Invaded

Marie Kondo invaded my closet and this happened:

If you haven't heard of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing, then please let me enlighten you.  This tiny little book was written by a Japanese organizing expert and has been on the New York Times bestseller list for about a year.  Some of her ideas (thanking your clothes as you fold them) are probably not going to work for me, but her idea of asking "Does it spark joy?" when you are deciding whether to keep or get rid of something really worked for me.

Earlier this year, I decluttered my books and only kept those that made me happy.  I don't look at my shelves and groan "Oh, I really should read that someday."  I know why each book is there and I can find each one easily.

I have also weeded through my fabric collection and only own fabric that makes me happy.  I no longer have the "Why did I buy this?" and "What was I thinking?" fabrics and I've found new homes for the fabrics that well-intentioned friends have gifted me.  I've put a lot of those fabrics on the backs of my quilts and I've donated the rest.

Recently I went through my linen closet.  I found six perfectly-folded sets of sheets for twin beds  (folding fitted sheets is my super-power), but I don't own any twin beds.  I mentioned this problem to a young momma friend of mine (mother of five) and she jumped at extra sheets for those middle-of-the-night accidents!  In my closet, I also found six sets of sheets for double beds.  Again, I don't own any double beds.  I am passing these along to a recent college grad who is just setting up housekeeping and on a very tight budget.

Proof of my fitted-sheet-folding super-powers:

Marie Kondo suggested tackling your entire house at once.  I have a ridiculously full travel and teaching schedule with a lot of super-secret sewing projects thrown in just for fun, so I'm taking work breaks to clear small areas at a time. I have so much more in my house that needs to be sorted and donated, but I feel I've made a great start.  The parts of my house that are no longer stuffed full and bursting at the seams make me so incredibly happy!

To sum up, if you've heard about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing and wondered if it was any good, I'll say that it was some good.  Some parts of the book I am choosing to pass by, but if this short little book can inspire me to get my house organized, it's a good book!