The Surreal Konmari Closet

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It feels like eons ago since I Konmari-ed my apartment. My stuff has diminished dramatically. I have become a much more conscious shopper and handier crafter. However, the one thing that still remains unchanged is my closet layout.

I have a small closet, it’s just 4 feet wide. I often wonder what it would be like to have a large enough closet where I can fit all my clothing items. On a random Sunday morning, I made a sketch of what my humble closet would look like. The sketch took no more than 5 minutes but it snowballed into a 3 week long crafting project. Here is my completed project, hope you will enjoy it!

It’s been a loooooong while since I made any miniature models (like 15 years ago). Believe it or not, there was a time in my senior year in high school where I made miniature models just for fun. During those days I would sit at my desk for hours and hours completely immersed in my miniature world. But 15 years later and married, there was no “hours and hours” to spare. I had to squeeze out time in the evenings and weekend mornings to make this paper closet happen. I thought it was going to take me at least a couple of months, but to my surprise, I finished it in 3 weeks.

In the process of making this model, I learned a very valuable lesson.

you can always MAKE TIME for what’s important to you

Instead of watching TV and surfing the web in the evening, I worked on my paper closet. I realized that it’s all about setting priorities. With a fixed number of hours in a day, it all comes down to how we allocate those hours. Of my 24 hours, how many hours are dedicated to things and people that truly matter to me?

It may sound silly to say that making miniature model really matters to me, but it really does. It brought back fond memories of my childhood and reignited my crafting passion. Not to mention that during the making of this model, I always felt so peaceful. There was no distraction, just me, my paper and my imagination.

In the book “Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up“, Marie Kondo said your closet should be treated as a small room and decorated creatively. Well, I think I did just that, in paper form of course! I hope you enjoy my creation and please leave a comment if you like this post!

Closet organization tips:

Store seasonal and less used items on the top shelf such as seasonal things and luggage. The goal is to reserve “prime” closet real estate for things that you use most often.Dividers are great for separating cloth items like underwear, socks, ties and intimates. The idea is to store items of similar material and purpose together.For your drawers, fold clothes upright (Here’s how) for easier access and maximizing space. Ideally, top drawers should store items that are lighter like your underwear, socks and intimates and bottom drawers should store items that are thicker and heavier like your winter sweaters and jeans. When you fold clothes correctly, you can store more clothes in drawers instead of hanging them. However, for clothes that wrinkle easily or lose shape when folded, definitely go with hangers.

As for bags and accessories, store them in the same area. If you have many bags like I do, the trick is to store smaller bags or purses within another bigger bag. For the bags you use everyday, I recommend just storing them as they are so you don’t have to take bags out or in every time you use them.

Finally, decorate your closet! Treat it as a room and add your favorite things.

And that’s that!

And here are some photos of the miniature models I made in high school. They are all I’ve got. The original models and negative films have been long lost. Oh well, at least I still have photos =D

By the way, you are still midway through or starting your de-cluttering journey, definitely check out Tidy-Like-A-Pro Kit to help you get through the process strategically and smoothly.

For your little ones, why not try these closet organizers to get them excited about putting away clothes and getting dressed? More at Sprinkles Shop.