Book Review: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Book Review- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by: Marie Kondo

I would normally consider myself a professional organizer who’s lack of consistency with it gives the perception that I am not. I love the idea of a clean home and we clean our house every week. There does seem to be a difference between the IDEA of a clean home and an ACTUAL clean home.

We have four kids who all have different levels of a hoarders mentality. If they say that was inherited from myself or my wife, we will deny that to the grave! The reality is that every sat my wife try to wrangle our kids and work them into a cleaning frenzy to tackle the daunting hurricane of legos, books, dirt, garbage, and clothing.

My wife believes in cleaning a little bit each day, but for 8 years I have worked from home and learned that I am quite possibly the worst housewife on this planet. When I got this book to review I was intrigued and excited to learn something that might transform our dysfunctional and disturbing system.

Jumping right into reading I learned that this woman was going to get right into it. She is a bold, simple and very clear writer. Many of the insights give you a picture of a small Japanese home in Tokyo, but eventually you begin to realize that what she is saying makes perfect sense.

She instructs that the concept of tidying up a little daily is foolish and will never result in cleanliness or sanity. Instead she recommends to take everything in categories like, clothes or books and then put them on the floor of one room. Afterwards you are to pick up each item to determine if you will keep it or discard it. So what is the criteria? How long since it has been used? Is it broken or dirty?

No… She says to simple hold it and ask “Does this SPARK JOY”

I am greatly intrigued by her approach to each item, how she organizes and how she folds clothes. My wife is currently reading the book and we plan to attempt this. The clothes should be easy, but I think the books may be hard for me. Kondo says that the less books in your home the greater the impact of the content.

I am going to rate this book a PRE- 5 out of 5 stars because while I loved the book, the rating may change when I attempt to actually do this in my home. Stay tuned…

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this BOOK free from Blogging for books to review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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One response to “Book Review: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”

  1. Bill Avatar
    Bill

    I like the idea at the end she presents ‘The less (in this case books) you have, the greater the impact of the content. Could be said of grown up toys too… 😀

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