Declutter & Tidy- KonMari method

Hey everyone, 

So recently I've been wanting to have a major destash and tidy up due to the fact I'm moving in with my boyfriend (not soon, just want to be prepared) but I didn't really know how to go about it. I've been watching destash videos on YouTube and a lot of people talk about Marie Kondo's "The life changing magic of tidying" book. I decided for £7 on amazon, why not take the chance? And I'll tell you now, the hype is for a reason. Her main way of tidying is to declutter first but by asking yourself with each item "does this spark joy?". It is a difficult question to ask with such materialistic items but it works. So first in the book is clothes, so this is where I started. She says to place all your clothing items from around the house into the centre of a room and then hold each item and ask the question. I started off with a room looking like this... 

After about an hour or so, I ended up with my two bags of summer clothes sorted and in the wardrobe let alone all my other clothes. I ended up throwing away 2 full plastic bags full of clothes and need to sell 2 pairs of shoes. Although Marie does say not to let your family go through the bag, I find that charity starts at home so I let them. My family have taken a few items and my nan took a few items for my cousin. I ended up destashing these items and my wardrobe looked so much neater! 

After this went so well I decided to go onto the next section which is books. Now if you know me well, you already know I am a good book fan so I knew this would be harder than clothes for me to let go. However the process is still the same. Pile up all the books and ask yourself (holding each book one by one) "does this give me joy?". Here is my starting pile and what I ended up with. 

Considering I do enjoy my books, I found that only a few books in my collection I had re-read and had touched my heart. These were the books that I have kept and are now looking neat and tidy on my book shelf. I have a lovely collection to go down to the charity shop tomorrow and my nan also took a few for my cousin.

I have found that this method of sorting and tidying has really openned my eyes to how much junk and clutter I actually keep in my tiny room (and I thought I was actually quite neat!). After these two sections, I actually went on to do the third which is paperwork (another area I knew I needed work in). It took me a good few hours to sort it all out but I ended up with a good pile for the shredder and a good pile for recycling! Anything really is possible if you put your mind to it! 

Emma