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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Has anyone read about the Kon Marie method and decided NOT to put it into action?

69 replies

CrochetBelle · 10/07/2018 20:33

Just that ^

Is it worth buying the book? Will it really change my life or will it just bring more clutter into the house?

OP posts:
bookmum08 · 10/07/2018 20:40

Borrow a copy if you can. It will give you a really good laugh. So funny. Some advice seems to make sense - like always having a certain place for travel card and keys etc but her method was odd. Ie come home, remove travel card from bag, put it in it's dedicated place you always know where it is, next day take it out and put it back in bag because you need it. Why not just leave in bag? Makes more sense.
When you return the book don't forget to thank it for the joy it bought into your life (this will make sense once you have read it).

trilbydoll · 10/07/2018 20:43

I took the sparking joy principle from it but not much else. It's just not very practical to pile everything up and go through it in one go, not with work / kids / eating / sleeping to do as well!

userofthiswebsite · 10/07/2018 20:46

My friend got it and thought it was great to the extent that she bought me a copy. Reading it is on my to-do list.

MayFayner · 10/07/2018 20:46

Tbh I just read it and thought “yes I do have a lot of useless shit, I’ll bin that”, which I did.

The parts about rolling up your socks etc were just entertainment for me. I try not to implement changes that I know I won’t maintain.

Original poster
CrochetBelle · 10/07/2018 20:51

OKay, I'm not really interested in the rolling socks etc, just the decluttering. Is there a better alternative?

OP posts:
redexpat · 10/07/2018 21:04

Well lots of mners say fill a bag of stuff to go out every day. Ot declutter for 15 minutes every day. A friend did it by location, so just went through every drawer and said does this spark joy. Her house is still packed full of stuff.

The advantage of putting all of one type of thing together is that you really do see how much of x or y you have. I kondoed all our pens. Tested them all, threw out the ones that didnt work, picked 5 to keep, gave the rest to the scout hut. You would not believe how many pens there were in our house until you put them all together.

It changed my life. I downloaded it onto my kindle having already decided I shouldnt buy anymore books. I dont roll my socks.

Wallywobbles · 10/07/2018 21:22

I fold my pants.

JumpingFrogs · 10/07/2018 23:20

Bought it recently. Read it and sent it straight to the charity shop. I know it works for some people but I found it rather ridiculous

IfYouDontImagineNothingHappens · 10/07/2018 23:25

Absolutely adored it - read a few years ago. Life has got in the way slightly but reading it again this weekend and starting again. We have kept a lot of the folding, etc on the go! Including socks. Makes life much easier!!

PickAChew · 10/07/2018 23:29

I tried the knicker folding. It took so long to get just one right that I could have folded half of my knickers in two and simply stacked them.

alphajuliet123 · 10/07/2018 23:33

I've got the book. Ironically it is gathering dust on my bedside table.

My friend decided to do a full professional style "audit" at her house. She numbered every drawer and cupboard and got to work one by one. She had over 80 areas to sort and said it really helped being able to tick the numbers off a list. I keep meaning to do that.

I find it easier to be ruthless with the kids things when I'm pissed off with them, so maybe try that if you have lots of unplayed with toys cluttering the place up.

Finally, there is a current decluttering thread on here somewhere. If anyone finds it please link it here!

Carrotshelpuseeinthedark · 10/07/2018 23:41

I thought some parts of it about folding and storing clothes helpful. Also to sort yr clothes first and paperwork last as the hardest thing to de clutter useful. Some of it is daft like eg saying thank you to a pair of gloves for the use they have given you before throwing them out! I borrowed both her books from the library. Very easy to read but I wouldn't buy a copy.

oigetoffmycheese · 11/07/2018 07:46

It's worth reading for a laugh but in all seriousness the best bits of advice:

Decide what to keep rather than what to get rid of. Ie anything you're not really want to keep gets rehomed.

Place for everything - always

Good luck

Hillstreamloach · 11/07/2018 08:16

Her advice is to do a big declutter in one go, rather than spread it out a little each day or week over a long period. I think that depends on your circumstances and personality. But I do agree seeing big changes all in one go can get you motivated more than the little and often way.
When deciding what to keep I think you should have some thought of how useful items are. She recommended getting rid of anything that doesn't 'spark joy' even if its useful and banging your nails in with a frying pan if your hammer didn't spark joy.
Personally I don't get the sock rolling part and I never got on with that. But once your home is really well decluttered you can arrange the remaining things in a way that makes sense to you.
Kon Marie says people who fully complete her method never revert to their old messy ways. I don't know about that, but if you tidy to a point where you have a place for everything and only bring in more stuff if you love it and have a place for it then you have a good chance of at least not getting on the TV show Hoarders.

