The missing rain pants were the water drop for this former ski jumper from Utah. It was the time of Marie Kondo.

Blair TomtenThe house has neutral tones in the living room and an abundance of artwork on the walls. It's warm, inviting and full of things.

And not one seems out of place.

In her bedroom, she opens a drawer and is a perfect example of the KonMari method: two rows of three-ply shirts and hoodies, organized in vertical supports for more access and visibility. One jacket of the 1995 Nordic World Ski Championships; a t-shirt from the third Springer Tournee competition in Park City.

There used to be – more bins and totes, sentimental clothes saved from her years as one of the first American ski jumpers and her subsequent skeleton career. Now, there are only a few dozen of his favorites, those who "arouse joy."

Salt Lake City's KonMari consultant, Elisa Albury, who helped Blair, and Provo consultant Karla Carter, say that more and more people have been interested in their services in recent weeks, usually via the konmari website. com or Instagram.

According to Elisa, one of the benefits of tidying up is spending more time doing things that you like and less time to load because of the condition of your home or belongings.

"A cleaner house, and later cleaner, is easier and faster to maintain. Cleaning also becomes a method to express the joy of the things you have kept, "explains Elisa. "Hiking> Housework."

Blair, a civil engineer and international ski jumping judge, first heard about "Tidying Up" by Elisa, a former colleague, shortly after the book was published in the United States in 2014. As she had always enjoyed arranging it, she decided to buy the audio book.

"I listened to it," she says. "And I was like, oh my God, it's magical."

Kondo shares his method to simplify and organize, dividing the process into categories – clothes, books, papers, komono or sundries and sentimental items. As you sort, Kondo's website says, "Keep only the things that speak to your heart and discard objects that no longer arouse joy. Thank them for their service – let them go. "

Blair began sorting and organizing her hats and gloves, from the ones she wore to work to the ones she needed for cross-country skiing and downhill skiing. They have been stored and labeled, but everywhere in the house. The process took two years.

Blair finally decided to go ahead with the rest of his business, but stopped after trying to put away sentimental clothes. An exchange of text with Elisa put it back on track.

"One day she was looking for a pair of rain pants and she thought," I know they are at home. And I searched everywhere, and I did not find them, "recalls Elisa. "… and I said," I could help you with that. ""

At the time, Elisa accumulated hours of practice to obtain her certification. She had already arranged her three-bedroom house with her husband and realized during the process that she was not happy with her job, where she was working ridiculous hours. She decided to leave and attend a training seminar on the West Coast. She got her certification last July.

"As a consultant, I thought I could help other people to experience the same experience, a joy in general," says Elisa, who now works full time for the transportation department of the United States. # 39; Utah.

Karla, who works part-time as a receptionist in a pediatric office, was also approved in July. After her husband suggested she set up her own organizing business, she decided to get certified using Kondo techniques.

She started with her own house – and her family. "If I do it, you do it too," she told them. "And we did the whole process, from start to finish. I like it all. And it took a long time.

In addition to storing their homes and providing photographic evidence, Karla and Elisa had to attend a three-day seminar, train with two clients in 10 sessions and pass an exam.

According to Elisa and Karla, one of the most important elements of the KonMari process is defining a vision of how you want your space – and your life – to be as it should be. This mental image can help in decision-making, says Elisa.

"Especially if you're stuck on an object, if you can then come back to that vision and say," Oh, yes, here's my intention. Yes or No: Does this article support this ideal vision or not? "

Both consultants say it is difficult to estimate the time it will take to tidy up an entire house, although the goal is to complete the process in six months. It depends on the size of the family, the size of the house, the ability to make decisions and more.

Because of these variables, Elisa and Karla say that the number of sessions with their clients can not be predetermined. However, the duration of the session is optimal.

"It's hard to make significant progress in less than three hours. And more than five hours later, your brain is tired of making decisions, "says Elisa. "So the productivity rate is really slowing down."

