DE-CLUTTERING
Rosie Barron is The Tidy Coo, a Professional Declutterer and Organiser, Certified KonMari Consultant and Photo Manager based in the North East of Scotland. When tidying any of your belongings, it is important to remember the golden rules: •
Commit to tidying
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Start with your vision of what you want your life to look like.
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Declutter first, then organise.
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Choose positively what to keep.
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Start with the easiest decisions.
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Handle everything, nothing gets a free pass.
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Work in categories rather than rooms.
First of all, start by finding 2 or 3 of your very favourite items of clothing. Pick them up and see how you feel when you are holding them. Often when I am working with clients I will see them smile when they start to tell me about the item they are holding. It is this positive lift that Marie Kondo refers to as Sparks Joy. Keep these items visible whilst decluttering your wardrobe and use them as a reference point. It is important to remember that items can Spark Joy for practical reasons, such as a work uniform which allows you to earn money, or a warm vest.
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Remove all of your clothes from their storage space, right down to the pants and socks, and then sort them in to categories. It is important to take them out from their usual place as that
can help change your mind set. If it is too overwhelming to get all of your clothes out at the same time, then you can get out one category at a time, but do make sure that you have found the entire category and don’t give anything a free pass. My clients often say things like, “All my socks are fine!”, but when we go through them, they discard about half! Whilst it may sometimes feel a little like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic to organise your sock drawer, you will find that these small steps add up pretty quickly. Remember to start with the easiest decisions first, such as those that you definitely want to keep or those that you wonder what they were doing in your wardrobe at all! Any that you are not sure of, leave to one side until you have done the others. Perhaps try them on if you are really not sure. The most important question that you will ask yourself as you declutter your clothes is: “Does this Spark Joy?”, but other questions can be super helpful in clothing too, such as, “Would I buy this again?” “Do I reach for this?” “Does this make me feel good?” “How many of these do I have?”
