.

According to Marie, clutter comes from the fact that we do not know how to return things to their rightful places. Or because it takes too much effort to return them to their places. That's why - decide on “places”!

The magic of tidying up from Marie Kondo - so why do we need it and why is it important?

Of course, Marie’s cleaning style seems, at first glance, to be extremely large-scale and even somewhat destructive - after all, you need to “in one gulp” get rid of your, essentially, habits, and start life from scratch .

But, as practice shows, order in the house really leads to order in the head - and, as a result, to order in life .

By getting rid of the unnecessary in things, we begin to get rid of the unnecessary everywhere, gradually getting used to separating the important from the secondary and surrounding ourselves only with pleasant and joyful things, people, events, etc.

Learn to be happy. The fewer things in the house, the more thorough the cleaning, the more Fresh air, the less time and energy for truly significant issues.
The things you keep at home are a history of the decisions you have made. Cleaning is a kind of inventory of yourself. During it, you determine who you are, where your place in life is, what exactly you want.
Konmari cleaning is a wonderful remedy for shopaholism. Having thrown away half of the things on which considerable sums were spent, you will no longer be able to thoughtlessly spend money on blouses/T-shirts/handbags, which will still have to be thrown away in six months.

Are you familiar with the Konmari cleaning system? Share your experiences and tips in the comments below!

Analysis of the apartment in Konmari - personal experience verde_viento_m wrote in August 16th, 2016

The idea of living with a small amount of things has haunted me for a long time. I have already sorted things out according to the principle of usefulness and usability, and put things in order. But gradually things appeared from somewhere again, everything returned to its previous course - clothes in a clump in the chest of drawers, too many dishes, clutter. Once a situation arose that I forgot to turn off the stove and remembered about it very late and not at home. For a second, I imagined that all my things were burned. And along with horror, I realized that this thought gave me a feeling of relief and liberation. Things started to weigh on me. Thank God, nothing burned, but when I came across A new book, promising a revolution in the house, “The Magic of Tidying Up” by M. Kondo, I ordered it and sat down to read it quickly. The book inspired me so much that I dropped everything I was doing and began to dismantle the house using this book.

The good: the system really works! I really feel the same New Life and magical lightness, a new attitude towards things and purchases.
The bad: it was very hard. I sorted things out every weekend from morning to evening (at least one day off) and on weekdays if possible, and it took me more than three weeks. And this despite the fact that I had already sorted things out before, I didn’t have centuries-old rubble.

I live alone in a two-room apartment. I made one room personal, the other a more common space where I will receive guests and do work and sports. Before the KonMari analysis, the purpose of the rooms was mixed; it was not very clear how to use the space ergonomically.

I did everything in the same order as Marie Kondo advises. I started with clothes. It was scary to look at these terrible rubble!

I didn’t throw away clothes that my heart didn’t belong to, but took everything into a box at the “Thank You” charity store. So she not only sorted out her wardrobe, but also helped the poor. Marie Kondo advises throwing everything away, but giving to those in need seems more beneficial to me.

In the end, I was so successful that I completely emptied a whole large closet and am going to get rid of it. Here is my wardrobe now: three dresser drawers, one rack with wrinkled clothes and outerwear. I think over time I will buy something more, but I still have a reserve free space. In any case, I don't want to increase the number of things too much. I stacked my laundry and clothes vertically in shoe boxes, just like Marie Kondo suggests. At first I was worried, would I have the patience for such complex operations every day? But it’s so simple that your hands fold the things themselves! Finally, the piles of things in the corners of sofas and chairs disappeared.

I had very few books, I sorted them out in between, mostly leaving poetry and professional literature on drawing. Marie Kondo advises storing all things of the same type in one place, but books often serve as part of my interior. So here I ignored her rule. I put the rest of my things as she advises: next to each other. Towels in the form of “rolls” are in the chest of drawers next to the clothes, bed linen and medicines are also there. My cosmetics are on the surface, because... I use it all the time, there is a box next to it where I put things from my bag after returning home. At first I didn’t understand why you constantly disassemble and reassemble your bag? But it helps to keep your bag organized and not forget anything. I placed the main array of personal items on an open shelf so that everything was visible and at hand. The main habit that is necessary after cleaning up is to immediately put things back in their place.

I disassembled all the electrical appliances, except for the kitchen and handicraft items, and was able to stuff them into the bottom drawers of the rack for holiday dishes in the room. Previously, needlework, a sewing machine and cosmetics took up an entire large nightstand! Now I don’t need her either.

Everything in my kitchen was already pretty well sorted out before konmari, but I still spent almost the whole day sorting it out. Marie Kondo advises to first take all things apart and then put them back together. But it is absolutely impossible to live in disarray, so I had to wash the shelves and put everything in order.
All my household supplies used to be in plain sight, but now they have a place in the kitchen cabinet. I simply dismantled the rest so that there was nothing standing in the depths of the shelf, because if a thing is not in sight, you completely forget it. Banks signed.

Parsing:

After:

Everything in the bathroom was simple: all shampoos and detergents I removed it from the shelf into a box under the bathtub. Marie Kondo advises putting them in the room, but I know that I will constantly forget shampoo and run naked and wet around the apartment. And it’s easy to get shampoo from under the bathtub and it doesn’t get dirty on the shelf. The bath space has become more open. But I had to tinker with the closet and antessols. Marie Kondo advises organizing things by category. But the mezzanines are high and once you get to them, you can take them apart. I have two mezzanines. What was stored there! Old spare wallpaper, old notes, a photo enlarger, a Christmas tree and toys, things for repair, broken equipment, out-of-season and unloved clothes. I must say, I honestly dismantled the mezzanines at least once a year. But it was still a space where once again I don't want to climb. As a result of cleaning, I store two travel suitcases (large and small) on one mezzanine, and a Christmas tree and toys on the second.

bath:

I had to tinker with the built-in wardrobe in the hallway. There I kept repair items and men's household items such as saws, drills, and screwdrivers. I realized that I have a whole layer of things that I don’t understand! I wait for the man, let him into the tool cabinet and wipe my hands. As a result, my toolbox is a terrible mess! I also discovered how dangerous all kinds of pots and boxes with hidden things are. That's why these things are there?... I even found my gold pendant in one hiding place!
As a result, I was inspired to take matters into my own hands and simply gave almost the entire instrument back to my dad, who brought it. And I figured out the screwdrivers myself and bought the one that suits me, then I will buy only what is really necessary. I have men who are happy to help. But I decided to figure out what was what myself, at least to distinguish between the tools, and ideally to hold them in my hands, not to call for help because of every little thing.

large and small rubble:

perfection has not yet been achieved, but order has been established:

The most difficult and difficult part of the deconstruction was the photographs. This gives a very strong psychological effect, because you are faced with the past again, you rethink it. This is very affecting. I even came down with a cold and fever for several days after this analysis. But this is also liberating. You understand that you are the master of your life and you can say goodbye to what upset you. There is no need to keep it out of a sense of duty.

I cannot say that I have achieved Ideal perfection. Something needs to be completed, something needs to be lived with - see how it will be more convenient. But I still feel amazing lightness and now I look at things differently: new thing in the house? - won’t I have to throw it away later... Now I try to choose things according to the principle: measure seven times and cut once. And to all material gifts - returns, I have one answer: thank you, but I don’t need anything! It was too hard to sort out the apartment and I don’t want to go back to it again.