Tidying Up Tuesday

Have you seen Netflix's new show Tidying Up With Marie Kondo? It is my new favorite thing. I especially love that Netflix chose to air it at the beginning of January. For me, January is a month of hope, where I resolve to take control of my life and change the things that make me unhappy. Do I stick with those changes all year? Not always, but for January, at least, things are magical. It also doesn't hurt that my birthday is at the end of the month!

I read Marie Kondo's bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up almost two years ago. I found a lot of good in the book, including several principles that I have managed to follow consistently since then. This includes the idea that it's easier to clean up if things have a clear place that they belong, a principle that made cleaning my kids' rooms easier. I have also embraced storage totes in my life. And finally, when deciding whether or not to part with an item, I find it easy to tell myself that if I haven't used it in years, I don't need to hang on to it. If I suddenly need it five years from now, chances are I'll be able to replace it.

I did the first step, Clothing, two years ago, and really enjoyed the results. I do fold my clothes differently now. Having the clothing stand up makes it so easy to see what is what, instead of having to dig through clothing stacked on top of each other. However, I only did my clothes. I didn't touch my kids' stuff. Why? I don't know. I lost steam, I guess.

The next step is Books, and I remember thinking two years ago that I would never get rid of my books, and that KonMari lady clearly did not respect books enough. Watching the Netflix show has really brought me around, though. When you deliberately choose what items to keep in your home, you feel better about what surrounds you. Unfortunately, two years ago, I allowed the thought of keeping all my books no matter what to be the thing that stopped me from tidying up the rest of my home.

We bought this house three and a half years ago. It's a fixer-upper; livable, but we've altered literally every room in the house. My husband tore down walls, built new walls, ripped out appliances, and even raised a sunken living room. In sum, our home is in a constant state of flux. Instead of dealing with the clutter and lack of organization, I've told myself for so long that this is the way things are, and I just have to deal with it. But that's not true at all. I can do something about the clutter and disorganization of my home.

It's January, and I'm feeling ready to change. I'm taking that energy and am going to use it to KonMari my entire home. I plan on chronicling it here, even though this is ostensibly a writing blog. Every Tuesday I plan on tackling the clutter, KonMari style. Tomorrow is my own clothing. Wish me luck!