{"id":4118,"date":"2019-02-28T09:11:08","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T17:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dolly.com\/blog\/?p=4118"},"modified":"2026-04-28T07:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:54:21","slug":"7-marie-kondo-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taskrabbit.com\/blog\/7-marie-kondo-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Marie Kondo Tips We Learned from “Tidying Up”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re the type who has a Pinterest board for every room in their house, shop on opening day for Chip and Joanna Gaines\u2019 newest Target collections, and watch House Hunters<\/em> religiously, you\u2019re probably already an expert on all things Marie Kondo. The rest of you may have just heard the name Marie Kondo floating around, or watched an episode or two of her Netflix show, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo<\/em>. Either way, it doesn\u2019t take a home expert to know that Marie Kondo has some seriously sage tidying tips.
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If you’re in a time crunch, you don\u2019t need to watch all episodes of her show to get the best tidying tips (even though we totally recommend watching them all). These are the must-know Marie Kondo tips from Tidying Up<\/em> to turn your home from a cluttered mess to a clean castle Marie herself would love.
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The Top 7 Marie Kondo Tips<\/strong>
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Tip #1: There\u2019s a Correct Order to Tidying Up<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Marie Kondo tidying method encourages you to break down your tidying into five distinct sections, and tackle them in order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Clothes<\/li>
  2. Books<\/li>
  3. Paper<\/li>
  4. Komono (e.g. everything else)<\/li>
  5. Sentimental<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Handling them in this order is essential. Starting with clothes, you’ll gather all of that type of item (more on that below), hold it in your hands and see if it sparks joy.
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    This is a tough skill to hone, as Marie\u2019s clients find out in her show, but the more you do it, the better you get at it. Items like clothes and books tend to have less sentimental value and are easier to part with, making them a great place to start tidying. Sentimental items, which we’ll talk about later, require the most honed joy sparking detection, which is why they’re last.\u00a0
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    Tip #2: Never Skip the Mountain Phase of Tidying<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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    So how do you get the tidying itself done? Part of the solution is in motivating yourself, and part of the solution is in making tidying a task that\u2019s impossible to abandon. That\u2019s why Marie Kondo uses the mountain method: for each category, she recommends you take everything in that category and pile it up in a mountain. For clothes, that means not just your closet, but your drawers, your coat closet, your stored clothes, even that hoodie draped over the kitchen chairs. Take every single piece of clothing in the house and toss it in one pile until you have a clothes mountain. Then, go through each item and see if it sparks joy. Repeat the process for books, paper, and all the subsequent categories.
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    But before you start determining what sparks joy, Marie encourages clients to take a moment to recognize the sheer volume of your pile. This will force you to recognize just how much stuff you have, and see how much of an impact tidying it up will have on your home.
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    Tip #3: Think of Your Stuff as More Than Just Stuff<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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    You\u2019ll notice that when Marie Kondo talks about stuff–whether it be old clothes or unused plastic containers–she speaks about it as if it\u2019s sentient. This may be a new concept to you, but once you get used to it, you\u2019ll find that it allows you to better employ Kondo\u2019s methods.
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    When you\u2019ve found an object isn’t sparking joy and you’re going to dispose of it, Marie coaches that you thank it for its service before you do. Just taking a moment to say the words, \u201cthank you,\u201d to something you\u2019re donating or getting rid of will help you more easily release it, especially when you do get around to mementos and sentimental items.
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    But beyond thinking of your objects as things with feelings, it helps to picture them as beings that enjoy being used. If you think of that sweater you never wear as just an object, it\u2019s easy not to wear it. When you think of it as something that wants to be used, it becomes more difficult to ignore it. Now, that doesn\u2019t mean wear it even if you don\u2019t want to. It means that if you feel like it\u2019s not living up to its mission, you need to recognize that you\u2019re holding it back from serving someone else. Thank it for its service and donate it to fulfill its purpose elsewhere.
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    Tip #4: You Can Teach Your Kids to Clean (In a Fun Way)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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    On the first episode of Tidying up<\/em>, Marie helps a family with two young children declutter their home. As the family talks about the challenge of cleaning when young children are around, Marie brings up something that would shock any parent watching: her own children love<\/em> helping her tidy around the house.
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    As she goes on to explain, it\u2019s easy to teach kids to like decluttering and cleaning. Part of it is in your own attitude: if you complain and get angry every time you have to declutter, your children will mirror that behavior. But if you take a positive attitude and include them in the process, they can learn to enjoy it. Try guiding them in how to fold clothes, making a game out of tidying up their toys, or giving them rewards after they\u2019re done tidying to teach them that tidying itself is an activity that should spark joy.
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    Tip #5: Folding Beats Hanging<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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