This month’s Collaboreads topic was “something to make you better.”  I knew right away I wanted to read/review The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.  I have heard about Marie Kondo and the KonMari method of decluttering from almost every blogger I know.  Marie Kondo has definitely begun a global decluttering craze, for sure.

This book was especially interesting to me right now-I am on a major organizing/decluttering kick myself.  I have discovered my inner cozy minimalist and have this urge to get rid of stuff.  And Kondo’s process–getting rid of everything that doesn’t spark joy–is genius.

I’m going to save you some time–if you’ve read the blog posts (this one, or any other), you can skip the book.  The idea is to take everything out of your space and only put back the things you love.  (Marie suggests you touch each item.  She also suggests if you are getting rid of an item, to thank it for how it’s helped you.  I don’t personally talk to my clothes, but if that’s your thing…..)

Barring Marie’s close relationship with her stuff, the process of choosing what I like rather than what I don’t like, was good for me.  It’s always hard for me to go through and pick out things to discard.  Choosing things I know I love and want to keep was much easier, which made getting rid of the other stuff easier, too.

One thing I would have loved to see included in the book was a recommended number of items.  I need someone to tell me–“Courtney, you need to keep 12 summer tops, 6 fall tops, and 10 winter tops.”  Or “No home should have more than 15 pens.”  Things like that.

Collaboreads, KonMari

I LOVE the cover design.  It is clean and simple and creates the idea of tidy.  The words “fresh” and “free” come to mind, which is exactly how I want my home to feel.  And it’s a perfect home decor title–can’t you just see it sitting pretty on a bookshelf?

Stars.

Three.  The KonMari approach to decluttering and organizing is genius, however, it could be shared in an essay rather than a 224 page book.  At least it’s pretty to look at 🙂

If you follow me on Facebook, you know I asked for an accountability group to go through this KonMari process with me.  My initial thought process was that we would make it a book club of sorts, going through chapter by chapter.  Instead, let’s just post our decluttering lessons and successes, ok?  I’m tackled Libby’s closet yesterday and will be getting to the rest of our clothes this week.  Join me on Facebook or Instagram to see how that goes.

Want to participate in the decluttering challenge with me?  Let me know in the comments section.  Each week we’ll meet up on Facebook and share our progress!