Time for spring makeover


Master of organizing’ advises on how to keep your closet organized year round


Heavy boots should be tucked away somehow and sandals should come out front. Winter coats should go in and sun dresses should be out.

Even though you might not be a serious hoarder who turns their homes into trash dumps, you could still be at a loss, not knowing where to begin the ambitious spring cleaning.

Shim Hyun-joo, a power blogger nicknamed the “master of organizing,” gave The Korea Herald the most obvious but true solution: turn your home into a “systematically organized state” that never requires a fussy spring clean-up again.

“Spring cleaning for your clothes, especially, is meaningless because nowadays you never wear a certain item only during a certain season. You mix-match items from different seasons and layer them. I keep my closet in a way that it does not need to be reorganized every season but still stays organized,” said Shim.

Better known by her online ID “casamami,” Shim often appears on TV and radio shows to share her smart tips on cleaning and organizing. Her first book, titled “Casamami’s Storage Method,” was published on March 10. In only two weeks all 5,000 copies of the first print were sold out and another 5,000 had to be printed.

Her basic idea is simple: You should not be organizing to organize. In other words, it should not be a means to showing off that you have organized your house.

“Organizing is for you to save your time and energy. It should be done in a way that is convenient for no one other than you, and that it is maintainable,” said Shin.

The first step is to get rid of everything you do not need. Not everything you own is as precious and necessary as you think, she said.

“Kids do not know what to do when you tell them to throw out five least-wanted things among their possessions. They cannot bear to be so cruel and choose their least favorites. Instead, ask them to line up things in order in which they like them, explain that the five in the back are the ones they do not like as much and that there could be other friends who could enjoy those more. They would happily agree to giving them away as presents,” said Shim.

“Getting rid of things you don’t use and organizing the rest is also a chance to get to know you and your family’s preferences. It is, in a way, organizing your life as well. It is important to organize things as simply as possible so that your husband and kids can participate too.”

For the actual organizing part, in case of closets, Shim advised arranging clothes according to colors, and then also by functions.

Use a partition ― Shim made hers with old CD cases ― to separate different types of clothes in the same drawer. Do not pile them up but line them up sideways so that they will not collapse each time you take one out.

Shim introduced a clever way to fold up T-shirts: use a folding guide. She made two ― one in adult size and one for kids ― out of old plastic files. Put the shirt so that its back comes on the top, put the plastic guide on it and fold the shirt following the lines. It is folded nicely within several seconds.

Everyone has boxes and drawers, but the importance is using them smartly, said Shin.

“You placed the long sleeves’ drawer on top of the short sleeves’ one during winter, but want switch them for spring. Obviously, those are not the only ones you want to change and it would be too burdensome to do it all at once. What I do is, put in the long sleeve into the short sleeve drawer when it comes out in the laundry. Same for short sleeves. The two drawers gradually change as I do my laundry,” said Shim.

For those who are nowhere near this “systematically organized state,” Shim advised taking your time.

“Choose one category, for example underwear, and organize that for a week. And then, pants for the next week. That way you can get one thing organized all the while normally handling the rest of your daily chores. It will be too much work to try to do everything in a single day that you will lose the nerve to do it again when it gets messed up,” said Shim.

To get more information on her way of organizing, visit her blog at blog.naver.com/casamami.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)




Master of organizing’ advises on how to keep your closet organized year round


Heavy boots should be tucked away somehow and sandals should come out front. Winter coats should go in and sun dresses should be out.

Even though you might not be a serious hoarder who turns their homes into trash dumps, you could still be at a loss, not knowing where to begin the ambitious spring cleaning.

Shim Hyun-joo, a power blogger nicknamed the “master of organizing,” gave The Korea Herald the most obvious but true solution: turn your home into a “systematically organized state” that never requires a fussy spring clean-up again.

“Spring cleaning for your clothes, especially, is meaningless because nowadays you never wear a certain item only during a certain season. You mix-match items from different seasons and layer them. I keep my closet in a way that it does not need to be reorganized every season but still stays organized,” said Shim.

Better known by her online ID “casamami,” Shim often appears on TV and radio shows to share her smart tips on cleaning and organizing. Her first book, titled “Casamami’s Storage Method,” was published on March 10. In only two weeks all 5,000 copies of the first print were sold out and another 5,000 had to be printed.

Her basic idea is simple: You should not be organizing to organize. In other words, it should not be a means to showing off that you have organized your house.

“Organizing is for you to save your time and energy. It should be done in a way that is convenient for no one other than you, and that it is maintainable,” said Shin.

The first step is to get rid of everything you do not need. Not everything you own is as precious and necessary as you think, she said.

“Kids do not know what to do when you tell them to throw out five least-wanted things among their possessions. They cannot bear to be so cruel and choose their least favorites. Instead, ask them to line up things in order in which they like them, explain that the five in the back are the ones they do not like as much and that there could be other friends who could enjoy those more. They would happily agree to giving them away as presents,” said Shim.

“Getting rid of things you don’t use and organizing the rest is also a chance to get to know you and your family’s preferences. It is, in a way, organizing your life as well. It is important to organize things as simply as possible so that your husband and kids can participate too.”

For the actual organizing part, in case of closets, Shim advised arranging clothes according to colors, and then also by functions.

Use a partition ― Shim made hers with old CD cases ― to separate different types of clothes in the same drawer. Do not pile them up but line them up sideways so that they will not collapse each time you take one out. 

Shim introduced a clever way to fold up T-shirts: use a folding guide. She made two ― one in adult size and one for kids ― out of old plastic files. Put the shirt so that its back comes on the top, put the plastic guide on it and fold the shirt following the lines. It is folded nicely within several seconds.

Everyone has boxes and drawers, but the importance is using them smartly, said Shin.

“You placed the long sleeves’ drawer on top of the short sleeves’ one during winter, but want switch them for spring. Obviously, those are not the only ones you want to change and it would be too burdensome to do it all at once. What I do is, put in the long sleeve into the short sleeve drawer when it comes out in the laundry. Same for short sleeves. The two drawers gradually change as I do my laundry,” said Shim.

For those who are nowhere near this “systematically organized state,” Shim advised taking your time.

“Choose one category, for example underwear, and organize that for a week. And then, pants for the next week. That way you can get one thing organized all the while normally handling the rest of your daily chores. It will be too much work to try to do everything in a single day that you will lose the nerve to do it again when it gets messed up,” said Shim.

To get more information on her way of organizing, visit her blog at blog.naver.com/casamami.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)