Marie Kondo is this year’s biggest television celebrity, and she is famous for no less than being the world’s ‘Queen of Decluttering’. If you haven’t seen her new show on Netflix ‘Tidying Up’ then we suggest you take a day off work to binge-watch the whole thing. Because in this blog post, we’re going to share with you some key storage solutions we learned from the queen herself so that you can implement them in your own homes come spring cleaning time. Let’s dive right in!
Reclaim the storage space in your house
One of the most common reasons why people have so much clutter in the first place is that we assume there is nowhere for all this stuff to go, so we just leave them out in the open. In most cases, this is simply not true.
To begin the decluttering process, one of Marie Kondo’s main home storage solutions takes a deep look into all of the cupboards, drawers and shelves already in your home. Specifically, she asks that, room by room, you take everything out of said cupboard spaces and methodically go through all your belongings deciding which ones ‘spark joy’ for you. If they don’t, she suggests getting rid of them! Taking all of the unnecessary items out of your cupboards can reclaim a lot of space for the things that need to go in there.
Store by Categories
Marie Kondo doesn’t believe in the word ‘miscellaneous’. She actually refers to miscellaneous household items as ‘komono’, meaning small things or items in Japanese, and suggests that even these items shouldn’t end up randomly grouped together in a drawer.
Categorising everything in your home is an effective way to make sure everything that you need has a place. It’s also great if you are the type of person who loses things, because it’s much easier to remember where ‘The Paperclip Box’ is rather than remembering where you put those paperclips.
Store Everything Standing Up
This one is for the hard-core Marie Kondo-ers. The show breaks down Kondo’s special folding method, turning clothes into stiff squares that can be stacked neatly next to each other in dividers within your drawers.
This method is akin to how you stack books on a bookshelf with the spine facing out, but imagine it done with everything you own, including all your clothes (and yes, even your underwear). This method of stacking or storing is helpful if you can stick to it, because you’ll never lose a shirt or forget you owned something ever again. It also frees your clothing items of wrinkles!
Reuse Boxes
To help with categorising and standing all your items, Kondo suggests placing everything in dividing boxes within cupboards, shelves and drawers. She suggests reusing cardboard boxes you acquire from buying shoes, technology pieces, dinnerware, and even cereal. Remove the lids so that your items can stay out in the open and remain individually categorised. If these items are going to be displayed and you want them to look nice, cover boxes in a layer of wrapping paper with a cute design that will bring you joy, and then you have a whole collection of different-sized boxes ready to place all your items in.
Bonus tip: Where should your decluttered clutter go?
So, you’ve decluttered and rearranged your house; we are sure Marie Kondo would be proud. But what are you going to do with all the things you got rid of? Kondo suggests donating them to charity, but many recent reports released over the past month or so revealed that, since the release of the hit show ‘Tidying Up’, charity shops around the country have been dealing with an influx of household clutter, and many have had to stop taking donations altogether.
What else is there to do with all your clutter? Not to worry, you don’t have to go cramming all your now-perfectly categorised cupboards with things you’ve already discovered don’t ‘spark joy’ for you. In true Marie Kondo style, reclaim a common household space that you never would have thought to use otherwise: the attic.
Discover Your Attic’s Storage Space with Hometech’s Attic Stairs
Thousands of Kiwis have installed Hometech’s attic stairs in their home. They are an excellent, safe and efficient way to access a storage space in your home that is completely out of sight and out of mind. They are a stable design that won’t scratch any floors, and once you’re done storing all your unnecessary items above your heads, you can fold it up into the ceiling, where it can remain hidden until the next spring clean.
If you’re looking at home storage solutions (whether you’ve taken Marie Kondo’s advice or not) and would like to see what Hometech has to offer, feel free to get in touch today!