6 lessons from the Japanese art of home organisation

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Organising guru, Marie Kondo, has set the world ablaze with the knowledge and techniques she set out in her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising. This petite volume has received a lot of praise around the globe, and many noteworthy and successful people are referring to it to improve productivity and wellbeing at home. 

Kondo's approach is based on time-honoured traditions and is a simple method for tidying up. There are two easy rules to remember. Firstly, go through every single item you own and measure whether it immediately inspires enthusiasm in you. If the answer is no, then it's gone! Secondly, when you're left with only the belongings that really give you a sense of pleasure, you must store these where they are always visible and easy to reach when you need it. Follow these simple rules and you will live a streamlined life that is also one of fulfilment. 

These rules are easy enough to follow, but we may still have many misconceptions about decluttering and organisation that is hard to shake off. No need to re-invent the wheel, as we at homify have highlighted 6 of the most important lessons from this method to keep you on track in your decluttering mission! Take a look below…

1. Revere your things

First of all, it's important to know that this whole process is built on a sense of respect for your belongings. It's only in our modern Western world where items are so affordable, we accumulate much more than we need, and objects have little value. The key to a happy and healthy home, and indeed life, is to have a great sense of reverence and respect for the things you own. This way, you will not accumulate unnecessary things, and you will surround yourself with only the things you really need to live a joyous life. 

2. Work with the smallest common denominator

Prominent advice when purging your home of clutter, is to do so via categories, instead of the traditional techniques of tackling room by room. For example, start with artwork or prints, and go through all of these in all rooms of your home to decide whether each and every item provides joy. 

3. Purge with focus

When you're clearing the clutter, make sure you keep your eyes on the prize. Do what you need to get yourself in the right mood – light a candle, play your favourite musict – and soon you will find that decluttering isn't such a chore at all. 

4. No room for sentimentality

When you are sorting through your things, you must resist the temptation to linger on the nostalgia locked up in your different belongings. Once you take once step down memory lane, it will be extremely difficult to come back and get the job done. 

5. Dressers and folding

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Kondo encourages the use of dressers instead of hanging closest. Dressers or drawers require you limit your clothing more, in order for it to fit in your dresser/drawer space. This is a nice little fail safe to keep you in check. 

6. Accessibly stored

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Once again, the aim is to keep everything in sight. As soon as you start hiding items aways, you pass the gateway of clutterville. When you have shelves, your items should all fit on it. When you use dressers/drawers for your clothing fold and pack it vertically, so you have a glimpse of every items stored in that area. 

In storing your belongings so accessibly, you're not only making your life more functional, but also giving due prominence to your items, as they all have their place in the sun. 

These tips sure changed our lives when it comes to home organisation, and we hope it helped you as well. For those of use who are obsessed with organisation, take a look at these 25 more tips for streamlined bliss in the home. 

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