banivani · 11/07/2018 08:29

I think her principle of doing a whole category of products in one go is sound. ALL the books. ALL the clothes. All of it but just one category. I think it’s a great way of really making a dent in your possessions. You’re not finding another cupboard of clothes later like. I also think the idea that you don’t look at things and think “do I want to get rid of this” but instead “do I want to own this, do I love it or find it so useful that it sparks joy” (I know I know). For me it’s tremendously helpful. All those things that you keep hanging around coz they were gifts or might be mended or altered or bla bla - it’s ok to let go. They don’t bring happiness they bring guilt.

Actually it’s a bit like that episode of Life Laundry with the woman whose mother had been awful and she’d bought lots of board games and dragons with her inheritance but all the things she loved were just boxed away.

Original poster
CrochetBelle · 11/07/2018 09:36

Thanks guys, really helpful input.
I especially like the thought of labelling each 'area' and checking it off a list. And clearing out the kids' stuff when I'm pissed off with them Grin

OP posts:
CanadianJohn · 11/07/2018 17:44

I was given the book recently... some parts are good, but others "thanking your gloves" are just silly. I don't actually need to save space, I have a big house. I already roll socks and underwear, and I have a mile of hanging space.

I regard books as friends, and often have two or three books on the go at once. I think of books on the shelf as a bit like food at a smorgasbord, the more the merrier.

I have a (small) problem with hanging on to home-repair stuff "because it might come in handy some day". I've had semi-sucess with asking myself "if my neighbour was having a garage sale, and was selling this item for $1, would I buy it?' If the answer is no... well, I throw it out. Usually.

IfYouDontImagineNothingHappens · 11/07/2018 20:35

The really useful bit is letting go of the guilt that makes you keep objects. So if a friend or family bought you something you hate it's ok to get rid of it. Made me a lot stronger in denying entry in to my house to a lot of stuff others have tried to put on us - stuff they don't want but don't want to actually throw out - two sofas and two armchairs at one point Hmm

LighthouseSouth · 11/07/2018 20:39

I had a look through a copy from a friend

I thought a lot of it was mad

sadly we downsized and I regret some of the stuff I got rid of. New rule - if it goes in a box under the bed, it's fine, just keep it there!

I think there are better ways to declutter and organise and the best starting point is probably you, and how you want things to be.

Narya · 11/07/2018 20:58

I got the feeling it only works if you live on your own. You surely can't Kondo your house if the other occupants aren't equally committed to the method, as what do you do about all their crap? That wasn't adequately addressed in the book.

User5trillion · 11/07/2018 21:03

I read the book and thought it sounded great but it seemed like a lot of effort to gather everything in one place and sort. I think I am just too lazy for kon marieGrinBlush

banivani · 11/07/2018 21:16

We read the book for my book club and one of my friends said that she’s read that Marie Kondo had said that she doesn’t quite live this way now that she has children haha.

lljkk · 11/07/2018 21:21

I read about it a lot on here.
I totally embraced the rollup idea for making all shirts in a drawer visible simultaneously, that is very clever.
Most the rest... meh. I can't spark joy, I am not actually into stuff that much. Conflicts with some of my frugal instincts, too (waste not want not).
I'm more motivated to declutter by other things.

curlyrebel · 11/07/2018 22:04

I bought the first book a couple of years ago and it did motivate me to throw out loads of stuff ruthlessly and get more organised with storage. I didn't quite buy into keeping only things that you find beautiful/make you feel good etc because what about things that are just practical? Also there's no way I could do it all in one or two days. I did do it over several weeks and found my enthusiasm rubbing off on my DH who threw out some of his stuff. So that was a result too. But I did revert back to my messy ways and had to replenish my wardrobe! I may have another read to kick start some more decluttering!

CanadianJohn · 12/07/2018 07:11

I kinda skipped thru the book, but it seems aimed at singles or couples who live in a flat. I live in a house, I need a lawnmower, a snowblower, and lots of other stuff.

Duplicates: I have a claw hammer in my workshop, another in the garage. Likewise scissors... I have scissors in the workshop, the garage, the office, the kitchen, and the sewing box. Sure, when I need to open a package in the kitchen I could fetch the office scissors, but... why? It's not like I'm short of space.

Also, I suppose a flat-dweller could manage with one hand saw, or even none, but I have two hand saws, and a hacksaw, in addition to a skill-saw, a jig saw, a mitre saw, and a sabre saw.

Do my saws "spark joy"? Don't be silly, they are tools.

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