I’m not usually one to make New Year Resolutions – mostly because if I want to commit to making changes then I will do so throughout the year. That being said, 2018 ended on a low note for me so I decided to start 2019 by making positive changes and embrace the year with optimism and energy.

In a few months we will be moving into our condo (yay it is finally finished!) and I am already getting anxious about packing and purging and how to set up our home so it looks perfect. One of my colleagues was telling me about Marie Kondo and how fabulous her tidy ideas are – she even suggested that I check out her Netflix Show ‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo“.

I have always been a pretty organized person, clutter makes me anxious and stressed, and I get irrationally angry when I cannot find something. However when I was looking around the apartment I can visually see that my relationship with ‘stuff’ has gotten out of hand. There is so many items around that have no homes and really, we have no real use for. So instead of addressing the problem I do what so many of us do – sit on the couch and binge Netflix. I wish I could say I went right to “Tidying Up” to get motivated – but I started with “Bird Box”.

When I finally got around to watching Marie Kondo I was inspired and motivated. She not only had amazing ideas for organizing, but she has a healthy respect and appreciation for “stuff”. I love her approach of only keeping what brings you a “spark of joy”. This simple statement has completely reframed how I look at all the stuff that I have and how I decide what to take with us to our new home.

I will be taking Marie Kondo’s approach with me as I go room by room in preparation. Right now I have only tackled one category – CLOTHING. Using her folding guide I went through our closet and our drawers and sorted, folded and organized every piece of clothing we have.

The results is amazing – we have more space in our closet and in our drawers. We can easily see all our clothes and access the items we want to wear with ease and without disrupting the other clothing items. This is going to make outfit picking so much easier. By easily seeing what clothing we have I can honestly say I am lacking for nothing – I have so many cute items I had forgotten about because they were at the back of the drawer under a piles of other stuff.

I am a firm believer that an organized space improves productivity, mood and reduces stress and anxiety. Although a lot of work up front, maintaining a Marie Kondo style of Tidying Up will be easy. I am eager to get the rest of my home in as good of shape as our clothing is!