This month’s Collaboreads topic was “something to make you better.” I knew right away I wanted to read/review The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I have heard about Marie Kondo and the KonMari method of decluttering from almost every blogger I know. Marie Kondo has definitely begun a global decluttering craze, for sure.
This book was especially interesting to me right now-I am on a major organizing/decluttering kick myself. I have discovered my inner cozy minimalist and have this urge to get rid of stuff. And Kondo’s process–getting rid of everything that doesn’t spark joy–is genius.
I’m going to save you some time–if you’ve read the blog posts (this one, or any other), you can skip the book. The idea is to take everything out of your space and only put back the things you love. (Marie suggests you touch each item. She also suggests if you are getting rid of an item, to thank it for how it’s helped you. I don’t personally talk to my clothes, but if that’s your thing…..)
Barring Marie’s close relationship with her stuff, the process of choosing what I like rather than what I don’t like, was good for me. It’s always hard for me to go through and pick out things to discard. Choosing things I know I love and want to keep was much easier, which made getting rid of the other stuff easier, too.
One thing I would have loved to see included in the book was a recommended number of items. I need someone to tell me–“Courtney, you need to keep 12 summer tops, 6 fall tops, and 10 winter tops.” Or “No home should have more than 15 pens.” Things like that.
I LOVE the cover design. It is clean and simple and creates the idea of tidy. The words “fresh” and “free” come to mind, which is exactly how I want my home to feel. And it’s a perfect home decor title–can’t you just see it sitting pretty on a bookshelf?
Stars.
Three. The KonMari approach to decluttering and organizing is genius, however, it could be shared in an essay rather than a 224 page book. At least it’s pretty to look at 🙂
If you follow me on Facebook, you know I asked for an accountability group to go through this KonMari process with me. My initial thought process was that we would make it a book club of sorts, going through chapter by chapter. Instead, let’s just post our decluttering lessons and successes, ok? I’m tackled Libby’s closet yesterday and will be getting to the rest of our clothes this week. Join me on Facebook or Instagram to see how that goes.
Want to participate in the decluttering challenge with me? Let me know in the comments section. Each week we’ll meet up on Facebook and share our progress!
I’ve heard lots of different things about this read…thanks for sharing your thoughts! I definitely want to get around to doing some tidying/purging with my own stuff and it sounds like this book would give me a swift kick of inspiration to finally do it…Haha 🙂 Your blog post has inspired me just the same, though. I’m going to start today!
Yay!! Go get rid of some stuff 🙂
so, i’ve sort of used to KonMari method to clean out different rooms in our house… I say sort of because I couldn’t bring myself to read an entire book about organizing. INSTEAD, i checked out a WHOLE bunch of blog posts and youtube videos about how people used the method in their own lives and shaped it for myself. i’m thankful that you ended your review with it being possible for the book to be an essay and just as useful because WAHOOO i didn’t miss out. 🙂
Haha…..definitely better to go with the Cliff Notes version of this one!
This book has literally taken the world by storm– so crazy but cool! I agree that much of the book doesn’t need to really be read– I totally skimmed this one and then just applied the principles to my life in my own way. I’m all about a good purge for more simplicity in my life! Glad you joined us again for #collaboreads 🙂
Yes!! Thanks for hosting!
I have heard so much about this book recently! 2015 was a year of simplifying and getting rid of a lot of stuff, so it’s cool to hear some of her principles for the future!
We have been doing the same thing at our house this month! I started in our room then moved on to the kids rooms and as I was cleaning out I was just piling everything in boxes and bags in the garage… This was the weekend for the garage! We have a yard sale in April to benefit the kids school (shameless plug, if you need somewhere to dump your discarded goodies – tax deductible and all unsold items are donated to the CCC) and Nathan took a full truck load and delivered it this morning – I keep finding more and more stuff… I think my goal for this year should be to quit bringing home STUFF and maybe I won’t have to de-clutter so often!
That’s a great idea! Can you text or email me where to drop off my stuff? And I know–How do we quit bringing home so much?
I was hoping someone would review Marie Kondo’s book for this month’s #Collaboreads! I’ve heard a bit about it, but this is the first review I read… I think I’m definitely going to have to find it at the library soon! 🙂
Yes!! Great ideas, but not worth actually purchasing. Unless, you know, you are going to use it as a pretty decoration 🙂