'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying' - Marie Kondo

[FrancesHB]

Has anyone else read this? I did a search but couldn't find any previous threads.

Marie Kondo is a Japanese expert in tidying and decluttering and her book has been translated into English and is best selling. It's wonderfully eccentric and inspiring and in some ways rather a breath of fresh air compared to other books on the subject (have read 'em all and my house is still messy...).

She asks us to ask if an item brings us joy and if it doesn't we thank it and out it goes. A bit like fly lady 'you can't organise clutter', but in a less annoying and at times quite endearing way.

I wondered if any MNers had used her technique and if it helped them 'get their house in order'.

All my tops/singlets/vests etc are magically folded now and nice and neat in drawers. I must say it is rather thrilling.

Pity she doesn't give instructions for magically folding jeans, tracksuit bottoms etc but I worked with the size/shape policy and got them fairly ordered too.

I've given DD1's school uniform drawer the same treatment. I guess I do get a bit more space, but the main advantage is how neat and accessible it is.

Yesterday I put the DD's home library into order by height. 100's and 100's of books - it now looks amazing. Disappointingly I forgot to take before photos yet again. Rough toy rearrangement, a shopping bag of rubbish, shopping bag for charity and a large recycling bag full of paper and crap, and it looks amazing. What I hadn't expected what the DD's reaction when they got home from their Dad's - they went crazy for the new book arrangement and tidy space. I had clearly let it get into a sadder state that I thought. So we are working together on putting stuff back in it's place - which the 6yop can grasp, but the 3yo struggles with. She can put her bedclothes under her pillow, dirty clothes in laundry basket, shoes in shoe box etc so she is doing great.

Box of misc wires/cords survived the weekend - but as it is in the bottom of a cupboard under Xmas stuff, tool box etc it's not doing too much harm and it's days are certainly numbered.

re folding totes, I have a few of the IKEA Family ones - they were about 60p each, folded up into themselves, were light and small enough to have in your handbag etc. they have lasted well.

It looks like they have now been replaced with these more stylish & pretty (& expensive) models.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40282328/

Molly If I remember, Marie does mention family in the book. She says to just lead by example. I did this with books/DVDs and left all DH's stuff alone. He voluntarily cleared loads of his stuff after seeing me do mine. Pretty amazing as I hadn't asked him to and he is a massive movie buff. Keep going, your DP will magically fall in line

I think the 'family' side of things is her weakest link.

She is coming at this from a very Japanese perspective and I get the impression her way works so very well with people who live in one room as many of her clients seem to - she is constantly talking about one room, and much less often about dealing with entire households. Kitchens get a brief mention.

I agree BeCool. I get the impression she's a young (pre-dc) woman and so are most of her clients. As you say, kitchens get a brief mention and dealing with young kids' stuff isn't in there at all (unless I missed it?).

I think the ideas can be adapted though. I'm planning on attacking dd2s clothes soon. Lots of handmedowns that she refuses to wear that it doesn't really make sense to hang on to...

The principle of proceeding by category is really powerful. It is impossible to see what you've got until you've put like with like. I have some way to go

I'm starting a mass decluttering tomorrow and have been reading this book (not finished yet though).

I just don't think going by category is going to work for me, my stuff isn't everywhere, there is just too much but I'm hoping I can keep in mind the tips to justify keeping or chucking (and not passing everything on to my mum who has too much stuff too!)

I'm in! Just done my tops and have 2 binbags ready to go in car. Hardest will be books. Dh's job relates to them so will be big challenge.

I have now folded all ds' shirts. Now waiting for the moment when he looks for one particular shirt and unfolds every one to find it. I feel sorry for people working in clothes stores now.

He should be able to see which shirt it is if they are "vertical" in the drawer without unfolding any- unless they are all plain and the same colour of course.

So....whats with the magic folding? Ive only just started the book!

Can I declutter without magic folding. Will it change my life.....?

I think the thing with DC is to get them to do it themselves - perhaps not that successful if they're under about 8 and if they're over 8 then they probably have their own ideas and may be resistant anyway! I would say "Hey I've been reading this book, do you want to give it a try with me?" and get them to go through step by step including the first one - for young children I think you could give them a list of phrases to choose from and let them add their own. Maybe I'll make it into a blog post if I have success

Magic folding (of t-shirts)

Hmm. But she says you're aiming for the depth of the drawer. Well, I have lovely deep ikea Malm drawers, so I need to fold them about twice that height.

