My Tidy Experiment. Part 2

Everyone's discovering the secret of tidying up with Tidy Expert & Author, Marie Kondo.

This is the second part in a series of posts. Click here to read Part 1.

A few weeks ago I jumped on the tidy train. I began with my closet, and I’m happy to report it’s still intact. However, I will admit that I’m having some challenges with my sweaters. Like my old teenage self, they’re rebelling and won’t conform.

Besides gaining insight into my clothes, I’m learning more about this whole tidy process.

Tidying is more fun with the two of us.

As I mentioned at the end of Part 1 in this blog series, The Boyfriend was impressed with my tidy closet and suggested we KonMari his closet, too. So we spent a romantic Friday evening doing just that. I’m pretty sure there’s a joke here about tidy whities, but in an effort to keep it brief, we’ll just go commando.

The Boyfriend and I removed everything from his closet and believe it or not, he had almost as many clothes as me. His wardrobe consists of well over one hundred t-shirts, half of which were purchased for sentimental reasons and rarely, if ever, worn. Who am I to judge? I have a similar collection of evening gowns and event dresses. I suppose I could throw on a gown and do some shopping at Trader Joe’s, but that would be highly impractical and a bit anticlimactic. I shared the idea with The Boyfriend and he said wouldn’t wear his David Gilmour Rattle That Lock concert t-shirt to Trader Joe’s for the same reasons. No offense to Trader Joe’s. So until we’re ready to part ways, we’ll continue to feel the joy from gowns and concert t’s in the comfort of our own home.

Tidying with The Boyfriend was pretty entertaining. He was a great sport and fully committed to the process. Going through each item spurred many trips down memory lane and we shared a few laughs as he picked up each item and asked if it brought joy to him. Yes, that’s right. The Boyfriend talked to his clothes. Just one more reason I’m going to keep him.

Tidying one thing. Tidy everything.

Tidying our closets put me in the zone. I decided to tackle the kitchen next and in the process emptied eighteen of our forty-one clear plastic bins. Just like we did with the clothes, I placed every kitchen item we have on to our bed. Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I assessed the pile and immediately put the fifty unmatching spoons and knives into the giveaway bag along with a few other odds and ends before calling The Boyfriend over.

He looked at the pile and said, “I don’t really want to get rid of any kitchen stuff until we know where we’re moving.”

Well, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I was in THE ZONE. I was ready to say. “thank you and goodbye” to some extra potato peelers and mismatched bowls. But I respected The Boyfriend’s wishes.

So I focused on the cute vintage dishes I acquired from a former neighbor. I felt like I’d be okay giving them to a new home since we use The Boyfriend’s dishes. But at the same time I really like them. That’s when it hit me. These plates would be so cute hung on my wall. I confirmed that idea by taking a look at vintage dishes wall decor on Pinterest. So cute! I’m pretty sure this is NOT the reason The Boyfriend suggested we keep everything, but I feel better about it now.

Even though we are keeping most all of our kitchenware, the process of taking it all out and then putting it all back somehow created more room. Our kitchen looks great. Let’s not cook and mess it up.

Tidying is an untidy process.

Then I looked at all our leftover belongings in a giant pile in the middle of our apartment. Zero joy. It took me hours to sort through it all. I put tools with tools, books with books, and biking, surfing, and hockey gear in its own space. I unpacked just so I could organize and repack bins. And then there were cords. Where in the world did all the cords come from? We threw away a bunch of cords, yet I’m still sorting through a hundred others trying to find the connection.

Tidying incites a personal challenge.

I’ve moved onto my books. Marie Kondo suggests really narrowing down our book collection to about thirty or less. I thought for sure I had thirty or less already. Nope. I have one hundred books and to my surprise, I haven’t read about half of them. Suddenly, I regret not connecting with the local library sooner.

Now that I know I haven’t read half of my books, I feel like I have a lot to do. I used to be an avid reader and thanks to my daily commute on the New York subway, I could finish a book a week. But ever since I moved to the West Coast, my books just piled up. It’s not easy to read while driving. To be clear, I do not read and drive.

What do I do? Marie Kondo says that if I haven’t read it, I probably won’t. She also says that if I have, I probably won’t reread it. Ms. Kondo doesn’t blow smoke, does she?

Fine, I’ll happily dispose of the books I know I will never read or reread. But as for the others, I will read them, Marie! Oh yes, I will. I will create a schedule for my “must read” books. I will read a book every ten days and then give it away. Look at me go! I’m committed to reading them as much as my old teenage self is committed to proving her wrong. Game on, Ms. Kondo. Game on.

I feel like this whole tidy process just took a turn.

Up next, more on my book solution, paperwork, and personal journals. Something tells me this is going to be a doozy.

Click here to read Part 1. Is Your Life Messy? Everyone's discovering the secret of tidying up with Tidy Expert & Author, Marie Kondo.