Sparking JOY in 2016! Two Books About Tidying Up

My Grandma always said, "A place for everything.  Everything in its place."  But how do you get there???

If you want to tackle household clutter and dis-organization for 2016, I have the book for you!  Two, actually...

My husband and I have really enjoyed reading Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  (Yes, you read that right - my husband is reading it too! We want to do some re-modeling soon, and our house and garage are in need of major de-cluttering.  We need help, and this book has given us the courage to start.)

Chapter I: Why Can't I Keep My House in Order?
The "KonMarie Method" doesn't involve the latest innovations or short-cuts to cleaning; it's about getting rid of "stuff" and recognizing what things are truly useful, meaningful, and worthy of holding on to - because let's face it, having fewer things to clean makes life and it's quotidian chores a lot easier!

Illustration by Eloise Wilkin, from We Help Mommy

Marie Kondo is doing something right: more than 3 million copies of her "Life Changing Magic" book, translated into 35 languages, have sold worldwide!

Her first book was a helpful introduction to her tidying up philosophy: only keeping things that "spark joy", and putting them where they belong. 

But for those of us who are not natural organization gurus like Miss Kondo, it lacked some further helpful details...we needed diagrams of that shirt folding (her shirts stand up by themselves when folded, no kidding!), and pictures of what organized drawers and shelves should look like.

Not to worry! Now Marie Kondo has a new book: Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up.

In her new book, Kondo expounds on her six rules of tidying:
1. Commit yourself to tidying up.
2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle.
3. Finish discarding first.
4. Tidy by category, not by location.
5. Follow the right order.
6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy.

I can guarantee, if you follow her principals, you'll find yourself being able to "Whistle while you work!" because you'll be surrounded by things that give you joy.

If like me, following Epiphany, you have an annual house blessing for the new year, this book couldn't have been published at a better time!

The only recommendation from her books that I take issue with is her section for going through (getting rid of - gasp) books.  Most of my books are worthwhile, or I wouldn't have bought them.  

My home library is one area that I'm not going to pair down too much. Even if I'm unable to re-read every single one of my books, can one have too many?  After all, shelves and shelves of them make even the grandest of homes feel cozy!