Kondo method, again! Your experiences?

K.M.

I recently learned about Marie Kondo's book, and method, for tidying up on this forum--many of you have mentioned her in several different threads about organization.

I've just started to read it--I just finished the portion where she talks about clothes directly--so I haven't begun to implement yet, but I am very curious to know your experiences with it.

If you implemented it, did you follow it strictly or did you end up keeping things that she would have had you part with?

Did you use her method for folding clothes upright in the drawer?

Any other insights from your experience applying the book's principles, positive or negative?

(I think the true test would be to ask this question at different points after the process--say, several months, a year, two years... and see if people ever regret parting with their things.)

PS. Also found this story on her in the NYT. Isn't she a cutie? She looks as tidy, "edited" and polished as her method.

11 years ago

General

7 replies

Latest reply was from carter

Anonymous

My OTT OCD daughter would love that article! I'm not a messy person, but I've learned to relax and let a few things go. My house doesn't have to look like that. Nobody comes over and inspects my closets. That said, our master bedroom closet is very well organized so I can make quick and easy decisions about what to wear. Not all of our closets are that way, and I choose not to stress over that stuff. It's better to have peace and harmony in the house. If my 2 messy daughters haven't cleaned their rooms or organized their closets, I can shut the door. It's their space.

11 years ago

SW Ann

Veteran

I have not read her book yet, so I may be premature in my comment.
I fold my and my DH t shirts using the 4 fold method and place them upright in the drawers back to back. .....I have been able to cut down the space used by about 1/3rd using this method, and can see everything when I open the drawers....I didn't know this was her method, as I learned it on an HGTV show about 5 years ago.
I will be reading her book after I give it to myself for my birthday next week! What piqued my interest was her philosophy about difficulty parting with mistakes, which paraphrased, amounted to "if you learned something about what not to buy for yourself and put that knowledge to work, it has served its purpose" This already has helped me immensely deal with the guilt and shame of mistakes that have been languishing in my closet.

11 years ago

Ann in New England

Active Member

I did use it (though I still need to finish my shoes and accessories).
I went into it thinking that I would find the most value from the "Does it bring you joy?" question.
I came out of it with much appreciation for what Ann SW observed: the realization that I could let something go because it had "done its job" ... whether that was to fill a wardrobe need, even if only for a single use, or because it made me feel better after a bad day, or helped me celebrate a victory ... whatever reason I had for purchasing an item, I could let it go (no matter the cost) because the item had done its job. Even if it still had the tags on.
I used her folding method for my workout clothes and undies, but I honestly don't have very many drawers. I keep most of my folding clothes in piles in an Ikea cube thing that lives in my closet. So I have tanks and tshirts folded into baskets then put in the cubes, but I think I'm going to go back to hanging most of those items. I have my sweaters neatly folded in a pile in one cube. I have a lot of hanging space, so I will use it.
So, the downside: after I got rid of everything that did not bring me joy, I took a good hard look at my closet. And I realized that I had gotten rid of almost all of my spring and summer clothes, mostly because they didn't fit due to 10 lbs. I put on over the past year. So now I'm in the rebuilding stage, helped by the fact that I have a week-long business trip to Florida in early March. I'm using this opportunity to refocus my wardrobe, but it has been a bit costly. On the other hand, it's what brought me back to YLF after an almost 2 year absence.
I highly recommend the book.

11 years ago

K.M.

Veteran

Thanks, bettycrocker, SW Ann and Ann in New England, for the feedback.
I'm having a surprisingly hard time with the idea of storing clothes upright. Not because it doesn't appeal to me--it does, both the space-saving and the ease of seeing and accessing every clothing item. But I've spent 40 years of my life doing the stacked piles... that's how I learned it was supposed to be... I'm usually not that wedded to habits just because they've always been so, I don't understand why I am resisting this. I suppose it's relatively costless to give it a try and go back if I don't like it.

And good points about the different functions of things--even the mistakes. How else do we learn...? Even if I kick myself everyday for the clothes I wish I hadn't bought. (Glad to know I'm not the only one who does this.)

