I recently watched a youtube of Marie Kondo ,the originator of the Kon Mari method of tidying. I was impressed. I’m not a novice at decluttering or minimalizing. I’ve been at it for at least 4 years now. But i was struck by something she said and decided to revisit her method. I’ve read both her books and did  enjoy them but didnt do the take everything out thing. Since I’ve decluttered so much in the past I decided to try this. I started with my clothes. Now, I have a very small wardrobe. I wear basically the same thing everyday. i have black, white, navy, and jeans. I have less than 40 items  and 3 pairs of shoes. So, I still took everything out. Touched each thing and was able to get rid of at least half of what I had. I was impressed. I had some jeans I was hanging on to in case I lost some weight. Out they went. If I lose weight I will get something then.  I dont count in my workout sweats or jackets.  I have 2 of each. So I was impressed.

The next day I did books. Now I also have very few books anymore. We have @ 4 dozen Easton press. These are collector items and they are for both my daughter and my son. They are very beautiful and a good investment. I didnt take these off the shelf and touch because I knew all were staying. But I did take all the rest which wasn’t that much but still I managed to fill a grocery bag. Most were Todd Borg’s Tahoe mystery series and those will get donated to the Truckee Library.  Plus 2 new books I got from blogging for books. I could still have gotten rid of some old family books that are pretty old ,1850’s  They didnt really spark joy but I was undecided so i kept them for now. Again, I was quite surprised with the holding each item and feeling for the spark of joy.

Next the area to do is papers. Again, I have declutteded so much I had a small bin to go thru and then 1/2 drawer in a file cabinet. I still threw out ( we will burn them) 2 huge bags. I was impressed. Old mortgage papers , bills etc. I put back less than 1/2 of what I had.

Now I’m going thru the Komono stuff. That’s lots of areas such as bathroom, pantry. Our bathroom is very minimalistic so not much but I did throw out a few things and cleaned the cabinet drawers.  I also took all the food out of our open shelving (restaurant stainless steel shelves) and went thru everything threw out a bunch and put a bunch in the food bank bag and then reorganized it. It looks better. I also keep canned goods in our bedroom closet and reorganized that. Not anything really to throw out per se.

So, here’s the thing,  I think if you’re just starting out with decluttering, I would recommend you start with the 4 bag system. Toss, Keep, donate, and not sure. i think this would get you thru the first layer of decluttering and would be a good start and would show immediate improvement in your home. Clear off counters and surfaces too. Then after a few sessions of this start Kon Mari. I think,my opinion only, Kon Mari could be overwhelming at first. But then again millions have done it and like it. Whether or not they finished ,who knows.

Next up is more kitchen cabinets but I’ll do one side then the other since it is hard on my back to take everything out from all cabinets at once. Even with what I’ve done ,my back has been sore.

I’ll get some pictures on when I upload them from my phone.