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I just read this book and spent all day yesterday taking the advice into practice (with my own modifications). I'm still processing through some areas, but my house has never been less cluttered. I never thought I would be able to accomplish so much so quickly, and really feel like managing the clutter in my house is a manageable task. In just a day, I was able to get through almost every space. I still have about half the kitchen and a few "miscellany" cupboards to sort through, and a dozen bags to take to Goodwill.

The basic advice I had heard before: only keep things that "spark joy," but it took actually reading the book and the repetitions of advice and explanations for the hows & whys to sink in. But the basic concept is to take everything you own out of where it lives, assess each item individually to decide what to keep (on the basis of whether or not it "sparks joy," i.e. does it make you happy to own), and then put it back neatly (look online for the KonMari method to folding). Take everything out by category, such as clothes (literally take all the clothes you own and put them on the floor), then books, then bathroom items, etc., rather than going by room. Think about how you actually want to use items and arrange them accordingly.

The most useful take home for me was to make sure every item in your home has a "place." Don't have junk drawers or room for miscellany where things can just pile up and get lost. Actually know where everything is in your house and know where everything goes, and appreciate every item in your house. It's amazing how powerful that has been for me.

Not to be a jerk, but honestly, in going through the photos, I feel like you could probably fill a couple garbage bags just in trash. I suggest going through and quickly gathering garbage, sweeping the floor and then assessing.

Go through your make-up and toss anything old. It's not hygienic to keep old mascara/eye products, etc and I really doubt you need that entire white drawer thing for make-up unless you're a make-up artist or something. Go through the kitchen and toss anything expired. Buy a small collapsible step stool so you can access the cabinets. Really think through how you use your kitchen and buy items that are multipurpose. Can you pare down your pots and pans? You could use the wall the garbage is against to hang pots if needed. How often to you use your microwave? Can you justify having one? The pantry sucks, no getting around it. I suggest buying square containers for dry goods, like your rice, beans, etc so they are upright instead of flopping over on everything else. The pantry looks deep, but stuff will get buried in the back if you can't see it, so maybe use some shoeboxes or something in the back to elevate things that go in the back. Or get those wire shelfthings. You could also store your plates vertically in there and free up cupboard space for pantry items.


Your closets are totally being underutilized....where are the clothes? Wash all the laundry, sort through it, and start hanging stuff up. You may be able to free up a drawer in your dresser that could be used for something else. Looks like there's room for a shelf above the current closet shelf - again, get a trusty collapsible step stool. The wall in the closet would be a prime place to hang a vertical shoe rack. This over the door style could easily just be hung on a wall instead of over a door. Shelf dividers can help get the closet shelves under control.

I'd work on those things, and then do a major purge, and then look into other storage - you may find out you don't need as much extra storage as you think.

Moonsafari makes one thats pretty nice

Rocketbook Cover for Executive Size 8.8" x 6" Smart Notebook like Everlast or Wave with Pen Holder and Pockets for Business and Credit Cards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K5HB7C8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0LMqDbCHQEM9J

This one's a little more substantial

Folio Cover for Rocketbook Everlast, Wave, One Executive Size, Cloth Fabric, Multi Organizer with Pen Loop/Phone Pocket/Business Card Holder, fits A5 size Notebook, Blue, 9.4" x 6.3" (BLUE) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N1LMMQ4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NMMqDb2VM7Y0H

This is probably my next purchase

Genuine Leather Rocketbook Cover Everlast - Executive Size Notebook Cover Frixion Pen Holder and Pockets for Business Credit Cards - A5 Size Soft Tan Premium Leather Cover https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SKY2TB7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_JNMqDbY11YBAF

I also made one out of a day planner cover. I just removed the ring binder from the center. It zips closed.

Hope this helps

You might like this book; I really want to get it: Cozy Minimalist Home. I don't like cold sterility in a house, either, but I also don't like tons of clutter. I think there's a happy medium.

As for normal/realistic, that means quite a few things to me: Countertops, tables, beds, couches, floors, and bathtubs are free from clutter and are usable for their intended uses. Plumbing, HVAC, and electricity are in good working order. Drawers, cabinets, and closets are organized so that the items within them are easy to find and use. Duplicate (or triplicate or more) items are pared down to just one whenever possible or feasible. Broken items that are not able to be repaired are trashed, recycled, or donated as appropriate. There are no dirty dishes, dirty clothes, trash, newspapers, empty boxes, or random debris strewn about the house. Dishes and laundry are ideally washed and put away on the same day (complete the process every time). Cleaning the house is always possible because clutter isn't impeding areas or rooms.

Your house should be safe, livable, maintained, reasonably clean (does not have to be immaculate), and comfortable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/garden/home-organization-advice-from-marie-kondo.html?_r=0

An article that summarizes the book pretty well. You can read the novel if you want some motivation to start cleaning.

Tips: Start with the clothes, and in an order from clothes->novels->paperwork->accessories.

The order of the clothes:

Tops (Shirts, sweaters)/
Bottom (Pants, Skirts)/
Hangable stuff(Jacket, suit, coat)/
Socks/
Underwear/
Bags/
Accessories(Scarf, Belt, Hat)/
Shoes

US Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418119527&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Life-Changing+Magic+of+Tidying

UK Amazon:http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-effective/dp/0091955106

Do you ever repair/embellish other clothes you have? I have pieces of fabric from my grandmother's stash that I used to just keep in an old suitcase but now I use them to sew patches onto other things. I really recommend this book, Mend It Better, which has tons of ideas for repurposing fabric you love.

