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Marie Kondo

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Hardcover – Oct. 14 2014

by Marie Kondo (Author)

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Book 1 of 3: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

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This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.

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 featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

Book 1 of 3

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
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224 pages
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English
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Ten Speed Press
Publication date

Oct. 14 2014
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12.95 x 2.29 x 18.54 cm
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1607747308
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978-1607747307
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Popular Highlights in this book

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The best sequence is this: clothes first, then books, papers, komono (miscellany), and lastly, mementos.
Highlighted by 42,104 Kindle readers
To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose.
Highlighted by 26,409 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

marie kondo;tidying up;new year new you;girl wash your face;kondo method;the home edit;organzied


	SPARK JOY	THE LIFE-CHANGING MANGA OF TIDYING UP	MARIE KONDO’S KURASHI AT HOME
	An illustrated master class on the art of organizing and tidying up.	A graphic novel that will teach you the KonMari Method.	A visual guide to transforming your home and lifestyle with the KonMari philosophy.

Product description

Review

#1 New York Times Best Seller
Amazon's Best Book of 2014 in Crafts, Home & Garden

"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 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.com

". . . 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.com

"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

Marie “KonMari” Kondo runs an acclaimed consulting business in Tokyo helping clients transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration.With a three-month waiting list, her KonMari Method of decluttering and organizing has become an international phenomenon. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a best seller in Japan, Germany, and the UK, with more than two million copies sold worldwide, and has been turned into a television drama for Japanese TV. She has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time, featured on more than thirty major Japanese television and radio programs, and profiled in the Sunday Times, Red magazine, You magazine, the New York Times, USA Today, NPR's Here & Now, Slate, Family Circle, and the London Times, who has deemed her “Japan’s preeminent guru of tidiness, a warrior princess in the war on clutter.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

In this book, I have summed up how to put your space in order in a way that will change your life forever.

Impossible? A common response and not surprising, considering that almost everyone has experienced a rebound effect at least once, if not multiple times, after tidying.

Have you ever tidied madly, only to find that all too soon your home or workspace is cluttered again? If so, let me share with you the secret of success. Start by discarding. Then organize your space, thoroughly, completely, in one go. If you adopt this approach—the KonMari Method—you’ll never revert to clutter again.

Although this approach contradicts conventional wisdom, everyone who completes my private course has successfully kept their house in order—with unexpected results. Putting their house in order positively affects all other aspects of their lives, including work and family. Having devoted more than 80 percent of my life to this subject, I know that tidying can transform your life.

Does it still sound too good to be true? If your idea of tidying is getting rid of one unnecessary item a day or cleaning up your room a little at a time, then you are right. It won’t have much effect on your life. If you change your approach, however, tidying can have an immeasurable impact. In fact, that is what it means to put your house in order.

I started reading home and lifestyle magazines when I was five, and it was this that inspired me, from the age of fifteen, to undertake a serious study of tidying that led to my development of the KonMari Method (based on a combination of my first and last names). I am now a consultant and spend most of my days visiting homes and offices, giving hands-on advice to people who find it difficult to tidy, who tidy but suffer rebounds, or who want to tidy but don’t know where to start.

The number of things my clients have discarded, from clothes and undergarments to photos, pens, magazine clippings, and makeup samples, easily exceeds a million items. This is no exaggeration. I have assisted individual clients who have thrown out two hundred 45-liter
garbage bags in one go.

From my exploration of the art of organizing and my experience helping messy people become tidy, there is one thing I can say with confidence: A dramatic reorganization of the home causes correspondingly dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective. It is life transforming. I mean it. Here are just a few of the testimonies I receive on a daily basis from former clients.

After your course, I quit my job and launched my own business doing something I had dreamed of doing ever since I was a child.Your course taught me to see what I really need and what I don’t. So I got a divorce. Now I feel much happier.Someone I have been wanting to get in touch with recently contacted me.I’m delighted to report that since cleaning up my apartment, I’ve been able to really increase my sales.My husband and I are getting along much better. I’m amazed to find that just throwing things away has changed me so much. I finally succeeded in losing ten pounds.

