Tidying Up With Marie Kondo.Netflix
If you can’t open up your dresser without asking yourself if those old tube socks “spark joy,” you’ve probably already binged watched Netflix’s Tidying Up With Marie Kondo.
Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing hit the shelves in 2014. Since then, the professional organizing consultant’s books have sold millions of copies. But, when Kondo’s Netflix series was released on January 1st, 2019, it sparked an organizing craze. Americans have turned editing their homes into a Pinterest-perfect sport. This is good news for everyone, but especially non-profits and thrift store shoppers.
How To KonMari
Decluttering with the KonMari method boils down to only keeping objects in your home that “spark joy.” This makes sense. After all, who wouldn’t want to live in a home surrounded only by things that are meaningful to them? Objects that don’t spark joy are “thanked for their service” before being thrown out or given away.
Every item of clothing is then folded using a specific method. Alike objects are stored together.
But is KonMari really the best method of home organization? While the book and most certainly the television show have influenced a large number of people to tidy up their spaces—there are a million ways to skin a cat. For example, if the founders of the Neat Method had their own series, would everyone’s shoe closets end up looking like Kate Hudson’s?
Still, many people insist that KonMari isn’t just a passing fad, but a way of life.
The Traveler
Denise Chaykun is the president of Magical Mystery Tours. She spends approximately 20% of her time on the road and does multiple week trips with a baby in tow. So, staying neat and organized is essential for her.
In the past, Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project was influential in helping Chaykun get a handle on clutter. But in 2015, she started to use Kondo’s method. “Mari Kondo has impacted the way I organize books, clothes, kitchen supplies, baby supplies… If something’s in my house, I’m going to end up cleaning it up, so it has to earn its keep!” she says.
Before purchasing their current home, Chaykun and her husband were on the road full time.“We were constantly evaluating which items were worth bringing with us since we had all our belonging every month as we switched cities. Though we probably asked ourselves is this item critical to our existence rather than does this item spark joy?”
Today, KonMari helps the entrepreneur and mother maintain her sanity. “If my house is a mess or I can’t find something because I have junk everywhere, it drives me crazy. Not having very many things and keeping what we do have organized buys us time and freedom to do things more interesting than cleaning our house.”
Another bonus Chaykun shared is that KonMari helps her save money, “I also shop less because I don’t want to have much stuff around.”
The Interior Designer
Mari Kondo’s book had an even bigger impact on interior designer Lisa Gilmore than she could have ever anticipated. In 2015, she went on an editing spree of her home. “I latched on to that book and starting turning my house upside down trying to find more joy. I emptied all my closets, lined my drawers with pretty papers and little organization methods. Tossed everything that didn’t make something ignite happiness inside of me. I started folding all my clothes as suggested.”
The experience caused Gilmore to emotionally edit her life as well. It tuned out the most significant thing that wasn’t sparking joy was her marriage. More than three years later, she is happily divorced. “I honestly think the book was an eye-opener for me about surrounding yourself with things and people that make you happy.”
She continues to organize her home the same way. “I still edit my clothes regularly and try to do a big edit once every six months. I fold my clothes super neat because it’s so much easier to find things.” Like Chaykun, Gilmore is also more aware of her purchases when she goes shopping.
The Computer Programmer
Daniel Jacobs posted an essay to Reddit and made a short film about his experience with KonMari. Before tidying up, his apartment was a mess. “I had a cardboard box sitting in the middle of my living room floor. I had socks and papers piled everywhere and sometimes on top of each other. I had fifteen dental flosses from various trips to the dentist. At the time, I don’t think I saw any of this as an issue that needed fixing.”
One year later, he says his home and mind, while not perfect, are a lot more clear. “I still have the processes and strategies that I learned for keeping tidy. I don’t necessarily always practice them. But it’s comforting to know that I have a strategy for dealing with that clutter, and I know what the results of decluttering can be.”
Jacobs also revealed that other methods of organizing might have been equally helpful, but he just happened to come across the book at the right time, in an airport book store. “If the book hadn’t existed, and been popular enough to enter into my radar, I probably never would have started tidying in the first place. The first couple chapters of the book, where she talks about how to get motivated to tidy, were memorable. There are probably other tidying techniques that would work as well, but I can’t say for sure because I haven’t tried any of them.”
The Suburban Mother Of Three
Writer and publicist Shira Weiss was in some sense, hilariously unsuccessful using the KonMari method. In an attempt to get rid of things, she realized how much of her clothing actually sparked joy. “I tried to do it, but ended up discovering some nice dresses I didn’t remember that I had,” she explained. “So, I started thinking that I need to wear my nice clothing more. Instead of decluttering, I realized I have some great things I should be wearing.”
However, these efforts weren’t entirely futile because Kondo’s method made Weiss feel more grateful for what she already had.
The Super Organizer
James Lott, JR is a professional organizer who appreciates how Tidying Up has drawn attention to his profession. But he doesn’t think Kondo’s approach is for right everyone. “I feel some of the Kondo method scares people off,” he says.
Lott has his own unique way of decluttering that he tailors to every person he works with. “I have a very personal and professional approach with my clients. I listen to them and work with them to declutter. I am flexible and supportive treat them as the unique individuals they are. I have tools in my toolbox to work with the psychology of their issues and offer many options in getting organized.”
KonMari isn’t the most flexible method and it can be emotionally triggering for some people. Lott’s boisterous personality and lively approach, he says is more positive. “My goals are always that the client feels good about themselves as they are getting organized.”
The Origins Of KonMari
In an article for The Huffington Post, Margaret Dilloway beautifully discusses the connection between the Shinto mindset of her late mother and KonMari. While the author’s American father had quite a different approach to the acquisition of things, her mother’s ethos never waivered. Dilloway explained, “Treasuring what you have; treating the objects you own as not disposable, but valuable, no matter their actual monetary worth; and creating displays so you can value each individual object are all essentially Shinto ways of living. Even if you don’t have the space for shelves of books or can’t afford a dresser with enough drawers, make what you have work for you, instead of being unhappy that you don’t have more.”
Editing The Edit
KonMari clearly works to help people declutter on a number of levels. The fact that Marie Kondo has a Netflix series also makes learning the process more digestible than sitting down to read a book. The impact of removing objects that don’t make us happy, gratitude, and how this influences our lives beyond material things are the best results of using KonMari. But the idea of thanking a chipped coffee mug for its service may potentially feel ridiculous to some people. So, if KonMari doesn’t work, find another decluttering method that sparks joys instead.