Unless you’ve been a hermit lately (which, by the way, is cool too), you’ve probably heard about Marie Kondo’s show Tidying Up on Netflix. Have you been watching it? I’ve seen a few episodes and I have to say my favorite part was when she walked into a messy room and went, “I am excited. I love mess!”
If you haven’t seen it, Marie is a Japanese organizing expert and the show is based on her best-selling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which I just so happened to have read in November. If you’re also obsessed with her show, the book may just be for you. Here’s my review:
Why I Picked It Up:
In general, I love organizing things. Sorting, color coding, labeling, etc- I’m all about it. At the time I picked up the book, we were deep into packing up every single item we owned to move into a new house, so I figured it was the perfect time to read it.
What I Learned:
In all honesty, Marie’s deep, spiritual approach to tidying up is a bit out there for me, but I did take away some good perspectives that influenced the way I have been approaching setting up our new house.
It’s all about the JOY. You should only keep things that bring you joy. and you should only purchase new things that bring you joy. According to Marie, people get so caught up in what to throw out that they forget to put thought into CHOOSING the things they keep.
Marie is not a minimalist. She will not tell you to get rid of everything; only the things you do not truly love. In her eyes, it’s okay to have stuff, you just have to really like it.
Her strategy for conquering the tidying is to collect all of the things you own that are in the same category- say books, for example- from everywhere in your house and put them in one big pile so that you really get a good idea of what you have. And for ease of use, the items you keep should be all be stored in the same spot.
One handy tip that I found was that she recommends to get rid of the packaging on your items that have words, as they create a lot of visual chaos. And when I think about all of those stunning pantry pics I’ve see on Pinterest, she’s totally right. All of the products are stored or contained in a clear or solid container without words.
““When it comes to the things I own, the clothes I wear, the house I live in, the people in my life- when it comes to my environment as a whole- though it may not seem particularly special to anyone else, I am confident and extremely grateful to be surrounded by what I love [and] by things and people that are...special, precious, and exceedingly dear to me.” ”
Hey, I’m Meghan
I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!
