to wonder why Marie Kondo transforms lives

[Teenageromance]

This is a genuine question - on a recent thread about self help books that have transformed your life the Marie Kondo book came up a lot.
I’ve got the book on kindle but now need some inspiration to read and do it.
So tell me how it had transformed your life and home?

She is completely bonkers & I haven't done the whole house, but its really changed my mind set. Before I would think why should I get rid of something, now I question why I should keep something. For some reason its also made me reduce the amount of things I buy generally. I do think its helped my house be a lot tidier / better organized. Before my decluttering would always involve buying more storage, now I find I have empty boxes / crates. As I said I have not done the whole house, I have gradually been working through my own categories depending on how much time I have free & whats annoying me most. So last week, I went through all my trousers / jeans (ended up getting rid of nearly half of them) the week before I did all my present wrapping stuff - paper, cards, gift tags etc.

I've not read the books, but I did adopt her clothes folding methods which has been brilliant.

I probably should read the books, because I like to surround myself with stuff "just in case" and find it very hard to get rid of things if I think there's a chance I might need them in the future. Especially if they cost me money; I can't let go. I am fairly tidy, but all my cupboards are bulging.

It changed my mind set too. I really think abut whether to buy something and when I do buy things, I like them more.

My house looks much nicer because the (little) clutter I was left with were items I really liked, enjoyed or valued - e.g. because the DC had given to me. If someone gives me crap I no longer feel obliged to have it out on show.

I read it and thought it was pointless. It was basically throw everything away and your house and life will be tidier and more organised. Well of course it will be because you've thrown everything away! Unless I was reading the book too literally although I doubt there was a deeper meaning there.

It's a very wasteful attitude in the book as well I thought

I prefer Unfuck Your Habitat. Less rigid and focuses on what you can do when you lead a busy life. It also starts with getting rid of the clutter and allows for storage.

I think I'll take a look at unfuck your habitat. Might be more me.

Earlyriser remember the book was written initially for Japanese culture; Marie did not know the book would become international. I read it with an open mind and tried to understand how I can use it to suit me. The second book Spark Joy is helpful insight into some of the folding and storage methods discussed in the first book. I haven't just discarded into the bin; I sorted things into rubbish, recycling and charity shop. I love it.

I thought it gave a really interesting insight into how the different culture lived - so much less floor space per person than we are used to it seemed and a different attitude to leisure time. I believe she has now had a kid - would love to see an updated version about dealing with plastic tat.
I think the category system works. Rather than doing say a room or a cupboard you need to think if you have stuff of the same type somewhere else. In my kitchen I had three large bottles of salt in three different cupboards. I had almost dozen black tops in different places. It can be a shock how much of something you actually have.

@earlyriser I don't think decluttering is particularly wasteful - its purchasing stuff without thinking that's wasteful.

Once you declutter (and hopefully anything decent is sold or donated, rather than thrown away), the point is that you don't buy stuff unless you need it or it means something to you. This forces you to be less wasteful, and more environmentally friendly in many ways, in the longer term because you're no longer buying stuff that has no purpose. By being more discerning, you don't impulse buy as much, which has to be a good thing.

This is different to decluttering so you can buy loads more crap - that is wasteful.

I always feel so guilty about Marie Kondo since seeing this cartoon

I haven't read it, though I've picked up bits in forums and websites.

I like looking through the decluttering section on Apartment Therapy. They also have some good ideas for storage.

I think the best way to declutter, if you've got a lot to do, is do it in small manageable chunks. So, do one drawer at a time, not the whole chest of drawers. Or as a pp suggested, do your tops, or jeans/trousers, etc.
Also, set a timer for 15 minutes, and when the timer goes off, take a break. It's amazing how much you can get done in 15 minutes, and knowing you only have to do something for that long, makes it seem less of a task.

I am chuckling at how you have bought the book; you own it; you spent actual cash money on it instead of on something else. On purpose presumably.

Yet here you are now asking for inspiration to read it.

You so very need to read that book. The book you decided to buy, then bought and now own. An item that has only one purpose: to be read

You've got time to be on MN. You've got time to read one short easy reader of a book.

the life changing magic of shoving everything into a huge hefty bag for someone else to deal with
@Flipflog, I hear you on that!
I feel bad about just chucking all my stuff, I feel I should recycle it all somehow.
Plus the physical effort of lugging all my stuff to a charity shop (no car)

I probably opened a bottle of wine instead.
..and the wine probably sparked joy for you...Marie would want you to drink the wine, as a way of decluttering your house of a wine bottle

I think it gives people 'permission' to get rid of things, that's the life-changing bit. It's so psychologically freeing to throw away/donate things you no longer need, but hard to do if you've been brought up with the 'save it for a rainy day' mentality.

100% agree.

If it doesn't go to landfill now, it will when I die. That's what I think with stuff that's not good enough to pass on.
I was really into Kondo a few years ago and knickers are still folded. However I never finished. Though I did inspire DH to do his clothes.
I like it, it did change my mindset in similar ways to PP in that I am able to pass on unwanted gifts and not buy as much stuff.

