Reading Kondo's book, I felt almost sick with nostalgia for the anal-retentive, 20-something fusspot I used to be.įor years I was a little like Kondo, living alone in my little city flat, placing my handbag on its special shelf as I came in the door, picking specks of lint off my spotless dove-grey armchair. On the other hand, there is an entire chapter on the importance of "Treating Your Socks and Tights With Respect." Kondo does not believe in complicated storage systems, downgrading unworn cloths to "loungewear" or keeping books that you are not absolutely guaranteed to reread again (which is basically all books, period). Then decide what you want to keep (only things that truly "spark joy" are allowed), and lastly, designate a place for everything and stick to it.
The "KonMarie method" of decluttering is deceptively simple but gruelling, sort of like Tracy Anderson's approach to getting fit: First, examine every single item you own, object by object (you are meant to do this all at once, even if it takes you several days).
#Book on tidiness series
Kondo also has a popular Japanese website, a series of instructional videos that teach "the best way to fold for perfect appearance" (the Gap method is correct), and a booming Tokyo consultancy which, according to her book jacket, helps "clients transform their cluttered homes in spaces of beauty, peace and inspiration." The most recent of her books, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, is out in English this month. The British press recently hailed her as "Japan's queen of tidying," and "the maiden of mess," reprinting her spring cleaning tips far and wide.
Her three books on tidying have sold more than two-million copies and have been translated from Japanese into Korean, Chinese, German and English.
Organization gurus (and they are legion) have been preaching the physical and psychological health benefits of colour-coding your underpants for years now, but the difference with Marie Kondo is that she has become a global celebrity by doing so. The trick, apparently, is to limit the amount of stuff in your life to only things you truly love. This is a woman who thanks every item she owns for its "service" before she goes to bed at night, a habit which is not borderline obsessive compulsive at all.
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