I’ll admit it. I love hype. All types of hype. Even hype that comes in the form of a tiny book written by a *possibly* crazy woman who is telling us to throw out all of our things. To this I say: Let’s burn down the closets!
By now you probably realize that I’m speaking of the ridiculously popular KonMari method, as put forth in Marie Kondo’s runaway bestseller: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Two of my friends mentioned this book to me in the same day, and that was enough for me to search for the nearest bandwagon so that I could hurl myself headfirst into it.
And you know what? I’m really glad I did. But I’ll get to that later. For now, here’s a quick summary of the book:
- Your house is full of crap you don’t even like.
- Get rid of that shit.
- If you tidy your space once (properly!) you will never have to do it again.
- Only keep that which “sparks joy.” (Note: I have some questions as to how this applies to, say, cleaning products)
- Tidy in one intense burst because if you’re like most people you’re lazy and will lose the plot on your self-improvement kick in no time.
- Trash all your books (ok not all of your books, just most of your books).
- Folding your clothes is a blast if you know what you’re doing.
- Storage experts are hoarders.
- Stop letting your items mill around like vagrants. They all need a designated home base.
- Your socks have feelings. By balling them up you’re killing their will to live. How dare you.
- Stop being a hoarding slob and live your best life.
Ok this is only kind of a summary.
Since I’ve been trying to set up my life as a new mom and “homemaker” of sorts (never my strong suit), I’ve been searching for ways to make my house as functional as possible. I want my space to feel peaceful and happy. I don’t want to be drowning in junk I never use.
I want to commune with my socks.
Ok I don’t want to commune with my socks even remotely, but the rest of what I said is true.
I’ve been looking for answers to questions I didn’t quite know I had. And Kondo just may have some answers.
Based on the success of the book, it seems that others have had these questions too. And although Kondo veers into somewhat absurd territory – sorry, but I don’t think that I’ll be emptying my bag every time I come home and thanking it for all of it’s hard work (although I’m confident my two-year old would be really patient while I did that!) – I AM finding plenty of valuable things to consider.
The KonMari Method is a process that can take up to a few months of diligent effort to complete, so as I’m working through it I’ll be writing about it on the blog. I would love to hear if any of you are also trying it!
My next post, “Declutter My Closet Until I’m Forced to Become a Nudist” is about how I got rid of at least half of my clothes in an epic fit of brash decision-making, and still ended up with this dud in my “keep” pile. You can find it here.
Other than the crotchless pajamas (which do not “spark joy”!), I feel pretty good about things.
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I’m reading that book too!!!! I’ve already donated 7 leaf bags full of clothes and shoes. Unreal how much stuff I had that I didn’t need (or didn’t fit!)
Good luck, crotchless!
Thanks Steph! And yes, it’s amazing just how much stuff I had that I didn’t need. I had 6 trash bags!
I’m KonMari obsessed. It’s basically my new religion.
I have started off like a recently converted religious zealot myself.
I’m reading the book too. I lost interest, but to be fair I think it was right after she was talking about thanking her purse and all but caressing her socks. We got rid of 7 HUGE moving boxes of excess crap when we moved in March, so we were already in purge mode. My plan is to keep it going, though I admit I know I am going to hold on to a few things that I probably shouldn’t. I’m with you; my vacuum and frying pan don’t spark joy but I need that shit.
Gretchen, I feel like she ran the risk of losing many people around the time she started thanking her purse and making out with her socks…
I read it! I loved it. I’m not doing it but still….fun to think about. I did fold my t-shirts and sort them by color! But….. I am already giving up on the sort by color part. The part about things sparking joy….some things will never spark joy in my. For instance. I hate bras. Anyone who knows me knows that probably….bras will absolutely never spark joy in me. But once in a while I have to wear one. So…..there you have it. (And I will not empty my purse when I come in the door either.) Still…..I think it will help me to think about getting rid of some things. Someday…
Haha Betsy I love the first two lines of this comment! “I loved it. I’m not doing it but still….” Ha! You’re the best.
I suspect what you do with the cleaning products is something like “I bought this dish soap because it was on sale, but it does a terrible job. I hate the smell and I have to use twice as much as the other brand. Thank you for teaching me that orange scented dish soap is not for me and that I should stick with fill-in-the-blank brand.” Or “I bought this furniture polish, but I haven’t used it in two years because I never have time to polish my furniture.”