Also @flipflop67, the flip side of that cartoon is that now I've donated all my unwanted things, I am far more judicious about what I buy - gone are the days I would buy something just because it was a bargain! I think I am a lot more environmentally friendly since Konmari-ing.

also heard on the radio that it takes 1500 gallons of water to grow cotton for just one pair of jeans, that made me really judicious about clothes purchases too

I've never read the book, but I'm having a big declutter. I'm making an international move in a few years to a small island where everything will have to be shipped in on pallets (no containers) and it's pretty costly, so it's amazing how much stuff you realise you can live without. The more I get rid of, the better I feel.

From what I've read of her, she seems to work in items (eg all of your socks in the house) whereas I prefer to work room by room as it seems more logical to me. I'm also doing the renovations on the rooms at the same time, so I'm taking everything out of the room, doing it up, then putting things back in that need to be in there and getting rid of everything else. Those rooms that I have finished are my happy places. It takes me so much less time to keep the rooms clean and tidy, and everything has a place.

I did a complete declutter a number of years ago, and was so much happier, but due to circumstances had to combine three houses into one and so ended up with way more than I needed (no one needs 4 slow cookers!).

I never read the book but followed some threads on here which inspired me. I go in fits and starts, all the wardrobes are fully Kondoed and we go through the DCs twice a year. Everything has a place and everything is in its place.

I buy far less clothes now and any I do buy are always considered and never impulse buys.

Just need to do the rest of the house now, I'm slowly working through it a cupboard at a time. It's the kitchen that's worse, I'd love to have loads of money and replace all the old pots, pans and crockery and bin all the crap we have. However that would be wasteful and expensive so I need to learn to love the crap special items I have.

It really has changed my life. I love it.

I was holding onto a lot of clutter out of guilt or because it was painful to think of getting rid of certain things which dated before a trauma in my life. My mental health suffers a bit for clutter and I often felt like I was drowning.

Two years on and 90% of that clutter is gone. A weight has lifted. I love knowing where everything is and being able to tidy up. Day to day life is less stressful

The process makes you analyse what else you want to change in your life beyond possessions and what really matters to you. That's the best bit about it. It can be really profound. I literally moved to a new area because of Kondo. I had the guts to move on from some friends who I realised really didn't care about me which brought about as much relief as getting rid of the physical clutter. I began to pursue a hobby I absolutely loved and am now turning it into a business. I have clearer boundaries with my horrible family members who were draining me before.

MK's book is properly bonkers and there were aspects of the process which put me off. But yes it has changed my whole life. You really don't need to get rid of more than you want - I'm not minimalistic. But there's something lovely about looking around a room and just about your possessions sparking happiness in some way.

I'm not a big clutter bug, but did her method and still found it really useful - feel so much lighter, and appreciate the things I do have more.

Mostly though I used it as a way to get my clutter bug DH to de-clutter. His stuff was driving me crazy because it made everything so crowded and hard to clean and manoever around. I think if he hadn't have got shot of a lot we would've ended up moving to a bigger house.

Basically instead of me nagging him, I used MK to nag him. So first I started doing it, then raving about it, then he got interested enough to read the book. Then I just had to keep the momentum up saying to him 'okay you've done clothes, what does MK say to do next? books, maybe you could start on that during DS nap this afternoon and I'll cook dinner'.

Now the house is a lot more sane and peaceful. It's probably helped our relationship a lot as I don't feel constant resentment as I squeeze myself past or try to somehow manage the consequences of his piles of stuff. He still has more than I would like - but I kept out of the actual decision making saying "as long as it brings you joy".

He's buying a lot less stuff now too - we had an Amazon Prime subscription and he had a constant stream of packages containing god knows what before. We also made a fair bit of money by selling some of the unwanted stuff - he had a lot of electronics stuff.

We're expecting a new baby soon, so this gave us the impetus. It took us around 3 months to do the house and we've recently finished. We even started on attic. But we decided to leave that now, as it's now tidy enough for us to feel comfortable (can see everything, and it feels quite spacious in there) and investing more time in it wouldn't improve our lives particularly.

I haven't read the book, but I get the gist.
I don''t do "stuff". I don't hoard and I hate clutter. I keep only the stuff I need and a few sentimental items that are stored in the loft. I seasonally rotate clothes, I have only one handbag.
I love doing laundry and that is always up to date.
Not sure I need Kondo

MK threads seem to talk so much about clothes & books. My clutter is not clothes or books.
(That said, I pulled out & wore yesterday a jumper I hadn't worn in > 10 years. Very glad to still have it for dealing with the cold!)

Also a lot of my clutter is not MY stuff at all. It's family stuff. I don't think MK has a formula for helping one declutter one's child's or family heirloom sentimental vaguely sometimes useful stuff that next eldest kid might use or want, etc.