Inside a KonMari Organizing Session

May 1, 2019 | Around Town

Part 2 of our organizing blog series with Kelley Jonkoff is here! If you recall from my first post, Kelley is the owner of Organize with Kelley and is just recently a CERTIFIED KonMari consultant. Kelley was kind enough to join me for a morning of organizing and getting rid of the old and unworn items in our closet. If you’re a fan of the show, Tidying Up, you have probably learned a few tips and tricks along the way, but having Kelley onsite to teach me about the KonMari method hands-on proved to be truly invaluable. It was a jam-packed 5 hours focused on my master bedroom closet. Here’s a peak inside our session:

Kelley arrived prompty at 9AM to get started. To ensure we could focus, the dog played outside in the yard and my husband graciously took my two little ones to some local parks. It really helped to have a quiet house, free of disruptions. Kelley started by getting to know me, asking questions about my home and what I liked and didn’t like. “How do you feel when you walk in your house? How would you like to feel?” These questions caused me to think about my home in a way I hadn’t before. I explained that I often feel overwhelmed with clutter and wish I had more time to spend with my family and less time to worry about general organization. It would reduce stress and allow me to focus on what is really important. “What spaces do I wish I had in my house that if decluttered could be created?” I talked about carving out a craft area to do more messy activities with my children. This we realized was less about decluttering and organization and more about me needing to be comfortable with messy kids activities. Kelley was so easy to talk to. I was instantly comfortable with her and excited to get started organizing!

We began by pulling everything off the bars in my closet and any clothes folded in cubbies and drawers. Shoes, purses, and other accessories were left for now – and we ended up using the full 5 hours just on clothes! With all of my clothes laid out on the bed, it was overwhelming to consider going through each item. But Kelley really made it simple – divide all clothes in categories by type. Having the clothes divided up made it feel much less daunting to go through each item. I reviewed each piece carefully and just like the show decided does this piece bring me joy. Joy in this case could mean multiple things – does it make me feel good to wear this item? How long has it been since I’ve worn it and will I consider wearing it again soon?

As we worked through the giant pile of clothes, Kelley helped sort them into 3 piles – trash, donate, and sell. I’m big on using sites like Poshmark to sell new or gently used items in good condition, especially items from nicer stores. I couldn’t believe how big my “sell” pile was in the end. When I sorted through this pile later, I was careful to consider what I wanted to spend time posting and selling vs. what made more sense to give away.

I was surprised by several things when going through this process:

1. It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I was able to part with my clothes quickly and easily. In the end, I was left with roughly ⅓ of the clothes I started with and I was completely okay with this.
2. There were several items in my closet that still had the tags on them. Why was this? Some I had completely forgotten about, while others I probably never should have bought. Kelley’s advice – remove the tag and commit or donate.
3. In general, I forgot about some of the clothes I owned. My racks had gotten so tight, yet I found myself wearing the same clothes. I never even saw the stuff that had gotten pushed back and hidden. It was like having a whole new set of clothes.

In general, I was in awe of the finished product. It made me feel joyful, relieved, fulfilled, and organized. I loved being able to see everything in my closet, sorted by type and color. Several weeks out, I still get so much joy going into my closet and deciding what to wear. I’m wearing a wider variety of clothes too! I’ve even taken to organizing my husband and children’s closets and they haven’t managed to ruin the system yet!

I can’t speak highly enough of working with Kelley. Don’t wait – call, email, DM her now! The closet is just a starting point. There are so many spaces in my house that could use her help and guidance. And I couldn’t have done it without her. Not only would it have taken me much longer, but she coached me throughout on proper folding and organization methods that I wouldn’t have learned on my own.

Thank you Kelley for spreading and creating so much joy.