Tips from Marie Kondo of Traverse City
By Brighid Driscoll | March 19, 2022
Michiganders, pat yourself on the back. We are coming out of another long winter and our reward is on the horizon. Sunnier days appear in the forecast; thawed earth is crushed under muddy boots; and icicles melting in gutters give a steady rhythm to the changing weather. Spring is near.
The same goes for spring cleaning, a tradition that people love and hate in equal measure. Northern Express turned to Jess Kellogg, a professional organizer from Traverse City, for advice on getting our homes ready for spring. Kellogg owns Organize You by Jess, a service she created to help others the same way she helped herself.
"My husband and I have moved several times over the years, and I've always kept our house organized," says Kellogg. "I've been a pretty organized person my whole life, but after having our son I really wanted to focus on building a system that's easy to maintain."
The Traverse City native wanted to spend as much time as possible with her family and free time, and she knew that if she could intuitively organize her home, she could drastically reduce the dreaded weekend rush of cleaning everything in one day . "When my house is organized, I feel like my mind is organized. I don't want to feel overloaded either," says Kellogg.
Where to start
It is best to start where there is abundance. Our possessions, says Kellogg, are places where we store many emotions. We keep many objects from guilt or familiarity without justifying their use or the place they occupy.
"A lot of it has to do with emotional attachment or guilt," she says. "Someone gives you a gift and you feel like getting rid of it is wrong. But when you accumulate all of these things, dealing with them becomes a daily struggle. The best thing you can do is limit yourself to what you really like and leave the rest.
Kellogg's roadmap to managing your spring cleaning involves asking yourself a few questions:
- I need it? I'm not very attached to my hand mixer, but I use it.
- I like? This is where people fight because emotions come into play here, but try to be realistic with yourself.
- It's sentimental? Some things should stay in your family.
start small
In the beginning it may be tempting to start where people spend most of their time: in the living room or in the kitchen. However, Kellogg says people should tackle something small first.
"You want to start with something that you can immediately be successful with. Maybe it's your utensil drawer or your kitchen drawer. Take it all out and put it back in, ask yourself the essential questions we talked about before, and see how much you can shed.
Getting rid of small items at low stakes will make it easier to get rid of larger items later.
Organization tools that help:
- Detached storage
- Expandable drawer organizers
the entrance
Imagine what the entrance of your house looks like on a given day. You might see a lot of salt-encrusted shoes or old mail. You can see many boots, coats and backpacks. Whatever you find, clean it up and clean it up.
"[Entries] get really dirty with winter, dirt, and snow," says Kellogg. "I like to take everything out and clean it thoroughly; store all our big coats, boots, gloves and other winter stuff; and redeem them for our spring stuff. The entryway is the first thing you see when you come home, so you don't want to be bombarded with clutter.
Organization tools that help:
- Entrance benches or tables with storage space
- Shoemaker
- hook
cabinet
In his organizing experience, Kellogg found that clothing was among the worst offenders for clutter. People cling to clothes that no longer fit them out of nostalgia or a desire to wear them again. In reality, most people wear less than half of what they have in their closet. Our emotional attachment to clothing is particularly strong because it closely resembles the image we have of ourselves...or what used to be.
But these clothes, which we mostly don't recognize, take up physical and emotional space that isn't worth it. "Keep your thoughts in the here and now," advises Kellogg. "Now wear what looks good on you and throw away the rest."
Organization tools that help:
- Careful use of hanging space, shelving and/or dressers
- Group similar items together
- Organize clothes by color, use or type of fabric
- Transfer the seasonal outfit to another storage room or crate
The shelve
Pantry cupboards, kitchen shelves and cupboards can quickly become overloaded. While searching for a can of spaghetti you discover you have three cans already opened and half empty, or while cooking you discover you have multiples of the same condiment.
"People have things that they don't use in their kitchen," says Kellogg. "Shopping for groceries is different than buying something like clothes. It can be easy to come home, throw everything in the pantry and be done. Some of these things eventually expire and just take up space. Other times, people end up having multiple of the same thing.
To avoid this, Kellogg recommends taking inventory after creating your weekly grocery list. Take your list to your pantry and closets and cross off what you already have. You'll be surprised how much your list gets shorter and shorter.
Organization tools that help:
- Labeled glasses and baskets
- Assign shelves to specific types of items
- Shelves or transparent storage boxes
The future
Whatever your spring cleaning plan, remember a few things to stay tidy for the rest of the year.
"The most important thing is to change the way you think when you're in business," says Kellogg. "Just because something is on sale and it's pretty doesn't mean you should buy it. If a family member gives you something you don't like, you don't have to keep it. Really ask yourself where you have a place for something before you bring it into your home. It saves you a lot of time in the long run and allows you to enjoy what you really love.
Find Jess Kellogg at ORGANEYOBYJESS.com and ORGANEYOBYJESS@gmail.com.
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