This year, Diwali isn’t going to be its usual pompous self. With social gatherings being low-key and limited, you can make Diwali a homely festival by just following tips from two shows. I personally tried taking as many cues from these shows for simple things like folding clothes, organising my bookshelf and even decluttering. Other than them being good shows to binge watch, they could work for many of you wanting to change your environment after staying home for all these months.
Tidying up with Marie Kondo
If you haven’t heard of Marie Kondo, you have to be living under a rock. This 36-year-old Japanese consultant has made herself ubiquitous in people’s homes around the world, by helping people clean and organise their lives with her cleaning method of KonMari. Marie employs the method of KonMari to help people “spark joy” in their lives. She asks her clients to embrace every single item in a space and figure out its utility. If the item sparks joy, it stays; if it doesn’t, you say a simple thank you for the time it served you, and discard it. I don’t tend to overthink the clothes in my cupboard that much and usually wear what fits me at that point. But having said that, I know of so many people who hoard clothes of all sizes, hoping to fit into something soon. Sure, that is a good motivational factor, but limiting the amount of clothes and recognising its true value should be your number one aspiration.
The KonMari system is not for lovers of anything arbitrary; but is perfect for haters of clutter. It is a process that begins from personal items like clothes to the lesser personal items that you would not use on a regular basis.
- Clothing
- Books
- Paper
- Komono – Kitchen, Bathroom, Garage, Miscellaneous
One thing I like about the show is Kondo’s folding methods. I don’t have enough drawers and space for folded clothes since mostly all stay on hangers, but learning her methods of folding are worth it. Even if not for your wardrobe, these folding techniques can help when you need to pack your bags and travel. One such basic folding video is here, and you can always find more specific folding techniques online.
While the list above may not specify it, Kondo is a firm believer of leaving sentimental items for the end. She believes it gives you a clearer perspective to get rid of things that have been closest to the heart.
FYI: This one is an Emmy award-winner. So you already know how invaluable its tips are.
Get Organised with The Home Edit
‘Editing’ was associated with cleaning up words for me, until I stumbled upon this show. While Marie Kondo explained the salient process of “sparking joy” by discarding and keeping,The Home Edit follows the same principle just by labelling it as the ‘Edit’ stage. The Home Edit’s Clea and Joanna taught me to fall in love with everything I own, by adding some colour to my environment and keeping them intact.
If you scroll through The Home Edit’s Instagram page, you will know how visually and aesthetically they organise the area assigned to them that’s on their list. They cater from commoners to celebrities who would need a few pairs of extra hands to make their life easier. While Kondo’s organising process is sacred and emotional, THE’s prowess makes every project ‘Instagrammable’, as they merge their organisational efforts with design and interior styling.
The most important aspects of their organising are colour coding, using ‘product’ and labelling effectively.
A study by the International Journal of Pediatrics suggests that the use of colour for children in the home helps in improving emotional development in children and creates a relaxed and happy space for them. But turns out, adults are not far from being positively affected by colour, for a certain colour could make you sprightly or even subdued. And having identified the effectiveness of colours on children and adults, Clea and Joanna make sure to use colours, create sections, make a dull room brighter, and organise. This could mean organising a bookshelf in rainbow colours, chronologically, or even drawing a rainbow for that matter.
This one thing did not work for me as I don’t have enough books from the same family colour. Plus I thought of organising the books either by genre/ height/ fiction or nonfiction/thickness. But if you aren’t as confused as me, you could give this a go. And if it goes well with the books, you can do the same with your wardrobe too.
Now you may think what a ‘product’ is. Product in the simplest terms means holders, bins, boxes, trays, baskets and dividers that help keep your belongings in one place. What I liked about this show is the use of transparent storage bins. Many times, we may keep things in baskets and dividers that are opaque, and not know what is stored in them. With something transparent – whether in your kitchen or bedroom or office – you can get to action a lot quicker and avoid over buying since you can see everything in there.
One tip I learned from the show is to create an access point for documents or papers that would need to be reviewed from time-to-time. These could be bills, passes, tickets, and even medical documents of elders, young kids, or anyone unwell in the family. Even though this could sound like an obvious one, the task of keeping these files organised for a long time could be a challenge
And how useful can boxes and storage bins not be if they aren’t labelled?! Clea’s handwritten labels add that spunk to their guests’ storage bins. And this prompt is something you can adopt. Even if you don’t want to be all fancy, you can get the traditional label maker and get the job done.
The main and only drawback in their endeavour is the use of ‘product’. They get all their products from The Container Store in the US. Even though TCS can ship most of the products to India, those alluring those turntables, bins and drawers look can burn a hole in your pocket, if you’re on a budget.
Nonetheless, Diwali comes towards the tail end of a year filled with struggle and uncertainty. Whether you want to have a subtle Diwali gathering, follow the annual ritual of cleaning before the Festival of Lights, or just want a sumptuous makeover after months of not stepping out – these shows have a little bit for everyone binge-watching Netflix.