One of the goals of the process – and the order of categories – is to develop a barometer for items that elicit the most joy. According to Elisa, this idea can be nuanced with different definitions based on the category. Papers, for example, can offer comfort or fulfill a function.

When Karla's family started to clean up, her husband told him that he was not sure if he could sort his clothes because they did not give him pleasure. So she put all her ties on and told her to choose her three favorites. And they did it until he missed those he loved.

Even after defining a vision or refining those skills that inspire joy, decision-making can be difficult.

"You have to confront your feelings about why you own what you own and about the value you give to objects you own – sometimes it's an emotional value, sometimes a monetary value, sometimes a physical value, like the physical space that he occupies "Elisa said. "Part of the joy check process is to look at all of these things and decide what's important to you and makes sense to you."

Karla was complaining about her clothes because of body image problems – something the KonMari method helped to solve.

"That made me wonder, so why am I so hard on myself? And why do I talk to myself all the time so negatively? "Karla says," I'm 56, for the sake of heaven, and it's time to stop doing that. "

Although Elisa found it easy to sort through her clothes, she says she struggled to abandon a worn sweater that she had bought from her father about 20 years ago, before her death.

"But in the end, I decided that by getting rid of it, I was not losing my memory," says Elisa. "I still have these things in my brain, and I could let them go."

Sentimental items can be the most difficult to put away, and Kondo suggests leaving them until the end. Elisa says she tries to be kind and supportive in helping her clients overcome these attachments. She also discovered that being an observer can be so exhausting – physically, mentally and emotionally.

"It's not uncommon for people, when they are tidying up, to discover something emotional. And then they start telling their story, they sob and I start crying, "says Elisa. "… sometimes I bear the emotional burden of the things of others."

Those who swear by the KonMari method say that it has had a profound impact on their lives.

After tidying up her house, Elisa discovered that she loved her space more and the feeling of calm that it brings her now. After throwing away so many items and knowing how much each of them cost, she did not do any more shopping without thinking, which saved her "a ton of money". And she improved her relationship with her loved ones.

Karla says that she began to examine how she and her husband were spending their time, money, and energy, realizing that these things were not always there. "KonMari, that's what you really want in life," she says. "This is not stuff."

Blair found the method exhausting, "she says," because you have to make a lot of decisions and arouse a lot of emotions. "But Elisa has helped her throughout the process, sometimes encouraging her to ask sentimental questions aside and come back later.

"It really helped to cross, literally, my whole house," says Blair. "… and she never judged whether or not to keep something because it was what mattered to me."

In a treasure chest his grandfather had created, Blair had stored a magenta, white and turquoise blanket of his great-grandmother, knit or maybe crochet. But when she pulled it out, she realized, "It does not make me think of my great-grandmother."

Instead, Blair says, "I have a recipe for grandmother's cookies that I adore. She made them for me, for my birthday, and gave them to me in a coffee box with a $ 2 bill in a card. And that's what brings joy, it's that recipe, and it's when I think of my great-grandmother. "

Blair pondered at length what would happen to the objects she threw away, looking for the best organizations to receive them. Workwear went to the Salt Lake City Junior League, winter clothing and accessories at The Road Home and household items at Deseret Industries.

She, too, now looks at things differently. She prefers to say no when people distribute things for free, because if she brings them home, she has to treat them. Instead of buying a dress for a unique event, she will rent one. Moreover, she does not find more things to fill the empty spaces created by her decluttering.

True, she still remains a jackets collector – she needs a specific type for various outdoor activities, she says. Her closet on the first floor remains a tote for the papers until she treats them. And she did not finish her basement – which she calls a 1980s man, a cave.

She cherishes the sentimental things she's kept: an original Vanity Fair ski jump cover dating back to 1936 hanging on her wall, the blue-green swirling bowl that she bought with $ 200 from her first real paycheck, tickets for her first female ski jumping gig at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and so much more.

She also liked to talk to Elisa about many things she had not kept, to say goodbye.

"It may not have been something that has brought joy any longer, but it's something that I really enjoyed," she said. "… [And] it was just fun to tell his story before his release. "