Downscaling – Marie Kondo style

Retirement often goes hand in hand with downscaling and moving house. It need not be a daunting task or even an emotional one. Rather view it as an opportunity to rid your life of unnecessary baggage and to lighten the load going forward.

For the last couple of years, I have embraced organising my house content on a yearly basis. Getting rid of what you no longer need, never use or never should have acquired is really empowering. In this article, I share a few tips to organising your cupboards, rooms and even those areas where we no longer see the items piling up!

I was inspired in my organising journey by the Japanese organising consultant Marie Kondo. Her method and books have inspired many to get rid of items clogging their houses and lifestyle and to embrace only those items that spark joy or are very sentimental to the owner. (Read more about the KonMari method here).

Why does organising result in downscaling?

Very few people are actual hoarders, but most of us (if we are honest) own more than what we need. Cupboards filled to the brim with linen, clothes, crockery or garages overflowing with more screw drivers than the handy man / woman of the house needs attest thereto.

Once you start to organise drawers and cupboards in a systematic manner it is amazing how quickly you pile onto the heaps for re-selling, donation or going straight to the dump. Organising using the tips or methods discussed below will in my experience inevitably lead to downscaling your possessions.

Top tips for organising your household items

If you want to follow the KonMari Method then her website is the best place to start. She advocates for an approach whereby you do not organise room by room, but rather focus on categories (books, clothes etc). Her main approach starts with a simple question “does it spark joy”, if not then it must be discarded. Certain sentimental items fall outside this approach and is retained for the simple reason that it is sentimental to you.

Applying this approach with my own efforts over the years have led to this list of tips for organising your household items:

• I like to tackle my home organising room by room starting with drawers and then cupboards.
  

• I divide items into the following heaps:

  • Items I keep because I use it often and it makes me happy doing so (Marie’s sparking joy question);

  • Items I keep because it has deep sentimental value;

  • Items I no longer use or have never used and which merely take up space, but are in a good condition to donate;

  • Items I can store to give to my daughter one day when she sets up house;

  • Items of value that I do not want to keep anymore and can re-sell; and

  • Items to take to the dump for recycling or discard of with the normal rubbish.

• I re-arrange items when I pack it back using dividers or containers as far as possible to keep dust out and items neatly organised. I like to use see-through containers to easily find what I am looking for.

  
  

• Making space in this way and earning money out of reselling should not encourage the buying of further items unless it is necessary, else the clutter just gets replaced by “new” clutter.

  
  

• Take before and after pictures and share it with family and friends. The reaffirmation you get from this transformation of your personal space is motivation for doing it again next year or for moving on to that next room.

  
  

Options for selling items

Items that are in a good condition or have a good resell value will make the organisation effort more rewarding overall.

• Online platforms are an option if you take care with the safety and security of your details and the transaction itself.

• My parents, in organising their belongings with a view to moving to a smaller house closer to their grandchild, opted to hold an auction to sell the items they were not taking with. But this was in a small Karoo town and is quite a common way of selling items so maybe not as easy to do in a big city.

• Another option which may prove lucrative is to hold a garage sale and involve other family and friends to assist on the day. Put up flyers in your local neighbourhood, the library etc.

• Finally, there are shops such as Cash Crusaders or local second-hand stores or bookstores where you could sell your wares.

I hope this article inspired you to spring clean and start organising your space. The questions for doing so listed above seem easy, but in practice it is much harder to discard of items you have kept for years. Do not get discouraged and just get started and I promise you it will get easier.

All the best

Lirette

Co-founder, PensionersPayLess!

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Lirette is a co-founder of PensionersPayLess! and the heart behind its mission to help South Africa's over-55s enjoy life to the fullest. Backed by a Doctorate of Law and two master’s degrees, she combines legal know-how with a passion for practical advice. Lirette writes about topics that she believes will appeal to a wide audience and which mostly relate back to her personal experiences, be it making plans for retirement with her parents, balancing a household budget or enjoying a good meal or holiday.