Making your Space a Home

Written By Tajae Brown

Keep what brings you joy. Discard what doesn’t. 

I rarely like to reread books, but one that I have been circling back to over the years has been The Life - Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. It is a great book that breaks down the cleaning and tidying process into manageable steps that I can actually pay attention to, without feeling overwhelmed. Here is a quick breakdown of some key takeaways I found helpful.  

Kondo’s secrecy to success:

“Start by discarding. Then organize your space, thoroughly, completely, in one go.”


Establish the lifestyle you want most once your house has been put in order. What does this look like for you? What ease do you want and where?

Ask yourself with each item: “does this spark joy?” If yes, keep it, If not, toss it. 





Categories of Cleaning 

Be sure to gather all items that belong to each category in one place, and then sort through the items one by one.

  1. Clothes 

  2. Books

  3. Papers

  4. Miscellaneous items 

  5. Mementos 

When you come across something you can’t seem to throw away:

“To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose.” 

If you don’t need it, don't pass it on to your family to keep it in the house. They don't need it either.

Reassess the role an item has played in your life. What is the significance? If it no longer suits you, that is okay. That may have shown you what doesn’t suit you anymore and it is okay to make space for new and let it go. It has fulfilled its purpose with you. 

Further break down of categories 

Clothing 

  1. Tops

  2. Bottoms

  3. Clothes that should be hung 

  4. Socks

  5. Underwear

  6. Bags

  7. Accessories

  8. Clothes for specific events 

  9. Shoes 

Note:

  • neatly fold clothes in a rectangle to maximize storage space 

  • Organize clothes in closet by category left to right:

    • Coats, dresses, jackets, pants, skirts, and blouses 

    • Simply, organize clothes from heavy to light. Heavy meaning dark in color or heavy in material. 

  • Store off season clothes like summer swim suits and winter mittens or ear muffs in a drawer. 

Books

  1. Put all the books on the floor

  2. General books for pleasure 

  3. Practical references, cookbooks, etc 

  4. Visual photo book collections 

  5. Magazines 

Note:

  • Get rid of unread books 

  • If it sparks joy, keep it. 

  • In the end, you will read a few of these books again. 

  • If there are some you really like, Marie’s method is to capture the words and sentences that inspired her into a notebook so she can read it again later. She didn’t. 

  • The moment you first encounter a particular book is the right time to read it. 





Papers

Rule of thumb: discard everything that does not fall into one of these categories:

  1. Currently in use 

  2. Needed for a limited period of time

  3. Must be kept indefinitely

After this, divide papers into two categories

  1. Needs attention

    1. Letters requiring a reply 

  2. Infrequently used papers 

    1. Insurance policies

    2. Guarantees

    3. Leases

  3. Frequently used papers 

    1. Notes and outlines and newspaper clippings

Note: 

  • Make sure you keep papers in one spot only. Don’t let them get all over your room or house. 

  • Get a vertical paper organizer to see all papers in one place. 

  • File all warranties in one file or binder

  • Greeting cards fulfill their purpose the moment you finish reading it. Keep the ones that spark joy in your heart and/ or to confirm addresses and throw the rest away.






Miscellaneous Items 

  1. CDs, DVD

  2. Skin care products 

  3. Makeup 

  4. Accessories 

  5. Valuables - passport, credit card, etc

  6. Electrical equipment and appliances 

  1. Household equipment - writing materials, sewing kits, etc

  2. Household supplies - medicine, detergents, tissues, ets 

  3. Kitchen goods and food supplies 

  4. Other - spare change, figurines, etc 

Note: 

  • Don’t keep anything just because, not even gifts. Only keep what sparks joy.

  • Discard unused gifts, makeup samples, electronic packages, unidentifiable cords, broken appliances, extra unused bedding, spare buttons, free novelty goods, products from the latest health craze. 

  • Put coins in your wallet, it’s money 💴 





Sentimental items

  1. Photos 

    1. Put the ones you love in an album

  2. Stockpiles 

    1. You don't need that many. However with COVID I think I will disregard this one for now. 




Reduce until you feel content and everything clicks. 

Tajae Brown
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