My clients always sound so happy, and the results show that tidying has changed their way of thinking and their approach to life. In fact, it has changed their future. Why? This question is addressed in more detail throughout the book, but basically, when you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order, too. As a result, you can see quite clearly what you need in life and what you don’t, and what you should and shouldn’t do.

I currently offer a course for clients in their homes and for company owners in their offices. These are all private, one-on-one consultations, but I have yet to run out of clients. There is currently a three-month waiting list, and I receive inquiries daily from people who have been introduced by a former client or who have heard about the course from someone else. I travel from one end of Japan to the other and sometimes even overseas. Tickets for one of my public talks for stay-at-home parents sold out overnight. There was a waiting list not only for cancellations but also for the waiting list. Yet my repeater rate is zero. From a business perspective, this would appear to be a fatal flaw. But what if my lack of repeaters was actually the secret to the popularity of my approach?

As I said at the beginning, people who use the KonMari Method never revert to clutter again. Because they can keep their space in order, they don’t need to come back for more lessons. I occasionally check in with graduates of my courses to see how they are doing. In almost every case, not only is their home or office still in order but they are continuing to improve their space. It is evident from the photographs they send that they have even fewer belongings than when they finished the course, and have acquired new curtains and furnishings. They are surrounded only by the things they love.

Why does my course transform people? Because my approach is not simply a technique. The act of tidying is a series of simple actions in which objects are moved from one place to another. It involves putting things away where they belong. This seems so simple that even a six-year-old should be able to do it. Yet most people can’t. A short time after tidying, their space is a disorganized mess. The cause is not lack of skills but rather lack of awareness and the inability to make tidying a regular habit. In other words, the root of the problem lies in the mind. Success is 90 percent dependent on our mind-set. Excluding the fortunate few to whom organizing comes naturally, if we do not address this aspect, rebound is inevitable no matter how much is discarded or how cleverly things are organized.

So how can you acquire the right kind of mind-set? There is just one way, and, paradoxically, it is by acquiring the right technique. Remember: the KonMari Method I describe in this book is not a mere set of rules on how to sort, organize, and put things away. It is a guide to acquiring the right mind-set for creating order and becoming a tidy person.

Of course, I can’t claim that all my students have perfected the art of tidying. Unfortunately, some had to stop for one reason or another before completing the course. And some quit because they expected me to do the work for them. As an organizing fanatic and professional, I can tell you right now that no matter how hard I try to organize another’s space, no matter how perfect a storage system I devise, I can never put someone else’s house in order in the true sense of the term. Why? Because a person’s awareness and perspective on his or her own lifestyle are far more important than any skill at sorting, storing, or whatever. Order is dependent on the extremely personal values of what a person wants to live with.

Most people would prefer to live in a clean and tidy space. Anyone who has managed to tidy even once will have wished to keep it that way. But many don’t believe it’s possible. They try out various approaches to tidying only to find that things soon return to “normal.” I am absolutely convinced, however, that everyone can keep his or her space in order.

To do that, it is essential to thoroughly reassess your habits and assumptions about tidying. That may sound like far too much work, but don’t worry. By the time you finish reading this book, you will be ready and willing. People often tell me, “I’m disorganized by nature,”
“I can’t do it,” or “I don’t have time”; but being messy is not hereditary nor is it related to lack of time. It has far more to do with the accumulation of mistaken notions about tidying, such as “it’s best to tackle one room at a time” or “it’s better to do a little each day” or “storage should follow the flow plan of the house.”

In Japan, people believe that things like cleaning your room and keeping your bathroom spick-and-span bring good luck, but if your house is cluttered, the effect of polishing the toilet bowl is going to be limited. The same is true for the practice of feng shui. It is only when you put your house in order that your furniture and decorations come to life.

