My KonMari Journey: How One Little Book Helped Change the Way I Looked at My Stuff in a Big Way

Beautifully folded tees make it quick to choose a top.

I've spent countless hours chasing my tail when it comes to organizing my home. Once one area has been "organized", another area needs attention, and then another, and it is soon time to start all over again. It is a vicious cycle full of bins, storage tubs, and pretty patterned boxes. I only need to find the right container or storage system and my home will be put in order and I can finally rest. This was my mindset. This was my mantra.

By tucking items away out of sight, things may seem clutter free and in order for a bit, but clutter has a way of escaping those pretty patterned boxes and perfectly sized baskets. Soon, I'm face to face with the Clutter Monster and he's gaining ground. He'll take over my home room by room, unless I fight the battle daily. It's disheartening. It's exhausting. It's depressing. My home is no longer a sanctuary. It is a prison. I'm being controlled by my possessions and I am tired of fighting a loosing battle.

I'm not sure how I stumbled on the KonMari method. I suppose it came across my news feed from one of the many organizing groups to which I subscribe. The name intrigued me. It seemed foreign and magical. Upon further searching, I discovered the KonMari method was created by a petite Japanese woman by the name of Marie Kondo and in fact, her best selling book is titled, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing ." In a matter of moments, I had placed the book in my online shopping cart and it was soon in my hands. Though small in size (5.2 inches by 7.3 inches) and length (a little over 200 pages), Kondo's book is big on Joy. In fact, the heart of the KonMari method is to declutter and discard all items in your home that do not "spark joy."

To determine if your items meet this joy sparking criteria, you must sort through each category of items in your home in a specific order. Every item must be held in your hands and you must ask yourself, "Does this item bring me joy?" If it brings a smile to your heart and you feel warm fuzzies inside, then the item makes the cut. If not, then the item is promptly thanked for its service and discarded. Kondo believes that every item holds energy and by thanking an item for the role it has played in your life, you are releasing that energy to reenter your life in another form at another time.
As Kondo suggests, I began my KonMari journey by tackling my clothing. I soon found that while the KonMari method is simple, it is not easy.

My closet is now neat and orderly. I can find things at a glance and I no longer feel overwhelmed when choosing an outfit. 

Clearing out items has always been a struggle for me. If I thought I may need something someday, or if something was still good , I believed it was worth keeping. Since I started clearing things out using the KonMari method, I feel so much lighter and I've noticed the more items I sort and properly store, the more time I seem to get back in my day. Once items in a category pass the "Joy Test," the items are promptly put away. They need no additional attention. Prior to beginning the KonMari process, I was spending time trying to maintain and organize items that didn't really matter. I have completed the clothing category and am now ready to move on to the next category, books. The tail chasing has ceased, at least as far as my wardrobe is concerned, and I couldn't be happier with my progress.

Eleven bags of items were thanked for their service and discarded. The nicest items were pulled out for consignment and/or sale and the others were donated to charity .

Playdate: Little Leprechauns St. Patrick's Day Playdate

 I have so many things to post about, but finding twenty minutes to blog has been a struggle. We've had a full schedule in March and April and I hope to give you a glimpse of some of the fun.

Typically, when spring rolls around, I tend to focus on all things Easter in my decorating, playdates, and parties. My home is usually filled with bunnies, chicks and pastels and I love it. This year, however, I decided to mix things up and go green for St. Patrick's Day. I hosted a Little Leprechauns playdate at our home.

 It was a morning playdate, so I went light on the snacks and purchased Shamrock Cookies from a locally owner bakery, Heitzman Bakery. I typically go with Loft House Cookies, but the selection at our local Kroger was pretty slim and these were still yummy and festive.

When planning a Playdate, I like to develop activity stations that are not only age appropriate, but high interest for the little ones. Plus, if the kiddos are happy, then the mommas get chat and hang out, and let's be real... that is at least 50% of why we go to Playdates! This station I called "Create a Sticker Scene." Preschoolers and toddles LOVE stickers so this station was a favorite.

I pulled out some green cardstock that I had in our home office and placed it on our kitchen table. I had picked up some fun St. Patrick's Day themed puffy stickers at the Dollar Tree and I tossed them in a basket along with some crayons. I've found that puffy stickers work best because little hands can easily peel them off the backing.

 

The second station, was a simple "Play-Doh Play Station." To make it fit into the holiday theme, I used green Play-Doh and kneaded nontoxic gold glitter into it to make it sparkle. In the past I've made my own Play-Doh and there are some great recipes out there, but a few months ago, I discovered that Wal-Mart stores sell Play-Doh for fifty cents a can. You can grab a variety of colors, or in my case, load up on 10 cans of green. Not only did it only cost me $5, it also saved me time and cream of tartar (seriously, the homemade Play-Doh recipes always clean me out of cream of tartar!)

 

The final station was a fun "Photo Booth Station." This was my favorite. To create your own at-home photo booth, all you need is a couple of yards of fabric, something to hang it on, fun themed props, and a digital camera. I use a portable double clothes rack that I had in the basement to hang the fabric and then use duct tape to tape the fabric to the bar.  You could always tape your fabric straight to the wall, but I'm afraid of it pulling the paint off during the removal process and I don't want to have to touch up my walls. The fabric that I used for this photo booth was originally used for my son's Mickey Mouse themed birthday party a few years ago and it was perfect.

 

All of the photo props came from the Dollar Tree and I borrowed the green tub from our front bathroom. It usually stores my son's bath toys.

To tie in the St. Patrick's Day theme in the entry way, I pinned some fun sparkly shamrocks to our repurposed shutters that act as a seasonal display for photos, cards, or L's artwork.

We had a great time and ended up with some super cute photos of everyone from the photo booth that we shared via email and Facebook with the group.