Can Tidying Up A Little Bit at a Time Still Spark Joy in Households? I'm Tackling the KonMari Method My Own Way

When Netflix debuted the show, "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo", praise for her and the show was everywhere.  People across America began tidying up and posting on social media that the show was so motivating. I became curious about it myself. Marie Kondo is a best-selling author, and her KonMari method has been around for several years.

In fact, I remember seeing her books in stores years ago, but quickly passed them by because I had no desire to clean up. But TV visuals can change everything in one hour.  I watched the show and as soon as that show was over,  I could not wait to go out and buy $96 dollars worth of organization materials to spark joy in my own household.

Raleigh Blogger, Leigh Powell Hines is Tidying Up with Marie Kondo


I am basically married to the male version of Marie Kondo. Will has always been neat. In fact, the kids and I suffocate his joy with our clutter. Sometimes, the clutter gets to be too much in certain places and his face begins to resemble the angry face emoji. He's short with his words. He's grumpy and we all become stressed.

Will is a very organized person. Before we were married, his college friends would go put his toothbrush out of place when they visited him as a little something to remember them by after they departed.

Household Clutter Brings No Joy

Will, however, with his very organized way of thinking does not understand why I can't pick just one day a week to clean part of the house. I try, but to block four hours on one day to clean seems daunting and overwhelming to me. As much as I understand the "why behind why it should be done", the more difficult it is for a free-spirit like to me to stick with a cleaning schedule on a task I do not really want to do in the first place.

Clutter is a huge problem in Leigh's Kitchen. Leigh began KonMari in the Kitchen.


Yes, we all have responsibilities and must do things we do not want to do. It's not that I'm avoiding responsibility. The truth is I prefer to work on this blog and tackle the zillion to do things that need to be done on this website to have a successful blog than to tidy a house.

To put it frankly, my lack of structure and organization, the children's lack of tidying up have created frustration instead of joy in our house. But, Marie Kondo's method has caused me to see the light for improvement and days of joy ahead.

The KonMari way is very specific as to how one should tidy. You really should start with clothing, followed by books, papers, komono (items) and then finish with sentimental items.  You should not do it by location.

Before Tidying UP-The Pantry


However, the first rule to KonMari is to commit to tidying up.  I did that. Everything else I have done is backward.

The problem was that I did not want to devote every day to tidying up the house nor did I want to tackle clothing first which totally goes against the real KonMari method.  I had gone through clothes at the end of last year. I'm ready to fold them her way and tidy my children's rooms her way, but I knew I would fail and not commit if I started with clothing. I will get there, but I think for me, the commitment to tidy was a good start.

If you follow me on Instagram, I have a Tidying Up with Marie Kondo InstaStory series every Wednesday. I do a little bit of tidying at a time. I started with my kitchen. When you watch those InstaStories, you will see that it is work and it is not easy, and sometimes I stall. The one thing that has helped me is that I have committed to documenting the progress. The entire kitchen was done in four weeks. Really organized people could have done it a day. But, a little bit at a time helped me tackle with success, I think.

My Tidying Up has Sparked Joy in my Household and I want to Do More

My pantry was the biggest tidying up project for the kitchen, but the result has been amazing. I'm no longer buying the same items over and over again. The kids can find their snacks. An organized pantry has certainly caused joy.  I'm so proud of it that when neighbors come over, I make excuses for the clutter I have not gotten to yet on the main island we have that collects pencils, papers, mail and such, but I proudly show off my pantry.

After-Tidying Up-The Pantry


I organized drawers.  I also bought spice racks and created extra shelving for my mugs.  When we moved into this house in 2016, Will had organized the china, silverware and pots and pans very well. He has also cleaned out the pantry before, too, but honestly, it took me doing it to continue the desire to keep it organized.

The kitchen has been tidied and it is life changing. I'm now moving to the master bathroom.

Have you tried any of these methods? It may take me a year to get all of this done on my own time, but I think anything I do is a positive step for change and joy.

Sparking Joy in your Household via the KonMari Method. However, I'm doing it a little bit at a time. Will it still work? #Konmari #organization #decluttering


Disclosure: My time for writing this post is made possible by The Mair Agency, a Raleigh based Health Insurance Agency. Thank you to my sponsors for keeping me at my desk writing.





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