When you’ve finished putting your house in order, your life will change dramatically. Once you have experienced what it’s like to have a truly ordered house, you’ll feel your whole world brighten. Never again will you revert to clutter. This is what I call the magic of tidying. And the effects are stupendous. Not only will you never be messy again, but you’ll also get a new start on life. This is the magic I want to share with as many people as possible.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ten Speed Press; First Edition (Oct. 14 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1607747308
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1607747307
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 261 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.95 x 2.29 x 18.54 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #23,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #21 in Zen Philosophy (Books)
- #31 in Chinese Philosophy
- #31 in Zen Buddhism (Books)

Customer Reviews:
31,756 ratings

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Marie Kondo

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Marie Kondo is a tidying expert, bestselling author, star of Netflix's hit show, "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo," and founder of KonMari Media, Inc.

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.

In her #1 New York Times bestselling book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up," Marie took tidying to a whole new level, teaching that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again.

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

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

31,756 global ratings

5 star		71%
4 star		16%
3 star		8%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Josée Forgues

beautiful book

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 1, 2023

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Such passion about helping others to clean up all the stuff and all explained in proper order. I would love to have seen pictures of how to fold but I have figured it out by video

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Alex

Addressing some common concerns...

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 24, 2018

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After reading the one star reviews of this book out of morbid curiosity, it seems there are three main complaints people have, and I'd like to address them as the basis of my review:

1) "I can't get over how she anthropomorphizes socks, treating them as if they have feelings and need to rest. This woman is out of her mind!"

Some people seem to be very hung up on the metaphors in this book. When Marie Kondo talks about socks (and other objects) working hard all day and requiring a proper rest when they’re put away, she doesn’t mean this literally. The point of all the anthropomorphizing in the book is to encourage you to think about your belongings differently and treat them with respect. For example, it’s easy to throw clothes on the floor of your bedroom or stuff them in a drawer thoughtlessly, but if you pause to consider what your clothes actually do for you and the value they bring to your everyday life, you’re far more likely to treat them with care and put them neatly back where they belong. Marie Kondo wants you to be grateful to your possessions, not for the sake of your possessions, but for your own!

2) "She doesn't explain how to deal with [specific category of items]. This book is worthless!"

One of the primary tenets of the Konmari method is the belief that only YOU can decide which things to keep and which to throw away. Your own feelings, desires, and values are the litmus test for each item. Which belongings do you want to surround yourself with? Which belongings bring value to your life? Marie Kondo can’t answer these questions for you, and that’s the point! The book encourages you to take responsibility for your possessions, and, through the “celebration” of tidying, take control of them too. If you want/need some additional instruction on the tidying and storing process, I’d recommend her second book, Spark Joy, which breaks the broad categories mentioned in this book into more manageable sub-categories, and has more in-depth tips for storing items once you’ve decided what to keep.

3) "It's far too difficult to pull everything from one category out of storage all at once. I don't have time to do something like that!"

If you’re looking for a “quick fix” to your clutter problem, one where you can go at it Saturday morning and finish by Sunday evening, this is not the book for you. From her descriptions of past clients, it could take up to a year for someone to completely tidy their home, depending on the number of items they own and the difficulty they have in recognizing which items “spark joy”. As a single woman living in a one-bedroom condo with not many belongings to begin with, it may only take me a few weeks, but if you’ve got a two-story house and family of four, you’d better prepare to be in this for the long haul. Of course, the reward for this massive investment of time and effort is the Konmari guarantee that you will have finished tidying once and for all, and your house will never return to its original cluttered state!

I don’t know if this book has changed my life yet (I’m still in the process of tidying up!) but it has absolutely changed my mindset and my relationship to my belongings. It’s had enough of an effect on me that I’ll gladly proselytize about it to anyone who will listen! Check it out!

290 people found this helpful

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Alex

Amazing

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 7, 2022

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A nice, easy, encouraging read. Well sectioned for quick reference. It's explained how this method was developed and why common things we're told to do when trying to downsize don't work. Book is nice to look at and has a good feel. Would highly recommend, and would suggest her next book Spark Joy as it covers things that weren't in this book.

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Amazon Customer

good

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 30, 2022

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daughter's room is messy, so This book for her.

