The other day we were taking a family walk, and Charles told me that there was a new series on Netflix called Tidying Up. I had read the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and I was curious now about this series. Then while making dinner, I received the following text from my mom.
So, what did we do but sit down and watch three episodes and loved it. I agree with Mom. Marie is just adorable and does have AMAZING skin.
Watching the episodes inspired us so much that after church on Sunday Charles and I went to work in our closets. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I wish I had taken a “before” shot of Charles’s closet. Picture these clothes stuffed everywhere. You couldn’t even see the shelves. I had stuff on the floor of my closet which was a big mess, and a dresser full of random clothes and things. I should add here that we had our closets designed and customized with shelves shortly after we moved in to maximize on the space we each had.
The Stuff
Marie’s first step is to put all of your clothes in a pile. This is a crucial step because you need to see everything at once.This isn’t close to everything, but how depressing on how many clothes we had. There were so many that we never wore and just didn’t like but for some reason held onto them.
The cute thing when we were working on this Little Miss saw us and then decided to go in her room and fold away and organize. Here she is folding her ballet leotard. The looks on her face proved she was so proud when she wanted to show us. It was adorable.
Marie Kondo has a different technique for folding, and seriously, it is life changing. You can get so much more in a drawer and actually see what you have. We used EasyClosets to build our closets which we absolutely LOVE and even more so now. The drawers we chose are not that deep so we can fit so many more shirts in using this method.
Charles’s Closet
Here is the “after” of Charles’s closet. I’m really sorry that I don’t have a “before.” Sorry y’all #badblogger, but we were living in the moment. Now, he has shelves to spare, and we could not see these shelves before.
My Closet after Tidying Up
Here is my closet. I designed it a little differently than his again using EasyClosets. I made an area for dresses. I have a door rack on the door for my shoes.
Here I have a box I purchased from Ikea that is storing some of my summer clothes. I can put it on top or under the bed, but it works great tucked in the corner.
Now it is easy to just open up and see what I have before I shop for summer clothes. I will swap out and pull out the shorts and tops for the summer and store the winter clothes in here.
This is an old picture from our Syracuse house, but this dresser is currently in our master bedroom. We have been talking about relocating it to our son’s room and painting it. In order to do so, we needed to get it empty, and now it is completely empty!!!!
The Results
The final result. Two large bags of trash and these four bags of clothes to be donated. Of course, Gracie saw the camera come out and wanted to be in this post!!
So have y’all watched the Tidying Up series? What did you think? Let me know if you have jumped on the bandwagon.
Cheers!
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We haven’t seen that show yet. But….we are on the sort, organize, reevaluate, recycle, purge bandwagon! We have been at this for awhile…organizing life so to speak. That’s what happens when you live in a home for 35 years. Lots to do,and we need all the suggestions we can get. You two really did a great job!! It’s great inspiration for Little Miss, too! 😉
I have read both of Marie Kando’s book, very interesting and I have used her techniques 3 years ago. But after watching several episodes of her series and my January goals are books and paper, I am starting there. We will see how it goes.
Beth,
Books are next on our list. Good luck!
Doesn’t feel good to get organized? Our closet is on my organizing list this week.
Cyndi,
It feels amazing we can’t wait to tackle the books next. While I have fewer clothes in my closet I have noticed I am not thinking I have nothing to wear.
Jordan – After seeing this on your Instastory, I sat down to watch one episode and also ended up watching three! It is truly life altering. I’ve been downsizing for many years, but still have too many belongings.
I started in the kitchen – I reorganized all the cabinets and drawers and can now easily fold and place kitchen towels in the utensil drawer. It’s great to only keep items that give you joy. I’ve “thanked” the other items for their use and have put them aside to donate to the Syracuse refugee and immigrant community. I can’t wait to tackle the rest of the house!
Jennifer,
Yay way to go. Plus that is a great place to take your donated items.
I will definitely watch and follow your example. I have a lot of clothes that no longer fit (planned weight loss!) You’ve given me inspiration!
I had read the book but watching the show made her work come alive. It’s certainly been the talk of all social media. I am tackling my clothes this weekend but expect it will take more than one day to complete that task. Thanks for sharing and your results are amazing. I did find it interesting in the show that Marie never shows the participants buying any new organizing boxes or tools. She brings old boxes to them to be re-used. Proof that you don’t have to buy anything to get started!