11 years ago

Staysfit

Veteran

I was able to put some of her advice to good use, particularly for sorting out my closet and for folding. I originally learned the folding from Mo here on YLF however, Kondo gave much more detail on how to use the technique. It has been easy to maintain and I am now using all my items, esp. Those that used to get lost at the bottom of piles. I still keep my sweaters stacked on shelves in my closet, but I am working on a better storage method.

I was able to do a good de-cluttering of my linen cabinets and bathroom drawers, and all the coat closets in the house. The one area I have been unsuccessful with is using her method for sorting books. Isn't it possible that every book I touch brings me great joy? That's my conclusion!

11 years ago

Vildy

Veteran

I don't have the book but have read several excerpts plus skimmed several 1000 post threads over on mumsnet of folks putting it into practice.

I've folded my tops and "filed" them in drawers for a couple years now after I saw a photo of it online. I don't remember any mention of her in connection with that. I don't fold the way she does. I did try it and I'm too impatient.

I tried it with panties and couldn't stand it because I have numerous styles but similar colors and once folded that way I could not tell which was which in large part. I can tell with the tops because most of them are prints and I don't have too many multiples of solid colors.

I tried it with chunkier sweaters that I don't have in a drawer but on shelves in
a tall cabinet. I couldn't stand to see them rolled that way since a large part of whether I want to wear something is my feeling about it's degree of drapiness or not and the exact behavior of its texture and thickness. I found that it worked for me to fold and roll them in such a way as to be able to place them to show exactly what she doesn't like - all the foldedness. My way, I can gauge the thickness and her way I can't.

I *think* she folds bras so one cup is inside the other. I use a small drawer and nest them inside each other but otherwise leave them unfolded.

I've tried hanging my wardrobe every which way and I haven't yet tried her method of hanging all the same color together and going from dark to light.
My closet arrangement is doubled, anyway and the only hanging space for full or longer length garments like dresses or pants is on a small rolling rack I have in there or on the over the door hangers.

I agree with her viewpoint that you have already gotten your value from the garment but I refuse to attribute feelings to my clothing and, honestly, I don't get the "joy" bit. I really relate to the particular aesthetics of each piece or outfit I've made from them but I would say it's more like satisfaction and perhaps enjoyMENT. I don't tend to decide to keep items from just trying them on or putting them in outfits successfully. That's because there can be a lot of artistic satisfaction in creating outfits and what I'm after is the everyday wearability and not the celebration of creativity.

I've purged a lot of clothing over the years. Occasionally I will miss something and regret it but I find that after some time goes by, I no longer do but I may will miss an entirely different item! So I don't give that feeling a lot of room.
I tend to think of it as like judging a dog show. A particular dog is considered best on *that* day. In other words, it was probably the right decision on that day to purge the item. If you second guessed everything you did in life, you'd go mad with paralysis. Remember the shark - it lives only by swimming forward.

11 years ago

carter

Veteran

Fabulous book, even if some things are a little kooky. I am loosely applying her approach all over my house. In doing so, I have found that "does it bring me joy?" doesn't cover everything. Some things are just meant to be useful...extra towels and blankets for the guest room, crock pot, tupperware, underwear, etc. However, I can generally use another similar question that works in these circumstances.

Another thing that doesn't make sense for my house, because it is stupidly large, is to store like things together rather than where they are used. This also throws me for a loop in the "collecting" phase prior to the purge phase. Take a simple item like a note pad. If I were to collect them from all over the house, I'd have to go to twelve different rooms just to retrieve the ones that immediaitely come to mind. Um, no. So rather than address my house as a whole, I'm basically approaching each room as a whole and then working through the categories.

My closet will have to wait a bit as I get myself back in shape after foot surgery. I'm looking forward to it. On the drawer folding methods...my tanks and camis are folded that way in a drawer. Panties/bras are folded. My socks much prefer being stuffed into each other;-). Most everything else is either hanging space or open shelving, so I'll stick with what works for me there.

Looking forward to reading what everyone else has done.

11 years ago

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