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Adrienne Cloke

Good quality book, great content

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 23, 2018

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If you have not heard of the content of this book, I will add to the many and say that following Mari Kondo truly can change your life. As a self taught OCD tidying maniac, I was sceptical that I had in fact been tidying wrong my entire life. It turns out, I really was. If you aren’t sure either, trying out what is taught in this book in even just one room in your house is enough to give you an idea of what it is like to live in a truly tidy space, and Mari is right that once you realize how much time and effort this saves you daily, you won’t ever want to go back.
As for the quality of the book, I love that it is hardcover, because I refer back to this book again and again. Especially at Christmas and birthdays when our household has a lot of things coming in and hopefully going out as well. It holds up really well. I have spilled almost everything on this book as I bring it around the house tidying and the thick pages are still going and have held up well to hairdryer dryings and wiping to remove food stains.
If you have already heard of Mari Kondo and read tons of stuff on the internet about her method and are completely ready to start your tidying marathon, you might want to skip this book and head straight for her second book Spark Joy as it gives better step by step instructions, especially on the massive komono section. This book is more of an intro to explain how she discovered her method, why it works better than other methods and how to implement her method.
Happy tidying.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

sometimes sounding like an infomercial

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 27, 2018

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I had only just heard of this book recently and being a lover of all things Japanese combined with owning a character that is close to being an hoarder, I decided to give it a go. I read the book in an afternoon and couldn't put it down as it was entirely engrossing. I began to believe that even I may finally be able to clear the clutter from my home. Having watched many episodes of "Hoarders" I knew the only way to accomplish this would be by getting rid of stuff. This is the basis for the book which explains the author's decluttering method named after herself "KonMari". While not the best-written book, sometimes sounding like an infomercial, it does describe a method which makes complete sense. Kondo tells you in detail how to apply her method of "getting your house in order" making it sound simple and straightforward but a lot of work. I put the information to use immediately and have so far almost completed the first mission, clothing (and wearables). Excited to see if this is really going to work. ETA: I've completed papers and now working on the miscellaneous section.

16 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Killer Robot from the future

Let me save you time and money

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 26, 2018

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Throw away what you don’t need or love. When you use something, put it back where it belongs afterwards. There, in 2 lines I have told you all the advice this book has to offer. Honestly don’t waste your money, it’s a con.

538 people found this helpful

.

DOES THIS BOOK SPARK JOY?

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on August 7, 2018

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The writer asks us to hold each item in our possession in our hands and ask this question - Does it spark joy? If it doesn't, then discard it.
I bought this book on several recommendations. But I should have asked myself if the thought of reading it sparks joy before buying it. This is the biggest take-away from this book. Now I find myself asking this question whenever I go shopping. If the thought of eating it, wearing it, doing it, doesn't spark joy, it's time for reflection.

And that's it. The rest of the book is minutiae of how to discard and store things according to the Kon-Marie method which the writer invented which reads like a self-praising professor who gives boring lectures on how his past students did extremely well due to his teaching methods and how other teachers aren't that good or effective.

The irony is that this book is for hoarders but hoarders would never pick up this book. Or even if they pick it up, they would just pick it up to hoard it and not to read it. Or to read it and never follow through it. And if you are thinking of gifting it to someone you think has a hoarding problem, forget it. Hoarding is a psychological issue and unless the person navigates and cleans rubbish off their mental recesses, reading this book is just another dump in the ocean of mental junk.

The gist of the book:
- Take up cleaning the whole house (or universe) at one go! This probably won't work if you live in a joint family with your kids and parents and parents-in-law because you'll have to spare a week or two for it- on your own without interruption.
- Discard anything that doesn't spark joy. (Alas, I have bought things when I was younger and stupider and I have no spare monies to buy them again.) But this book maybe the one to go.
- Sort things by category, not by location. Example, if you are sorting the clothes, then sort ALL the clothes in your house at once, not just in one cupboard. (This is great, but I have all my stuff in their exact location already)
- Then the rest of the book is about how to store items in a cupboard (for which if you follow the book, you might need new cupboards with more drawers and clothes that don't wrinkle), how to clean the bathroom, how to arrange things in the kitchen, how to sort papers and documents and books, how to let go of gifts you do not use, etc. etc. etc. etc. till you get bored of reading the book about cleaning and decide to get rid of boredom by watching a movie and the idea of cleaning goes out of your brain and into the same vacuum of universe you were trying to clean.
(P.S. I read the whole book)

