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The Marie Kondo Craze

If you’ve been living under a rock, then you probably haven’t heard of the Netflix series ‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’. This series follows an organizing consultant that helps families whose homes are filled with chaos and clutter.

Marie Kondo’s teaches the KonMari Japanese art of decluttering & origami folding your clothes. She believes decluttering is the key to happiness and less stress.

The KonMari theory is to only have items in your house that “spark joy” — which she compares to the feeling you get when holding a puppy (hopefully you like puppies).

The task is to place ALL of your items in the center of a room, hold each item and if it “sparks joy” you keep, otherwise you toss or donate. Once you’ve decided what you’re going to keep, she has a specific way to put everything back into its place.

Now that the decluttering is done, what do you do with the stuff that’s left over and the empty spaces? Decorative storage containers are a great way to hide the necessary clutter (because, come on, who can live without bread bag clips, a few random keys)- but at a glance, will make you look extremely organized.

Now that you’ve cleaned house and feel it’s too minimal and stark, adding in pieces that are meaningful will give your home more character.

I believe before items enter your home, they should also spark joy and not just fill spaces. Unless you’re staging a home, don’t just buy something to fill a shelf or an empty corner; take time to curate items that “spark joy” in the first place, so you’re not overhauling the house come next season.

Leaving some negative space, which isn’t bad space, but simply open space around objects, defines boundaries and adds balance to a space.

After tackling a couple of rooms, closets and a junk drawer — I’m a believer!

If you’ve already taken on the task of this decluttering method, I’d love to hear from you. Do you think it works? Do you feel less stressed and a sense of calm in your space? If you haven’t, watch the show, you may be “Marie Kondo-ing” before you know it!

Spring is just around the corner (if I keep saying it, it has to come true, right!?,) so what better time to start decluttering then when it’s -25 outside!

Courtney Ungaro is an interior designer living in Kelowna and has been working on both residential & commercial projects around the beautiful Okanagan for over 12 years.

She has recently started her own company Courtney Ungaro Space + Design specializing in residential & commercial design as well as creative event styling. If she’s not on a job site or shopping for the perfect piece you can probably find her supporting a locally owned restaurant/brewery/winery with her husband and kids. Follow her projects on Instagram @courtneyungaro_spaceanddesign.



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