And what about jumpers, hoodies, sweatshirts? It's not possible to fold them that small.

Honestly this folding thing stresses me out more than it's worth. And those videos - they're just under a minute long each. I'm not willing to spend 30 minutes folding 30 pieces of clothing. I have 30 things on my airer right now and that isn't even a full load of washing!

Stripy I'd give it a try in the interests of following the book to the letter but honestly I don't expect that I personally will keep up the folding thing.

with tshirts/vests etc it is quick and it works. And I am not a folder type. I am a messy type.

I have also applied the method/thinking to wraps, joggers/leggings etc. I don't wear sweatshirts but DD does and it has worked for her school sweatshirt.

These are all items I keep in fairly shallow drawers - the stuff I keep in our deeper drawers I've not done and think they will be too deep. perhaps they would work for bigger items like jumpers and hoodies.

But yes she does spend a lot of time talking about folding tops/tshirts but doesn't mention much about other items.

2 bags of recycling, 3 bags of charity and 5 bags of rubbish just buy going through my 3 year olds toys.

I've been ruthless but he's at nursery 3 days a week now, we go out quite a bit and it'll be Christmas soon (must not feel guilty!)

Why does she empty her handbag every day? Is that a normal thing? I can understand taking out the old receipts etc but having a special purse place etc seems too much! (Not even going into thanking the items every day for their hard work!)

*by not buy

I think she must use a different handbag every day.
Also you must let your handbags 'rest' -

She sounds a complete loon! I do try to empty my pockets byt my bag is a change bag or rucksack most often!

We have shelves not drawers for most things. Kids have drawers though...

I do quite like folding t-shirts and maybe thin sweaters but I love huge bulky cosy hoodies and knitted jumpers, which just aren't really foldable. I can hang the hoodies up with the coats but you can't do that with a jumper without ruining it.

I must admit I much prefer this method

I love all her justifications as to why her students never come back ;) of course they may just not get on with it or feel its flawed!!!

Her enthusiasm is contagious though. I love the idea of a huge sort and once only... not sure it can be once only with dc, but getting it all sorted the once would be ace :)

that is cool WhoKnows and if you fold it in half or thirds again you can keep them in your drawers on their side a la Kondo

Hmm. Keep only things that spark joy.

so much of what we have is just practical. On top of the wardrobe is 2 rolls of christmas wrapping paper. Do people just discard it and buy afresh each year?

Similarly tupperware and cooking equipment is purely practical.

I think I can conclude most of my clutter is practical but I'd love more beatiful things that bring me joy. Thats miney related though- a more expensive home would have more light and more money would buy artwork and beautiful things.

I'm not sure how on board I am!

But does your Christmas paper spark joy when you wrap presents with it? I don't think it needs to be sparking joy all the time but if you like it then it's all good. So buy wrapping paper you like rather than ugly or boring or tacky paper, etc.

I was thinking this about things like a dustpan and brush, and yes the tupperware etc. But it's pleasing to have a tool which either works well, feels comfortable/nice to use or hold, saves you time or effort, and/or looks nice too. I would think of it like, if you didn't have this particular item, would you be less happy? So if I didn't have tupperware I'd be irritated every time I wanted to store something in the fridge or freezer. I'd probably store half open cans which is a health hazard and so makes me feel guilty when I look at them. Or I'd store things in bowls with cling film over the top which takes up lots of room in the fridge and uses up a bowl. If I didn't have a dustpan and brush it would be really annoying to clear up small messes. I'd probably leave things for longer until they warranted a full hoover so they're more likely to get tracked everywhere and stain. If you think about not having the convenience of this item, you realise that it does bring you joy or satisfaction even if that's on a smaller scale than a beautiful piece of art etc.

Similarly old, cheap, worn out, impractical things definitely don't spark joy. I get more pleasure out of using certain wooden spoons or saucepans because the ones I don't like have an oddly shaped spoon part or a too short handle or the non stick is coming off the saucepan or whatever. Conversely a well made pan is nice to use and easy to clean. If all of your kitchen stuff is old or worn out it might be time to upgrade them. Yes it's money related again but maybe worth investing in.

Then lastly you can buy stuff which is just nicer depending on your preference. The cheapest plastic dustpan and brush might not inspire joy as much as a stainless steel one, or a bright red one, one which matches the colour scheme of the kitchen, or a green one with cartoon sheep on or whatever your preference is. (Actually I had one for years which I loved because it was so thin at the edge that it didn't leave that line of crumbs behind, and I think that was an Asda smartprice one.)