How to pack a suitcase, according to Marie Kondo

She recommends rolling and folding all clothes to save space

For most people, packing a suitcase is a struggle between fitting what you actually need – and all the clothes you think you may wear.

Fortunately, Japanese organising guru Marie Kondo has tips for when you’ve squeezed your entire closet into your suitcase only to find the zipper won’t close.

According to Kondo, who is known for her KonMari method, the first step in efficiently packing a suitcase is to lay everything out – as she explained in a video with Apartment Therapy – and as a general rule, taking only what you really need, or items that “spark joy.”

Once all of the items you plan on bringing are laid out, you should categorise clothing by type – which will make it easy to see what you have.

From there, it is time to start folding – and rolling.

Because vertically-folded clothes take up less space, Kondo recommends folding your clothes as small as possible.

For clothes that cannot be folded otherwise they will wrinkle, such as dresses or shirts made of thinner fabrics, Kondo suggests rolling them – which will also take up minimal room.

With undergarments, Kondo saves space by ingeniously tucking underwear into bra cups.

After the clothes have been folded, Kondo turns to accessories, makeup and miscellaneous items such as charging wires.

Marie Kondo suggests taking only what you really need (Apartment Therapy)

The result is a perfectly packed suitcase (Apartment Therapy)

According to Kondo, the best way to keep everything separate is to use pouches – one for shoes, one for wires, and one for makeup.

The result is a perfectly packed suitcase which you can actually zip closed – and where you can see what you’ve packed.

In addition to suitcase expertise, Kondo, who has written four books on the topic of tidying, has become internationally popular for her new Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo – which sees her visit people’s homes and teach them how to organise.

This article was originally published in January 2019.