The KonMari method of organizing in the USA
So the other day I got a request from a NKH, a Japanese TV station, to let them tag along with me to a client’s house for an organizing session.
When you put your work on the internet weird things like that happen sometimes!
This is the piece which ran on NKH
June, 2015
Why me?
The station wanted to report on the popularity of Marie Kondo, Japanese organizing guru, in the USA. So they wanted to follow along with an American professional organizer: Me!
Luckily the lovely lady in this video, D.D., was amenable to the idea. She tolerated 5 extra people with cameras and microphones in her house for a few hours while her 3 kids were at school ON HER DAY OFF. That sacrifice right there tells you something about how much she wanted to get organized already.
The video shows the great progress we made together and yes, we did use the KonMari method.
(This is a BEFORE picture of the closet. Watch the video to see the AFTER)
What is the konmari method?
In her book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, Kondo instructs people to start with clothing and work their way through a list of ALL their belongings until they’ve assessed every item in the house. Wow!
She advocates for this all-at-once system because [bctt tweet=”According to #MarieKondo, once you complete her method you will not let your home get cluttered again. Not ever.” username=”getorganzdalrdy”] Say what you will about this fantastical claim, Kondo has definitely hit a nerve with Americans. In fact, she is gaining followers all over the world!
People are fed up with living in homes surrounded by stuff they don’t want or don’t like.
As far as her timeframe goes (2-6 months to go through your whole house), I don’t know any of our busy clients who could hire our team to declutter and organize their whole house over the course of a few weeks. And this not because of money, but because of time.
Category 1 – Clothing
For this video, we had 3-4 hours and we got through all of D.D’s clothes. She kept everything that sparked joy for her and said thank you to things she let go. Her decisions were swift and easy and the results were remarkable. Go D.D!
More than a interview
An unexpected treat from this session was having the news crew get to experience a closet organization first-hand. They had never seen an organizer at work (most people haven’t) and they were fascinated and inspired. I felt a little bit like a hero, I can’t lie.
Mary, who you see for a minute removing things from the closet shelf, was our second organizer– also a hero! I recommend having 2 people for closet organizing because there is so much hands-on work to do: pre-sorting, folding, hanging, re-hanging, and carrying donations to the car.
I hope you enjoy the video, and please give us a call if you are inspired to implement the KonMari method to Kondo your stuff!
323.230.0297
Nonnahs and the team
Update: In January 2019 Netflix launched “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” a reality show where Marie herself goes into American homes.
I hosted a viewing party with 5 other professional organizers from Get Organized Already. It was so fun! We had a lot to talk about after the show.
Read it all here: 5 Truths and 3 Lies about Tidying up with Marie Kondo
closet, clothes, konmari, marie kondo, spark joy, tidying up with marie kondo