You could try watching the Marie Kondo Netflix show together and see if they get inspired. Best bet, though, is to read her book and fix your own stuff. Lead by example.

yeah it will change the way you physically see things, too. the decision making process of what items to start with, when you put them back, will be very telling. please update us on how it goes, i'd really like to hear!


and two links for you:

wabi sabi



arranging things: a rhetoric of object placement

no offense, but that won't work until you get step 0 down.

First thing is to visualize your room like it SHOULD be. Design it. Then you will easily get rid of the stuff that doesn't fit the goal.

Actually, this book will set you straight.

read the first page of chapter 3

If that link doesn't work, search google here, and hit the first link

I actually gave up a few of the books I absolutely adored on the mindset that I knew people who would also love them - and have trouble getting access to them. (Like friends from highly religious families that need a little humor in their lives)

I may regret it a little, but in the end, someone else got to read something cool, and my shelf space can only grow.

There are some organizational things you can get for kitchen cabinets.

I have one of these for my spices so that I can see what's in the back.

Something like this can help, too. I have a full size lazy susan in my pantry, because I have a habit of pushing stuff to the back and letting it sit there for a decade or two.

You can add extra shelves with something like this.

Good luck!

I have a few suggestions.

Make the stuff the responsibility of the person who wants it. Their job to deal with them, and they must store them in their own space. This might change their minds about how important the stuff is, but even if it doesn't, the stuff is dealt with.

Sound and video discs can take up a fraction of the space if you take them out of their plastic cases and store them in a binder like this. I took my CD music library from a wall shelf down into two of those binders. It was amazing.

Digitizing the music/video takes the least space of all, and 1 TB external hard drives are now about $60. The major "expense" is time in ripping the files. Again that should also be the responsibility of the person who wants to keep it.

I just went through the worst of this (and its ongoing).

Just some tips/things I did

For sizes you are saving until they grow into it---Get some of those clear ziplock zipper bags here

Only stuff that fits has earned the right to be in a drawer or hung in the closet!

When I finally got fed up with everything being mixed and piles and baskets of clean clothes everywhere (that only i could identify!) this is how did it (and it wasnt pretty! It was awful!!)

I spread out three different colored sheets on the bedroom floor, on the bed, anywhere there was room. I dumped each person's clothes on their own sheet- everything from their drawers and closets and baskets. SO- then you have three mountains of clothes. Lots of empty baskets, drawers, hangers, ziploc totes, and plain old garbage bags for donating.

Then one mountain at a time- SORT- 1. Giveaway 2. Store 3.Put away- Then SORT the things to put away 1. Tops 2.bottoms 3.pajamas/socks/underwear 4.jackets/bathing suits/accessories 5. Hang ups

It took a week. It was grueling but so so worth it. Those ziploc totes just stuff nicely under the crib or bed of the person it belongs to!

I was pretty much on my way to being a hoarder when I finally changed. A couple of things came together for me that helped me. One, at work we all got trained in 5S methodology so I was forced to learn how to look at spaces and figure out how to organize them for maximum efficiency. At about this time I also went on antidepressants and started to feel more motivated to do something about the mess. Lastly I discovered this book. I don't think you have to have ADD to benefit from it.

One of the biggest revelations for me from my training was realizing that you shouldn't put things away for the sake of putting things away. Hiding a thing out of sight doesn't make life better if you have to use it often. You should put things you use frequently as close as possible to the place where they will be used. Mess happens when there's too much distance between where something's 'supposed' to go and where it feels 'natural' to have it.

Check out this book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Easy read. Its really helped me in my decluttering process !!

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-effective-clutter-ebook/dp/B00KK0PICK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422221071&sr=8-1&keywords=konmari

She tells many stories of clients and how she works in her book. Also, you might learn some useful things! ;D

I also recommend checking out FlyLady and Eat That Frog! I thought of these since you mentioned Konmari and wanted to pass along what I learned from my mom! ❤️

Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is well worth reading. I thought reading your post that you would be helped by it.

I think the OP might be talking about something like this? Google “shoe stacker”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079JZG421/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_371wCb0SV1P4S

I actually only keep owners manuals long enough to find a downloadable copy and verify it, then pitch the original. The only place I still keep paper copies is the manuals for the cars.

All that other stuff went into this.

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up is most people's first choice when someone needs to get started. It's a recipe to change your philosophy on clutter. Some people swear by it, some don't like it at all. Just a good jumping off point.

If you would like to keep them but don't like the amount of space they take up, you put them in these type of things https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DIHVM36?psc=1

I've been reading this book: It's All Too Much (Link: http://amzn.com/0743292650), the Kindle edition is less than $10 and really if you have a bunch of clutter, you've spent $10 multiple times getting here

Check out shoe slots space savers! Organizes your shoes so they're nicely stacked and on display. I got some on order.

Non-mobile: here

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

It's a woman. She's coming out with a book:

https://www.amazon.com/Unf-Your-Habitat-Youre-Better/dp/1250102952?tag=smarturl-20

This book. Seriously.

Sounds like Swedish death cleaning: my mom has gotten into it as of late -

nice summary article

the book on it

I've got a small file box, this one as a matter of fact. Everything else is scanned and kept on a dedicated 500GB drive for backup stuff, and then I also back both that and my computer up once a week.

I've been warring on cutting down the mail, so I'm anxious to see how that goes. I'm getting some bills through email, but I need to figure out which ones I've missed converting, and which ones I can't.