Have you read the book that’s sparking a ‘tidying’ revolution? Surely you’ve heard of it by now: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. I admit, I totally bought into the hype and read it a few months ago. Despite feeling a vague sense of worry for the author’s near manic obsession for ‘tidying,’ and the fact that the word ‘tidy’ appears approximately one billion times in the book, I do agree with all those 5-star reviewers: it truly is life changing.
She promises that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Instead of a “room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever,” her method uses a category-by-category system and leads to lasting results. She claims that none of her clients who follow her method have lapsed.
I haven’t finished all the ‘categories’ yet, but I emptied about 10 bags of clothes and clutter from my closet, and my sock drawer has never looked better! And it has really has stayed that way ever since. I’m a believer.
Her biggest tenet is ‘sparking joy.’ Clearing out all the crap that weighs you down will leave room for the things you love to truly shine. And bonus: be much easier to get to!
This garage makeover ‘sparks joy’ to me.
It’s so clean! Organized! The colors are bright and happy! Everything just looks cheerful. Walking into a garage space like this would make me feel capable and in control. It makes me want to create. The old space is something I would hide from and ignore, with an ever increasing sense of dread lingering over me. Dramatic? Ok, maybe. But you know it’s true!
See the rest of this makeover from Melissa at A Polished Habitat and see if it sparks joy for you too!
11 Comments
Reenie
February 2, 2016 at 8:30 AMWOW!!! 😮
JennyExplainsItAll
February 2, 2016 at 9:24 AMWe’re Konmari-ing over here, too, and loving it! I don’t know how anyone expects to “get it all done in one fell swoop”, as she recommends, but we definitely intend to keep working until we’re there. Our favorite trick? Loaded bags (20-30 so far) go into the trunk, so I can drop them at Goodwill when I’m in the area. I’m actually looking forward to a second pass through my stuff, and anticipating even more thinning as I hone my skills. My kitchen and garage (no, it’s not the ‘proper’ order) are up soon and I think that trunk (and my trash cans) will be filling many times over…
Lindsey @ Better After
February 2, 2016 at 2:36 PMThat’s awesome! It’s such a strangely great feeling unloading so much stuff! I recently went through my closet again and was surprised how much I still managed to clear out on the second pass.
beck campbell
February 2, 2016 at 6:48 PMI am super organized and I purge and donate at least 5-6 times a year….but I ordered this book and I can’t wait to get even MORE organized! I never feel like I do enough. And remember, those donations are worth tax deductions! Probably not the ONLY reason to donate, but a good one 😉
Maria from Oz
February 2, 2016 at 7:24 PMAh, the sound of one woman tidying is as joy of the running stream. One man putting junk into void of emptiness is sound of one woman screaming. SO it is is spoken in the high mountains of Tibet. Words of wisdom passed to those who climb the mountain for obtaining higher learning, and the man better get his backside up there real quick!
Gilmer Gal
February 2, 2016 at 7:26 PMI need this. I am afraid that I will become a hoarder. Maybe not, I only have one cat and I do throw away my empty tin cans (well, most of them anyway). Thanks for the tidy reminder. Love ur blog!
Chris
February 3, 2016 at 5:40 AMI think I could live in that garage. 🙂
Question about the book – how do you think it would work for a family with lots of little ones? We try hard to keep the extra “stuff” to a minimum, but teaching the kids to clean up and stay organized is a more-than-full-time job. Did you think the author had solutions for families, or more just for adults?
Lindsey @ Better After
February 3, 2016 at 11:04 AMI think she actually just wrote a new book called spark joy that is geared more towards families. I haven’t read that one yet. So far I’ve just kind of been organizing my own and the clutter that piles up around the house, not necessarily the kids stuff yet.
Janet
February 3, 2016 at 6:44 AMI JUST bought the book the day before you posted this. I picked it up at Costco for $10 and offered to pay my children $5 each to read it. It’s probably only hits the reading comprehension of my oldest 5 but I anticipate it being $35 well spent! And yes, I’m going to read it, too.
Amanda
February 4, 2016 at 4:24 PMA couple months ago or so your pictures stopped showing up in my feedly. Have you had anyone else mention that problem? Love your site!
Lindsey @ Better After
February 4, 2016 at 7:36 PMThanks for letting me know! This is the first time I’m hearing of it. I actually subscribe to my own blog through bloglovin, and it has worked there with no problems. Hmmm.