Post 5/ Boxes, Not Bags
Photograph of Tori, post Europe, Ready to Tidy taken by Jared Sandlin
2024, A preparation photo showing the only things you'll need for the next year: your tidying outfit, tape, compostable bags, and boxes.
“My clients do not develop the habit of tidying gradually. Every one of them has been clutter free since they undertook their tidying marathon. This approach is the key to preventing rebound.”
— Marie Kondo
The calculation
Days tidying: 1
items tossing: 0
items donating: 98
items selling: 39
items kept: 145 (tops and jackets)
Total items tidied: 282
Total $ from sold tidied goods:
$ 0
My tidying cost equation:
(sold tidied items) - (tidying supplies cost) = net cost:
$0 - $417.27 = (-$417.27) [These are the items i purchased last week]
The confidence I can complete this project:
85%. While waiting for my boxes and compostable bags’ delivery I took my "before" photos and imagined the "after" a year from now. I realized I wanted a joyful home, but my costs to reach this dream rose. My commitment to tidying felt hypocritical as I bought more items to get organized—yikes.
But it felt good to document my before and afters. See the pictures below.
We've had our prep week to receive our eco-friendly trash bags, boxes, and Trashie. We've picked our main tidying spot, and taken our "before" photos on a sunny morning.
Now, we're ready to begin tidying, starting with clothes, following the KonMari Method. As Marie Kondo says, her “clients don’t develop the habit of tidying gradually. Every one of them has been clutter free since they undertook their tidying marathon. This approach is the key to preventing rebound.” Cheers to our 13 week tidying marathon ahead.
Ready? Let’s Go!
Suggestions for this week:
One
Here’s the spreadsheet I made just for us to track what we’re tidying and, more importantly, what we’re keeping and loving.
Take some time, early in your week, in the first two tabs to remind yourself of Marie Kondo’s key guiding principles and a moment to think over coffee or tea about why you’re doing this. Write this down in the second tab called, “Visualize Your Destination”. When you’re ready to begin, get in your tidying outfit (something that’s comfy yet makes you feel like you’re showing up to an important event for yourself), take a bow to your tidying space, and drop into some focused, meditative music. Now, open the clothing tab.
I highlight Marie Kondo’s advice at the top of the clothing tab: "Don’t worry about waste." We’re gonna go against her grain on this ethic. We’re using eco-friendly boxes and compostable bags instead of large, black trash bags, making the donation process part of the joy of tidying. Even if you want to use black trash bags (part of the “out of site, out of tidying eye”) be wary of greenwashing. Check out this USA product, for example. They really get you thinking it’s green in their marketing with pictures of soil, perhaps suggesting its compostable. Also, don’t be fooled into subscription models for compostable bags, either. I recommend Green Paper Products for any of your needs, especially if you’re sticking with bags.
Psyche Butterfly tidying doesn’t end when the items leave our dwelling; our tidying will continue to spark joy through donation, finding new life for an item, or creating simplification to a regular process in our daily lives.
So find the tool— whether a container, box, re-useable bag, labeling system, or book — that helps you make the whole process worth your time.
Two
As I was prepping this week, figuring out which spots in my home can be designated to this purpose, I realized I wanted something a little more visual to identify my tidying space.
You might want to pick up just a few more supplies, but feel free to opt out. What I’m about to suggest for prep supplies are optional and additional.
For Your Tidying Space(s)
To visually distinguish my tidying space, I’m using canvas drop cloths to keep the clutter separate from our living area(s). This helps create a dedicated, transient space for tidying that can be reset or kept messy each day. The point is, it doesn’t matter how messy or organized this space is; it gets to remain a living and breathing work space, as agreed upon with any shared housemates.
Since we’ll also create the option for ourselves to re-sell on sites like Poshmark, I also decided to designate a wall drop canvas location to take good quality pictures for advertisements. Two nails and a corner in the house with a hanger will suffice.
For items you determine are worth trying to re-sell, I’m designating a selling bucket or bin by the front door, where I’ll keep them ready for shipping. All sales will ship out on Mondays to keep things manageable.
Marie Kondo says, "Storage solutions are just prisons to bury possessions that spark no joy." But she advocates for one exception: a simple file folder system for important papers. Papers won’t come into play until much later, but I wanted to have everything on hand. So beyond the boxes, bags, and duct tape, you’ll also see in my photo below of the only supplies I feel I need for the next year, including the papers’ section file folders.
For Your Tidying Delivery Methods
Two words. Duct Tape. I’ll be using color-coded duct tape—starting with bright yellow for clothing—to keep track of each tidying category.
Although we’ve kicked off our tidying costs in the red, things will only improve from here—especially with a no-purchase New Year’s resolution after our 13 weeks of tidying.
Staying focused, we have everything we need. As I sit on my couch (which I plan to sell), I’m looking at the space that’s about to transform me. It’s where the 9x12 drop cloth will stay for a year, where we’ll purge what no longer serves us, and where we’ll post items online for resale. Most importantly, it’s where we have opportunity to prepare boxes to donate to women’s shelters, the soup kitchen, PAVSA, Goodwill, and more. You might think, "I just want to tidy! I don’t want to track everything in a spreadsheet, take photos, and post to socials." That’s totally fine—take what works for you. I’m sharing all the tools, but it’s up to you to decide what fits your process.
Lastly, although I mentioned each Monday would be the following weeks’ prep, I got a head start on one of my tidying days and got through all my shirts and jackets, hence my count above. But don’t worry, there’s a lot more (likely more than your average persons’) in my closet, so it’ll give me some time to stay on track with you. It took me one, full Saturday from noon - 7 to get through 282 shirts and jackets, documenting each in my spreadsheet, and taking pictures to sell. Hopefully that gives you a sense of time commitment for your clothing categories this week. As you begin your clothes, I’ll be starting my pants and remaining clothing, including undergarments, swimwear, seasonal ware, accessories, and shoes. Marie Kondo does keep seasonal ware and accessories categorized in Komonos (after books and papers), but I disagree. I feel everything you should wear goes first.
So take your first bow to you work space, start early in the morning, and wear your tidying outfit. Show up with a hot tea and your best breakfast. Happy tidying!
I’ll be back on October 21 to share how all my wearables went—ups, downs, and everything in between.
The "Preparation"
Optional Items to Purchase
Canvas Drop Cloths
Totally unnecessary, but a fancy and aesthetically pleasing way to do this is to get some nice, canvas drop cloths to really delineate in your space for your 13 weeks tidying marathon, where your workspace is on the floor and on the wall for staging to sell items. I went with the Everbilt 12’ x 15’ for my large floor space and Everbilt 5’ x 5’ for the wall. [$39.98 for the larger and $9.98 for smaller].
Duct Tape
Just your classic mix of colors. Starting with white, yellow, green, and red. Note the green is a different type, potentially planning for use with books. [$5.78 each]
Office Max File Folders
Clear and see through are what the KonMari method recommends. I went with these. [$32.99]
Tasks To Do
Research your Local Donation Centers and Shelters. I list the ones I found at the bottom of my shop page
Nail Your Vertical Drop Cloth to the Wall for Selling
Ground Your Floor, Tidying Drop Cloth to a Semi-Permanent Tidying Space, Meant for Transient Workspace
Designate Your Selling Collection Bucket with a Post It Note and Paper Clips
