Read IN BED: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Words & Images by Jess Kneebone

 Say hello to a new sock drawer. In this book, Marie Kondo challenges everything you currently know about storage and tidying up. Spawn from a basic but very logical mentality, Kondo instructs us to ask; does this item spark joy? If not, get rid of it. So, why didn't we all think of that? The theory is that we're taught to focus on what to purge, rather than what to keep. So how to begin? Kondo encourages us to tackle clothing first and yes, that's not too difficult. I can discard a whole bunch of clothes I felt I should hold to because of the price I paid, the way it looks when I have a tan, or the desire I have to fit into it again one day. So the idea is these items are weighing you down which yes, they bloody are. So I declutter my wardrobe and keep those items I feel joy for when I touch them, wear them or see them. But what next? If we're going to declutter our entire home which Kondo recommends to do in one big hit or 'tidying marathon', what about our books? Papers? Sentimental mementos? The book goes on in a very beautiful way, to describe in detailed fashion the KonMari Method ___ a category-by-category system that leads to long-term results. And I can say with confidence, my sock drawer and my bookshelf has never looked and felt so good. You see that's the thing, Kondo talks about the relationship we have with these items; how we feel about these inanimate objects and what they mean to us. And once we've set things in place, the calm and motivated mindset that follows. Kondo has a three month waitlist for her course (it's probably longer now) and a plethora of testimonials - 'After doing your course, I quit my job and launched my own business doing something I had dreamed of doing every since I was a child. I finally succeeded in losing ten pounds. My husband and I are getting along better.' The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up is inspiring a global tidying craze. So I'd say yes, it's magic. And yes, it's life changing.