With the new year comes resolutions, and for many people, cleaning up and de-cluttering is a pretty big one. Thankfully, we were able to tune into Netflix’s Tidying Up With Marie Kondo and pick up a few things (no pun intended). Ever since Marie Kondo’s New York Times bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up was published in 2o12, people have loved her methods. We’ve all heard that she wants us to throw out objects that don’t “spark job” but there is actually a lot more to her theory.
When something is really popular, there is often some misinformation, and that’s the case here. Read on to find out 10 things that fans get wrong about the KonMari method.
Marie Kondo Likes Books
After Marie Kondo’s Netflix show started streaming, people thought that she said to throw out every single book that someone owns. Needless to say, bookworms were pretty upset and wondered how she could possibly say that. As it turns out, this isn’t what she meant at all.
However, she wants people to only keep books that mean something to them. She said, “Books are the reflection of our thoughts and values.” She mentions 30 as a number of novels that she personally likes to keep around, but as long as someone feels that they really matter and spark joy, it seems like she would be cool with very full bookshelves.
The Value Of Objects
Every lifestyle guru has a tagline, and Marie Kondo’s is definitely that the objects in your home should “spark joy.” Even people who aren’t super familiar with her work know this statement.
What fans get wrong is that she knows that not everything in a house will really “spark joy.” If someone took that really literally, how would they explain keeping a roll of paper towels on the kitchen counter or a tube of toothpaste in the bathroom? Marie Kondo wants clients to keep objects that have value. When you think about it like that, toothpaste holds value since everyone brushes your teeth with it. Makes sense, right?
Only Clean Up Once
When it’s time to start decluttering the apartment or house, it can feel like this is a never-ending thing. It can feel like the job will never really be finished and that it’s necessary to keep cleaning every day because there is always so much stuff (and dust) around.
But this isn’t actually part of the KonMari method. Marie Kondo wrote in her book, “I never tidy my room. Why? Because it is already tidy.” This is something else that fans get wrong about her method. She doesn’t want clients to have to tidy up all the time: do it right once, and it stays done.
Kids Can Keep Stuff
It’s easy to assume that if something doesn’t spark joy immediately, it has to be thrown away immediately - since that seems to be the main takeaway from Marie Kondo’s book and Netflix show. It seems like this is another part of Marie Kondo’s method that people don’t focus on: it’s okay to keep things if that will be passed on to children at some point. This definitely helps us all breathe a little bit easier since there are things that we want to show the next generation.
Organize After Tidying
People can get very focused on the folding, organizing, and storing part of tidying up… but she doesn’t actually want clients to focus on this part of the cleaning process.
What she has in mind is that people figure out what to “discard” before they figure out where to put their things. This is an important distinction because if someone starts throwing some junk in the trash or sorting clothes that they want to give away… and putting other things away at the same time, they’re not really following her method. She is very organized and she wants clients to follow each step in the right order.
Passion As Well As Joy
According to an interview she did with CBC, she says that feeling passion toward books or other objects can tell someone a lot. For instance, if someone was really upset when people said that she wants clients to have zero books around, then that shows them that books are a part of their life - and an important one. That person can’t live without them and needs to keep them around. That’s fine and that’s something that she encourages clients to think about. It’s pretty cool when we see her method that way - and can make fans feel better about some of thier angrier reactions to the show.
It’s Not Minimalism
Many people think that this magical way of cleaning up and decluttering sounds just like minimalism. It’s definitely easy to see it that way, since both methods bring to mind a nice, clean room (usually with lots of white).
However, it’s not about having as little as possible, but about being surrounded by things that people are going to love and use - and yes, that spark joy. For some people, this may mean a very minimalist home, with very little in it. For others, however, this may mean crowded bookshelves and closets - as long as they are continually using the contents. It’s about intention, not the amount of stuff someone owns.
Shopping Is Not Forbidden
Another common misconception about the KonMari method is that it means never going shopping again.
It seems like this is true since she wants people to declutter and clean up… and can that really happen, if someone keeps shopping and buying new stuff to put in the home?
The truth about the KonMari method is that it doesn’t totally ban shopping. The idea is that it’s just important to think more about what is being bought and the reason behind it, along with the things that are already in the house. Shopping is still totally ok, as long as it is done mindfully and carefully, not just because there’s nothing else to do.
Clean Up Alone
This is a misconception that many fans have about the KonMari method because it seems like something that everyone in the house should be a part of - and of course, the show focuses on families and couples. However, watch closely, and notice that in the series, Marie tends to split people up and give them their own, solo, tasks. Marie Kondo is all about being productive and organized, and so it makes sense that someone would be more successful if they cleaned up alone. It prevents getting distracted by other people’s opinions, or stopping to chat for a period of time, and most clients are able to get rid of more things that they don’t actually need if they can do this quietly and alone.
Throw Everything Away
The final thing that most fans get wrong about the KonMari method? That they have to throw out everything that they own.
This seems like the number one misconception that fans have. After all, isn’t decluttering throwing all of your stuff into the garbage can (or donating where possible)? This isn’t actually the approach that Marie Kondo wants people to take, so it’s good to be aware that this isn’t the point of her method. She’s not saying that people should live in a house with no furniture or things.
It’s the magical art of tidying up, not the magical art of throwing everything away.
