Organise the KonMari™ Way
I’m really excited to introduce a new series to Mimi’s Bowl for 2019, a new collection of lifestyle features. As this community has grown I feel it’s time we expand some of the topics we discuss. So many of you have touched on subjects through the feed, that really resonate with me and I’m sure other parents. Everything from wasting less, to parenting skills , mindfulness for children and so on… I want to share these interests through the feed, to widen our community. So, each month we will be inviting an expert to host a guest post through Mimi’s Bowl: broken down into 5 Top Tips.
Katrina Hassan is a teacher, professional organiser, Certified KonMari™ Consultant and the founder of Spark Joy London. Her instagram feed @spark_joy_london is an amazing resource for the tools and methods to de-clutter, bringing order to our domestic spaces and joy to ourselves (and families). For me one of the biggest learning curves as a parent was just all the amount of “stuff'“ that seemed to come with having a baby. Living in London space is a premium and I simply didn’t had enough storage to accommodate everything. Since having my second baby, I have really tried to simplify and live with less. Both for my family and I. I have found this a much happier way of living with children. I learn so much from the methods Katrina shares and I hope you will too.
Introducing Katrina and Spark Joy London
To give some background Katrina and I connected on Instagram last year, as I became fascinated by the KonMari Method™, through Marie Kondo’s best selling book: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying. Katrina discovered Marie Kondo’s book when she was pregnant with her first child. She followed the principles of The KonMari Method™ to organise her home when planning a homebirth. It was important to her to feel calm, confident and secure in her home in preparation for the birth of her baby. Three years later, and after successfully delivering two children at home, Katrina completed her training with Marie Kondo to become a Certified KonMari™ Consultant. After experiencing such a positive transformation in her own life, she is committed to teaching and supporting others in achieving a more organised life, which sparks joy. She now supports clients in primarily in London and Surrey to effectively declutter, organise and tidy their homes through using the KonMari Method™.
Spark Joy London founder Katrina shares her top 5 tips ~
for teaching your children skills in tidying & organisation
1. Storage spaces: everyone needs one~ Your child is entitled to have their own space to store their things, where they are undisturbed from the daily activities of the household. Take a closer look at whether your child’s things are mixed up with your own or another member of the household. For instance, is any of their clothing stored with yours? Are their books in the same space as yours? If they have siblings, and the items are not shared, are their things stored together? Are their toys living in communal spaces like the on dining room table or kitchen counter? One of the benefits of giving a child their own clearly defined spaces within the home is that they know where their things belong, they feel a personal sense of ownership over that space, and are more likely to keep it tidy.
2. Be a role model ~ If your children see you enjoying tidying tasks, they will view tidying with positivity and enthusiasm. Practice tidying daily; fold your laundry in front of your children and allow them the opportunity to ‘help out’ by giving them smaller items to fold; let them see you return your things to their home after you finish using them; and tidy their items with them. When your children see you valuing a tidy space and taking time to tidy up, they will naturally copy your behaviour over time.
3. When sorting, allow your child the freedom to choose which of their belongings they want to keep ~ KonMari™is a positive process: instead of focusing on how much we want to get rid of, the focus is on the items we want to keep in our lives which we love, the things that ‘spark joy’. For children, I call this process the ‘happy check’. If you’re sorting clothes for example, encourage your child to take each item in their hands, one at a time, and decide whether the item makes them happy. If it does, put it on the ‘keep pile’ and if it doesn’t, say goodbye to the item before putting it on the ‘donate’ or ‘recycle’ pile. Allowing your children the freedom to choose, will build their confidence over time and eventually, through practice, saying goodbye to items that no longer bring them joy will become second nature.
4. Teach your children how to fold ~ KonMari™focuses on folding clothes, and storing them upright, as the main storage method. Not only does this create a lot more space, it allows you to reconnect with your items every time you fold them. For children, this is a great introduction to expressing appreciation for their items every time they fold them as well as encouraging them to put their things back in their place once they’ve been folded. Start small; socks are the simplest item to fold. Once they’ve mastered the sock fold, they can move on to other items of clothing.
5. Store like items together ~ Children’s storage doesn’t have to be beautiful and labeled; to organise well, all you have to do store items of the same type together and give them a home. Clear plastic boxes are a great way to store children’s toys for example, as you can see the contents at a glance and the lid creates a limit on the amount of toys that exist in that subcategory. The beauty of the KonMari Method™is that you only have to decide where to put things once; when every item has a home, children can form the habit of putting things back in their designated place once they’ve finished with them.
For more information & links
Katrina posts tidying and organising tips on her Instagram feed and Facebook page, and provides an introduction to the world of KonMari™through her annual tidying challenges in January and July: ‘KonMari™Kids’ and ‘Spark Joy July’. For more information about starting your own tidying journey or to book a free 30-minute consultation, visit Katrina’s website.
Website: http://www.sparkjoylondon.com
Instagram: @spark_joy_london
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sparkjoylondon/