How the KonMari method can make your wardrobe more sustainable
Never before have we spent so much time at home, in the same surroundings. This time certainly helps us to realise how we feel about our home environment and gives us time to evaluate our surroundings. Sometimes we feel stressed because we can’t find the right position for our interior decorations, other times it seems like cleaning is never enough.
While tidying up sounds simple, a clutter free home usually equates to a clutter free life. Many of us are not aware about the quantity of items we have. Indeed, many people neither realize the objects they possess and also, they cannot even identify where they are in their own home. When thinking about that, the question comes automatically, why do we own things which are not important to us?
How to make things clear and make your tidying last
Now that we have more time to take care of our spaces of happiness, it is a great opportunity to organize your home in a way that “brings joy to your life”. This concept has been developed by Marie Kondo, a tidying expert and it is famous for being called the KonMari Method.
The KonMari Method teaches that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you will never have to do it again. The cost of time and decisions on how to use it, is a topic for analysis of household economics. But let’s find out why the KonMari Method is useful not only for saving your time, but for your mental organisation, expenses, wellness and sustainability.
Who is Marie Kondo?
Marie Kondo is a tidying expert, bestselling author, protagonist of Netflix tv show: "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo". By providing a few rules and guidelines she invented the KonMari Method. She goes beyond the tidiness of your closet and her mission is “to spark joy in the world through tidying”.
The first principle of the KonMari Method
One of the first directions is to start tidying by category and not by location. Step by step, you should tidy five categories in a specific order:
Clothing
Books
Papers
Komono (all miscellaneous items)
Sentimental items.
Marie and her method have entered the homes of many families all over the world. People have adopted her method not only because of the effectiveness, but also because of the importance of being mindful, introspective and forward-looking.
How the KonMari method can make your wardrobe more sustainable
The KonMari method allows us to see what we have at home, by placing it all in one spot. When all the clothes you own are placed in one room, it makes you realise how much extra you own and how much is unnecessary. It helps you to declutter and stays in your mind when you go shopping. Sometimes you can forget what you own and that is why it is very important to shed some light inside your wardrobes. That can be a major reason why we buy unnecessary items.
Six basic rules of tidying with Marie Kondo:
Commit yourself to tidying up
Imagine your ideal lifestyle
Finish discarding first
Tidy by category, not by location
Follow the right order
Ask yourself if it sparks joy
Keeping only the things that “bring us joy”
The ultimate goal of tidying is to learn to cherish everything that you have so that you can achieve happiness for your family. In some way, the target is to appreciate what you have instead of buying new things.
The method in practise. Starting from the first category we need to tidy up the wardrobe.
Open your wardrobe and collect all the clothes you possess.
Find enough space to put them all on piles.
One by one have a look at it and, by touching it, think if you really need it.
Does it spark joy? Maybe someone else needs it.
Marie says, when you wear your favourite outfit, it’s a warm and positive feeling, that’s how it feels when something sparks joy. And those are the only items we should keep. Forget about keeping something that may just fit you again, focus on things that give you joy now.
What to do when your clothes no longer spark joy?
The importance is to hold each item one by one, when the item sparks joy, you will feel “Ching” and all of your cells are rising. When you do not feel that and you let go of an item, you must thank it.
After applying this method, you will feel like your mind has been organised, and you feel content knowing that everything is in its place. You will probably collect many things you don’t want anymore, and for this scenario we have some tips on what to do with their unwanted items. This can help you figure out what to do in the future: buy only what sparks your joy.
Sources:
https://shop.konmari.com/pages/about
https://sites.google.com/view/seho2018/society-of-economics-of-the-household-seho