When I received this book, I was skeptical of its claim to be really different from other books on organization. I am not ashamed to admit that I was proven wrong. The author truly does have a unique approach to organizing.
The greatest strength of the author's approach to decluttering and organizing is its utter simplicity. There aren't any complicated processes for choosing what to keep or what to get rid of. Basically it boils down to going through your belongings by category and sorting through all the items in a category in one fell swoop and then organizing them. One part of the book that really resonated with me was her assertion that you don't need to invest in any fancy organization systems or items. "Basically, the only storarge items you need are plain old drawers and boxes -- you don't need anything special or fancy." I can't tell you how many times I have fallen into the trap of spending money on the perfect "storage solution" only to find it doesn't really work for me and then it ends up being just another item cluttering up my home.
I received this book in January and have applied some of the methods she prescribes to my clothing. Just decluttering and organizing this one category has felt so good and has freed up so much space. I love, love, love her method for folding and storing clothes. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it is so simple and so amazing. I am eager to continue decluttering and organizing other categories and hope to be finished by this summer.
Interestingly, the greatest strength of this book, its simplicity, is also its greatest weakness. The author's approach to deciding what to keep and what to discard involves handling each item and asking yourself if it brings you joy. While this is not a bad starting place, it feels a little too simplistic to me. Sorry, no matter how wonderful they are, I just don't see socks sparking lots of joy. Nevertheless, I don't think it would be wise to throw out all of my socks and go sockless. Conversely, as I was sorting through my clothes, I came across items that do spark joy, however, they are 3 or 4 sizes too small. Is it wise to continue holding onto these items?
One other area of weakness is that the only categories she covers are clothes, books, papers, and "komono" (miscellaneous items). I would have found it helpful if she had included a few other categories as well, such as dishes, kitchen gadgets, etc. But maybe as I work through the categories she does cover, I will figure out how to tackle the categories she neglected.
Also note that the author is Japanese, the book is translated from Japanese, and not all of the ideas neatly translate into western culture. I personally, found this easy to look past, but some readers might find it more difficult.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who, like me, has tried, and failed at other decluttering and organizational approaches. Marie Kondo truly does bring a unique spin. But know that all the details of her method might not be practical for you. If you take the basic principles of what she says, however, and figure out how to apply it in a way that does work for you, you will have a cleaner and happier home.
*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
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