The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Hardcover) (Marie Kondo)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE--CNN

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international bestseller will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home--and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

Review Quotes

"Ms. Kondo delivers her tidy manifesto like a kind of Zen nanny, both hortatory and animistic."--The New York Times

"A literal how-to-heave-ho, and I recommend it for anyone who struggles with the material excess of living in a privileged society. (Thanks to Ms. Kondo, I kiss my old socks goodbye.) . . . To show you how serious my respect for Ms. Kondo is: if I ever get a tattoo, it will say, Spark Joy!"--Jamie Lee Curtis, Time

"This book lives up to its title: it will change your life."--B.J. Novak, People

"This book is a cult. A totally reasonable, scary cult that works, doesn't kill people (a bonus), but does drastically change your life. In this case -- for the better."--BuzzFeed

"The most organized woman in the world."--PureWow

"The Japanese expert's ode to decluttering is simple and easy to follow."--Vogue

"Her voice . . . is by turns stern and enchanted, like a fairy godmother for socks."--The Wall Street Journal

"Reading it, you glimpse a glittering mental freedom from the unread/uncrafted/unworn, buyer's remorse, the nervous eyeing of real estate listings. Life's overwhelm, conquered."--The Atlantic

"All hail the new decluttering queen Marie Kondo, whose mess-busting bestseller has prompted a craze for tidying in homes across the world . . . one proper clear out is all you need for the rest of your life."--Good Housekeeping (UK)

"How could this pocket-sized book, which has already sold over 2 million copies and sits firmly atop the New York Times Best Seller list, make such a big promise? Here's the short answer: Because it's legit. . . . Kondo's method really can change your life -- if you let it."--Today

"Kondo challenges you to ask yourself whether each object you have is achieving a purpose. Is it propelling you forward or holding you in the past?"--USA Today

"A brief and bracing practical guide to tidying up your home."--Financial Times

"[It is] enough to salute Kondo for her recognition of something quietly profound: that mess is often about unhappiness, and that the right kind of tidying can be a kind of psychotherapy for the home as well as for the people in it . . . Its strength is its simplicity."--The London Times

About The Author

Enchanted with organizing since her childhood, Marie began her tidying consultant business as a 19-year-old university student in Tokyo. Today, Marie is a renowned tidying expert helping people around the world to transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration.

Marie has been featured on more than fifty major Japanese television and radio programs as well as in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, Vogue, Ellen, the Rachael Ray show, and many more. She has also been listed as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people.