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR:
- People who already follow a routine cleanup of their stuff. For example, I have decided I'm only going to keep a certain number of clothes in my cupboard. I buy clothes ONLY when they get worn out or stop fitting. I do not buy clothes every Diwali or even for any close family member's wedding. Anything unused for 5 years has to go.
- People who are quite organized or like organizing tactics like DIY storage solutions. This book is against storage solutions and instead focuses on discarding.
- People suffering from some form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorders- we guys are already doing great at cleaning. No need to bend ourselves double and ruin our lives over it by reading one more book on it.
- People looking for an idea on minimalist living. This book is not about minimalism. I thought it was so - going by the white cover with the word 'Japan' on it. But that is why we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover and people by their home-organizing techniques.

RECOMMENDED FOR:
- People who like window shopping.
- People who go shopping whenever there is a 'sale'.
- People who 'have to have' something when they see something on a store window.
- People who have a hard time discarding things out of guilt or any sentimental value.
- People who have other people (usually mothers or wives or domestic help) to clean and organize things for them.
- People who have overflowing wardrobes and bookshelves.
- People whose lives are out of order (in existential crisis of some sort).

So I held this book in my hand after reading it and asked myself - Does this book spark joy?
Hell no.

It is a very easy read, but like a boring chemistry textbook unless you are really interested in the subject.
[I bought a paperback copy of the book. The font and binding are good.]

372 people found this helpful

joss40

Bonkers!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

Hello socks, good job today, let me roll you up and stand you vertically in my drawer. New clothes? Be sure to cut the umbilical cord from the shop (aka the price tag) so that they truly belong. Kitchen utensils rattling around in a drawer? Use a shoe box lid, shoe box lids are great for almost anything. Handbags, empty out every night and let them rest, they derserve a break. Stand everything vertically, oh sorry did I already mention that. Roll your tights up and stand them vertically in a swirl , much like the socks I mention fifty pages ago oh yes and don’t forget, bin everything and recycle nothing. Throw it all away, you don’t need it. Terrible book, that doesn’t quite describe how bad it is, you almost have to buy it to believe it!

131 people found this helpful

NewYorker

Do not waste your money!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

Here's what the book says: touch every item in your home and if you "love it" then keep it. If you don't get that warm and fuzzy feeling of love, throw it away. There. Now you don't have to read it. Seriously, de-cluttering and organizing can have a huge positive impact on life. But the way this book approaches the topic is so silly and juvenile that I don't understand why it's a best seller. People: use your common sense and toss the things you don't use that are cluttering up your life. Ok?

1,646 people found this helpful

Jo

Mind blown!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

The best book I have read by far! I received a special offer from Amazon and thought....cover looks nice, I'll maybe read it at some point. Few weeks later I was bored and decided to give it a go. Well, I haven't put it down, my house is now exceptionally tidier and logically organised making me feel more confident, happy and focused. Even whilst in work I'm finding myself more productive as I'm clearing my workspace, carrying less items and feeling focused. I get things done more quickly, after all there are less items to clean, my house fees brighter and practical. I've told everyone I know about the book and they didn't believe me until they too read the book. I would recommend this if you are looking to develop a respectful relationship with items or have difficulty letting things go and it changes your cleaning , organising and tidying perspective. I no longer feel any guilt donating items that no longer make me happy. If you've landed on this book, chances are you are curious, but it, it's amazing.

95 people found this helpful

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Buy new: $19.99$19.99 FREE delivery: Friday, March 10 Ships from: Amazon.ca Sold by: Amazon.ca

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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Hardcover – Oct. 14 2014

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Buy new:

$19.99

FREE delivery: Friday, March 10

Ships from: Amazon.ca

Sold by: Amazon.ca

Buy used:

$10.63