How The KoniMari Method Helps Get Your House Sold
“What’s all the hype behind this tidying up trend about? People have been doing this forever,” my father said over the phone to me as I excitedly told him about my plans to “Marie Kondo” my closet this weekend. “What even is that?” he asked, as I’m using a woman’s name as a verb. So let’s take it from the top.
Marie Kondo is a tidying expert, bestselling author, star of Netflix’s hit show, “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo,” and founder of KonMari Media, Inc. Marie’s claim to fame began when she was about 19, and continued as she released books and more. She speaks of the art of the KonMari Method, which uses six basic rules of tidying.
Now her method seems simple, but it can become a bit overwhelming and confusing which is why she breaks it down step by step. She starts with clothes and the closets – empty everything out onto your bed and she means EVERYTHING. This tactic of pulling everything out allows you to truly see how much you have accumulated over time. When it comes to moving this is especially helpful – are you downsizing or want to start fresh? Now is that perfect time to choose to keep only the items that bring you joy. In Marie’s Netflix show, she talks about finding that feeling of joy, and what to do when you’re unsure on an item.
From starting with clothes, and moving through the stages of books, papers, misc, and eventually sentimental items, you’ll be able to work through the entire house in manageable portions.
Now, why is this concept of cleaning everything out helpful when selling a house? If you’re about to list your house, the concept we love to use as agents to get our sellers ready is “Remove 50% of everything” for staging purposes – this openness although may feel barren to the seller, allows the buyers to imagine themselves in the home, which ultimately leads to an easier sale. When packing, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind thought of “Shove everything I own into as little boxes as possible and move it to the next place,” but there’s an opportunity to start fresh and make the most of this process.
Taking ownership of the moving and packing process takes a lot of guts and determination, but with easy to follow steps it is something that is ultimately very rewarding. Allow yourself a couple of uninterrupted days to take care of things category by category, so when you get stressed you can take a bit of a break and revisit it.
Once completing the process, your house will sparkle on the market, you’ll be more at ease with the packing and moving process, and you’ll be one step ahead for unpacking at the next spot with a clean slate.