How To Pack The Marie Kondo Way

Marie Kondo is all the rage these days thanks to her cute and inspiring hit Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. The show is all about decluttering your life. Getting rid of all that junk you’re holding on to that you definitely don’t need and only keeping things that “bring you joy”. There are plenty of awesome and effective tips in the show for how to make your home life more joyous, but there’s another way to implement the “KonMari Method” in your life: packing!

We all hate packing. It’s always so stressful to pick the few outfits you’re able to fit in your suitcase, and then even when we do decide, we usually just throw it in the suitcase with some shoddy folding and spend our vacation walking around in wrinkly clothing. But you don’t have to vacation like that ever again! Follow these simple tips from Marie and you may just start to enjoy packing…

FIND A SUITCASE YOU ACTUALLY LOVE

So many of us grab either the cheapest suitcase we can find or the most durable one we can find. And they’re all so boring! Then we drag them around, get them all banged up and, frankly, show them no respect whatsoever! But there are a lot of suitcase options out there and you can actually find one you really like! So treat yourself and go out and grab one that’s a cool color or has some cool feature that most don’t.

It may seem silly, but actually liking your suitcase can make packing, and traveling, all that much more fun!

CHANGE THE WAY YOU FOLD YOUR CLOTHES

I think basically everyone folds their clothes the same way. We fold everything into little squares or rectangles and then stack it all on top of each other. But what happens then? The stuff at the bottom is carrying all the weight and gets extra wrinkled and you end up doing so much digging around to find the shirt you want to wear that the entire suitcase becomes an absolute mess. Well… stop it! Thanks to Marie Kondo, there’s a better way to fold your clothes.

In her method, you actually roll the clothes into an almost triangular shape and actually line them up in your suitcase standing up. You see how much nicer that is? You can actually see every single item and all you have to do is grab the one you want! It really makes all the difference in the world.

DON’T BOTHER WITH ALL THOSE ACCESSORIES

As I stated earlier, the KonMari Method is all about what sparks joy. And, be honest, do those three extra pairs of shoes and those scarves and hats and all those other accessories really spark joy? Do you really need all of them for this 4 day trip to Nashville? That’s what I thought. And when you stop bothering with all those extra non-essentials, you’ll have more room to fit in what you really need and do so comfortably.

DON’T GET LAZY

OK… so you’ve packed the KonMari way and your suitcase has never looked more organized. Good for you! But just because you’re actually on your vacation now doesn’t mean you get to erase all that hard work and go right back to being a slob! You still need to keep things tidy while on the trip.

One easy way to do this is to fold your dirty clothes and keep them separated from your clean clothes. It will keep your stress levels as low as possible during your trip and it also makes unpacking easier than ever.

And that’s all there is to it folks! All this stuff may seem pretty simple or even obvious to some of you. But so, so many people don’t pack efficiently and it really can affect your day-to-day mood on a vacation. So if you’re like me and are a sloppy packer, start implementing these packing tips ASAP!