Tidying Up The Kitchen With Marie Kondo
Meet Marie Kondo — a charming Japanese woman, who by the age of 30 managed to be on Time’s “100 most influential people” list. Her books on organising have been translated into numerous languages and sold with a total circulation of more than 8 million copies. Since January 2019, Netflix launched reality show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”, which outranked even the most popular culinary programs. This woman has a gift of decluttering!
According to Marie’s principles of cleaning, a house is a place only for things that “spark joy”. Things that don’t “spark joy” should be parted with as soon as possible. Kondo says that cluttered space distracts your attention from what is really important in life. As soon as a person gets rid of the clutter, he or she finds enough strength and inspiration to solve problems long hanging in the air.
Marie Kondo has transformed many apartments and houses by herself and received the expected results! Today we are going to tell you how to use the KonMari method to declutter the kitchen and find the desired harmony.
Tidying Up With Marie Kondo
Strategy
When you feel muggy from the amount of excess things around you, just order yourself to stop! Take a deep breath, look around and make a decision to change your life at that very moment. Create a cleaning plan, divide the space into zones and clean up one zone at a time: the fridge, the pantry, the shelves with dishes and so on. Set aside 20 minutes per day for each zone. Check the box after completing the task — this way you will feel even more joy from the work done.
Joy
Remember the keynote: we leave only things that spark joy. A dusty electric waffle-iron, an unwanted soup bowl, a set of cute, but overly impractical tea bowls — out you go! It’s not necessary to throw everything away. Arrange some kind of a garage sale. Surely some of your neighbours will be happy to buy these things.
Practicality
Do you really need 4 almost identical whisks, 2 peelers, 3 corkscrews of different sizes? Get rid of duplicates so that they don’t consume space. We are sure you will find someone to give your clutter to.
Usefulness
Unusual zesters, a fish scale remover, herb scissors, a banana slicer… When you see these things on the Internet, it’s hard to resist buying. They turn out to be useless in practice, but take up a lot of space at home. Wave them goodbye!
Health
Throw everything expired away from the refrigerator — there are no two ways about it. Usually, forgotten sauces, cheese and herbs become stale. Do not buy too much food in advance! When you buy only the food you need, you save lots money, make your diet more diverse, and, finally, there’ll be no harmful bacteria and mold in the refrigerator. Lastly, don’t put the prepared food into the refrigerator in saucepans, but transfer it into tidy containers.
Neighbourship
Good neighborly relations are wonderful, but moths and bugs make horrible neighbours! Look through your cereals, spices, pasta, and throw the boxes with insectoid intruders away. In the future, store bulk products in air-tight glass jars.
Control
There is a bag with bags in every kitchen. You just can’t wipe this phenomenon out, period. We suggest going through and shortening its contents, and then moving it to an ergonomic container. Fold the bags in the shape of envelopes, put them vertically side-by-side, like documents in a folder.
Memory
Grandma’s tea set brings out tender feelings, sure, but it has long been missing half the cups and saucers, and the second half is chippy. We suggest approaching the issue creatively. You can’t even imagine what you can make with old dishes!
Rationality
Use all available kitchen space. For example, the slot under the sink often serves as a cache for a trash bin. Meanwhile, its proper organization will save you a lot of space. Use the full height of the kitchen cabinets. There are many hanging organizers that can be attached to shelves. Use drawer inserts.
System
We want the necessary items to be within reach, but receive a build up of dust, grease, and dirt in addition to any possible benefits. As a result, you have to wash not only the counter, but also all these mega-important jars and coasters. Hide everything you can in drawers, save your time!
Life should not turn into endless cleaning. Organize your kitchen so that you can clean it up as quickly as possible. Love yourself and your home!
