Life after Konmari – Evaluating the Process

The Konmari process was worth the effort! We are delighted that we started this decluttering project and the results are beautiful. We have already shared the almost magical positive changes we have experienced in our lives so now it’s a good time to show the changes in our home. I think most people agree that with Konmari method you can get rid of tons of stuff.

You see the effect immediately.

You also get used to the space quite soon and may wonder short after if you even did anything. Comparing pictures is always a great way to remind yourself of the great achievements so that’s why we put together before and after photographs paired with some analysis. We strongly recommend doing the same and hey, it actually is part of the process!

So, here are five points about our post-Konmari life.

1. We have beautiful things

The stuff we own can be now presented beautifully. Tables have space for tea light holders, decorative items look good instead of kitschy and we can take photos suitable for interior magazine in few spots. Even everyday things like notebooks somehow look like decoration elements instead of just clutter. Also, we use our beautiful items like old, gold decorated dinnerware daily, so they give us joy much more often than before. Downside is that second hand shops have lost their joy to us, most of it looks just overpriced clutter after Konmari.

We decluttered with konmari method and the results are outstanding — Our sewing supplies are neatly in matching boxes with labels. We are also happy to be able to display flowers and other nice thing on the top unlike before, when pens, books and random clutter were sailing on the counter top. For us space and flowers are pure luxury!

2. After Konmari mess doesn’t mean chaos

Our home isn’t spotless, we still have to do laundry and doing dishes is as dull as ever. But after Konmari mess doesn’t look or feel so bad and that is probably one of the biggest changes! Also the amount of dishes has wilted into more manageable quantity as we don’t own that many plates anymore. Less table ware means fewer dishes. Our home feels more airy and simple – even to the point when occasional disorder feels homey. Hoovering and mopping is easier and quicker as we don’t have to organize before cleaning. Picking few dog toys back to the basket is all preparations we need.

Our living room was a constant mess before konmari — We are in the middle of some kind of project most of the time and our living room used to have matching look. Then we reduced our craft and sewing stuff drastically and you can see the results in the next picture. By the way, we also got rid off the dresser on the left. We really didn’t have anything to put in it anymore!

After konmari our home doesn't look extremely messy even if we have been lazy with cleaning — We don’t have a room for sorting, washing and drying our laundry so we do it in the living room (except washing). Because we don’t have so much stuff anymore the drying rod and few hanging clothes here and there don’t make us go nuts.

Our kitchen before konmari — We used to have lots of pots and bowls and the kitchen got really messy quite easily. We like to be really honest about this stuff: we had so much stuff in our small kitchen that even we didn’t know where to put things.

Our kitchen after konmari is much easier to clean — Our kitchen is quite small and has very limited storage. After Konmari we don’t have so much stuff sailing around. Even in the worst case, when every single pot and plate is dirty, out kitchen doesn’t evolve into such a chaos as in the pictures before.

3. We get luxury instead of junk

We don’t buy stuff like we used to. We’ve never been devoted shoppers, but now we think even more what we want and how things work together in our home. If something is ‘eh’ instead of ‘wow’ we leave it in the store. We might even leave the ‘wow’ item in the store if we don’t figure out how it could make our life better. Only best for us and our home! It doesn’t mean expensive things, but stuff we really want and are prepared to see every day and use with joy. Instead of buying small decorative items, I can spend the same amount of money to candles and flowers which represent true luxury for us.

Livingroom before and after Konmari — Surprisingly our living room wall just got pulled together after Konmari. If you want to read more about what we did you can check our tips for decorating the difficult spots in your home.

4. Have we been missing things? – not really

Sometimes we think of something we have given up, but not once have we truly regretted any item we gave away. Sometimes a certain hat or book crosses our mind but life goes on and we realize we can do without. We don’t really miss anything, nor would we want anything back. On the contrary, even though we have much less possessions than before we still feel like we could downsize. It is important to understand that you can miss things without wanting them back. Here are few tips of how to recycle the things you let go rather than throwing them in to garbage can.

Our bedroom after Konmari is airy — Thanks to Konmari, we’ve got rid of many mismatching linens and kept only three pairs. The bedroom haven’t really been a problem are by itself, but we regret to admit that we used to store drawing papers and art work under the bed. It is really disturbing to have extra stuff in the bedroom! Now that unnecessary things are put away we can focus on better stuff: after Konmari we have been working a piece by piece to get a better bed and linens.We are dreaming of a luxurious bed with voluminous pillows and smooth linens!

We like simple things in our bedroom — We like our bedroom quite simple and it appears to be the only room that haven’t gone through big transformations since we renovated and moved in. The top of our linen closet tends to gather clutter time to time and we are constantly trying to find a solution. Even though it looks clean right now.

5. Remember why you are decluttering

When the Konmari journey is over, it leaves space to think why we decluttered. In the beginning Kondo advised to list, think or visualize the results one wants. It’s easy to grow addicted to reducing things and for me it was important to sit down at the end and go over once again what we wanted to achieve: relaxing home, time to cultivate my marriage, possibility to travel, space to work, money for items we really want or use like a new bed or a beautiful sofa.

The whole decluttering project took us about six months. Big chunk was done quickly in one and half month but there were quiet periods when we used our time on getting rid of things. After all we did quite well. I admit right away that there is still one box of photographs that I haven’t really worked through. Also one cellar cupboard remains to be sorted in the future, but we are really proud how well we handled whole Konmari task otherwise.

In her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up organizing expert Marie Kondo opens her method of decluttering one’s home and life to change how one thinks and achieve good things in life.

If you’re eager to start your own Konmari journey, check our post of 5 things to know before starting.

Have you finished your Konmari process yet or are you still starting? Share your process in the comments below and if you have blogged about it, we would be more than eager to read about it!

Cheers!