Whenever remodel a kitchen or bathroom, you’re going to be forced to remove all of your stuff before the work begins. Then, once the work is done, you’ll put it back into your new cabinets.
All of your new cabinets, dividers, and organizers won’t do any good if you don’t actually put them to use. Before you spend a lot of money on storage solutions like these, take some time to think about how you are going to use them. Take the time to purge a little, and get rid of the stuff that, as you’re pulling it out of the back of that cabinet, you didn’t even remember you had. If you don’t use it, don’t put it into the new space. Honestly, if you didn’t need it in the old configuration, you won’t need it here.
How We Apply The KonMari Method
The KonMari method suggests that if you’re going to the effort of pulling everything out of your cabinets and then putting them back, you might as well do so in an organized manner. Its inventor, Marie Kondo, suggests tidying your things by category instead of room-by-room. If you are the least bit indecisive, her checklist will make the whole process much faster and more efficient.
We approach kitchen and bathroom design with this method in mind. We know that once you’re ready to enjoy your brand-new bathroom, for instance, you’re not going to want to put your ten-year-old towels back into it – you’ll probably want new ones.
In the kitchen, too, we think about where things are going to go well in advance and will go over our ideas with the client. We approach this from an intuitive standpoint, so the kitchen utensils, the cutlery, and the pots and pans are positioned where they are most convenient and not much space is wasted.
Making Better Use Of The Space You Already Have
You may feel like your space is cluttered and this might be one of the reasons you’ve wanted to do your remodel. However, in the vast majority of projects we do, even the ones where we’re opening up walls, the space itself isn’t really getting any larger, so you are forced to declutter and purge.
90 percent of clients know that it’s going to happen. A remodel will force you to purge. Even if you have to make some hard decisions, they have to be made if you want to get the result you’re after. What’s going to fit? What can you not live without? These will be the first questions. Often, clients are surprised when they look at their discard pile, wondering what they were hanging onto these things for in the first place!
The same goes with a basement remodel. It’s not unusual to go into an unfinished basement that’s packed to the ceiling with stuff. It’s where “everything else” goes when it’s seldom used or has outlived its usefulness. In this case, the client wants a finished space, which means they will have to get their heads around the fact that there will be less storage space.
Whether it’s toys and clothes that your kids have outgrown, years of paperwork and files, or abandoned DIY projects, the end result is the same: some of it has to go.
How You Can Make The KonMari Work For You
KonMari starts with putting your stuff into categories:
- Clothes
- Books
- Papers, files, and documents
- Other items
- Items that have sentimental value
As the philosophy goes, items that genuinely speak to your heart should be kept. If they don’t, throw them away or give them away. Remember to honor them for their usefulness and then let them go.
And there’s a reason to take the categorical approach as opposed to going room-by-room. According to Marie herself, the room-by-room method leads you to pick away at your stuff and never really get anything accomplished – which is the antithesis of organization. You spend a lot of time going through your things, moving them around, putting them into new piles; but, at the end of the day, what have you really accomplished?
The KonMari method became popular because it delivers benefits that go beyond merely having a well-organized abode. Kondo’s philosophy is about finding joy—choosing joy, actually. Taking the steps outlined in the KonMari method, you too may be able to see yours.
Are you ready for your St. Louis remodel? Let’s talk about it! Reach out today to learn more about what we can do for you.
