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Spring has sprung! You all know what that means; new beginnings, a fresh start, an adjustment to life. Turning the page into the next chapter can be a lot for some people, especially if this includes re-organizing your room (mine is long overdue for a change). With springtime allergies resurfacing, clothing becoming more colorful and wispy, better now than anytime, you can give yourself a refreshing environment to relax and wind down into during these warmer months. In this article, I will be detailing a tried and true method called “KonMari” coined by the founder herself, Marie Kondo. Some of you may have heard of her in the past, namely through having her own initial special on Netflix in 2019 called “Tidying Up,” detailing transformations she was able to pull off for unsuspecting clients, she truly makes a difficult transition much easier.
Form Categories in your room
Here you are, gazing at your room wondering where to start. Quite intimidating at first, but making a list of sections in your room to tackle makes the impossible seem possible. For example, if you are the kind of person who tends to keep piles of overgrown clothing in the back of your closet, you can make note of wanting to address that first. Even doing something like bringing all your makeup products, clothing, or supplies in different sections of the room could help you more easily visualize your ‘problem’ areas.
Categorize Your Categories
Once you’ve established that you wanted to focus on a certain group of items in your room, again for example, your makeup, you can now hone in on your products and sort those out by how you would apply said makeup. I prefer to start with products that tend to expire quicker, or certain products that I found myself never using after purchase. From there you can decide what to do with them.
What Sparks Joy?
While in the process of sorting through the messes of a room, the key feature of this whole method is to be mindful and focus on what items you possess are still impactful to you. As Marie would say, whatever “sparks joy” is something worth keeping around. Your first concert hoodie, an heirloom necklace, or even your childhood stuffed animal can all hold significant importance in your life. Those items are not up for debate in the great clean. Other, less significant items like your average top from a few years ago, on the other hand, may not make you feel that urgency of importance for keeping it around. In that instance, your best bet is to donate or make a hand me down out of whatever you decide to let go of.
Final Thoughts
Finally, a special mention that is not actually related to Marie Kondo, but I find essential to revitalizing a room is the concept of Feng Shui. A traditional Chinese practice, Feng Shui encourages environments to be arranged in such a way that encourages balance. Functionality does ultimately depend on the size of your room, but utilizing Feng Shui just might be the thing to supplement a newly cleaned room. Every once in awhile we all deserve a slight change of pace to accommodate our needs and make us feel more at home.