Buying a bigger house or buying or building more storage options is not, in my opinion, the way to solve storage problems. In the western world there is a huge storage issue, caused by the enormous potential to own and acquire more and more stuff and the seemingly endless needs human being think they have for stuff. And more stuff.
I am a big Marie Kondo fan and if you don’t know who Marie Kondo is I take no issue with you but I wonder where you’ve been in the past five or so years. When her book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (https://konmari.com/ ) was first released I bought it and loved it and used the KonMari method to significantly simplify and declutter every area in my home that I was personally responsible for. I enthused about it to everyone who cared to listen, and was bemused by the general lack of enthusiasm and questioned why people didn’t run out and buy the book immediately and start KonMari-ing their way out of their present mess.
My husband was uninspired. Most people the minute I started to tell them about my experience, would start to tell me about how they declutter, not even having listened to what I was talking about. I suppose I wasn’t surprised by this because most people, when you talk about something that worked for you, instead of inquiring more about it to see whether it would work for them, are more intent on telling you what they do. It is human nature. What they didn’t know was that I had tried several methods over the years because tidying up and decluttering had been a major interest for me because I felt that I just wasn’t good at it. Stuff piled up until I found the best way to deal with it. I had tried different filing methods, used a system that called for containers of every shape and size (containerizing your belongings was the term used, as I remember).
I went the whole hog with the KonMari Method because it made total sense to me. And I believe to millions of others around the globe, judging by how the method was embraced far and wide. Organising by category made total sense. Bringing all of the items in the same category from everywhere in your house, for example clothing from everywhere, including numerous closets you may be using because yours simply ran out of space, seemed to make sense. I used the method and for the most part it worked. I still had problems with paperwork and filing. To me, other methods simply didn’t come close, for example decluttering a room at a time, or giving away something every day, or discarding anything you haven’t used in more than twelve months and so on. Most of you reading this article have tried some or all of these methods, and maybe many others I haven’t named or come across.
I had assumed a one-size-fits-all attitude to the KonMari Method. If it worked for me it must work for everyone else. Then recently while searching on BorrowBox, I came across a book that changed my assumption. It was a light bulb moment for me. The book, The Clutter Connection, describes the different styles of organising and why one style cannot work for everyone. The author categorises the different styles into four types of bugs (bee, ladybug, butterfly and cricket). I did not read the whole book but it was a revelation to me in that I was able to understand why my obsession with the KonMari Method was not shared by everyone. People have basic styles of organising and while I, a cricket, described as potentially the most organised of the ‘bugs’, love to organise and wants things out of the way, not everyone is the same. I have a particular order in which certain spices and condiments are stored in the cupboard on the righthand side of the stove, in easy reach when I cook. I find it infinitely frustrating that when my husband cooks, he takes out a jar, uses it and puts it back somewhere else in the cupboard, not where he took it from. Hmmmm.
Some of the bug styles are visual and like having things where they can see them. This was another aha moment as I had been so frustrated that no matter how many drawers I emptied so as to give more space to my husband for his stuff, things always end up on surfaces. Without realising it, I had given concession to his style by having a large basket on top of a surface with all the vitamins, which used to be in a drawer! If you want to know more, visit the author’s website: https://clutterbug.me/2018/11/the-clutter-connection-how-brain-type-and-clutter-connect.html
I recently came across a five minute video on The Minimalists’ website, in which Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus respond to questions about the difference between their method and the Marie Kondo method. They make an important point, which is the point I make in this article: that is, that there are many different ways to arrive at the same end point and that The Minimalists and Marie Kondo and others working in this field all have a point to make and that people resonate with different philosphies, points of view and ways of interacting with their world. Something that makes total sense to me may not to many others. Here is the interview: https://www.theminimalists.com/kondo/
If you are wondering what your style is or whether you can every be bothered organising, I recommend that you read the books I have mentioned. You can most probably borrow them from your local library. Happy organising!