Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up

by Marie Kondo

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The star of the hit Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up helps you visualize your ideal lifestyle.

Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo has revolutionized homes—and lives—across the world. Now, Kondo presents an illustrated guide to usingher acclaimed KonMari Method to create a joy-filled home that works the way you need it to.

Spark Joy features step-by-step folding illustrations for everything from shirts to socks, plus drawings of perfectly organized drawers and closets. Kondo also answers frequently asked questions, such as whether to keep “necessary” items that may not bring you joy. With guidance on specific categories including kitchen tools, cleaning supplies, hobby goods, digital photos, and even building your own personal “power spot” in your home, this comprehensive companion is sure to spark joy in anyone who wants to simplify their life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607749721
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	01/05/2016
Series:	The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Edition description:	Illustrate
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	72,073
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Marie Kondo is a tidying expert, star of the Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, #1 New York Times bestselling author, 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.
 
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.

Read an Excerpt

Life truly begins only after you have put your house in order. That’s why I’ve devoted most of my life to the study of tidying. I want to help as many people as possible tidy up once and for all. 
This doesn’t mean, however, that you should just dump anything and everything. Far from it. Only when you know how to choose those things that spark joy can you attain your ideal lifestyle.
If you are confident that something brings you joy, keep it, regardless of what anyone else might say. Even if it isn’t perfect, no matter how mundane it might be, when you use it with care and respect, you transform it into something priceless. As you repeat this selection process, you increase your sensitivity to joy. This not only acceler-ates your tidying pace but also hones your decision-making

capacity in all areas of life. Taking good care of your things leads to taking good care of yourself.

What sparks joy for you personally? And what doesn’t?

The answers to these questions represent a major clue for getting to know yourself as a recipient of the gift of life. And I am convinced that the perspective we gain through this process represents the driving force that can make not only our lifestyle, but our very lives, shine.
Some people have told me that they had almost

nothing left after discarding those things that didn’t spark joy and, at first, didn’t know what to do. This reaction seems particularly common when people finish tidying their clothes. If it happens to you, don’t be discouraged. The important thing is that you have noticed. The real tragedy is to live your entire life without anything that brings you joy and never even realize it. From the moment you finish tidying, you can begin to add a new zest to your home and to your life. 

Only two skills are necessary to successfully put your house in order: the ability to keep what sparks joy and chuck the rest, and the ability to decide where to keep each thing you choose and always put it back in its place. 

The important thing in tidying is not deciding what to discard but rather what you want to keep in your life. It is my hope that the magic of tidying will help you create a bright and joyful future.

Table of Contents

Preface  xi
Introduction: The KonMari Method  1
The six basic rules of tidying  3
Part I  |  KonMari master tips

1 
Honing your sensitivity to joy   13
Tidying is the act of confronting yourself; cleaning is the act of confronting nature  13
If you don’t know what brings you joy, start with things close to your heart  16
“It might come in handy” is taboo  19
For essential things that don’t bring joy, look at what they do for you  21
Save your cosplay for indoors  24
Don’t confuse temporary clutter with rebound  26
When you feel like quitting  29
The clutter-photo shock treatment  31
No matter how cluttered it looks, don’t pause, don’t stop, don’t quit  33
If you’re terrible at tidying, you’ll experience the most dramatic change  36

2
How to fill your home with joy   39
Imagine your perfect lifestyle from a single photograph  39
Keep items in the gray zone with confidence  41
A joy-filled home is like your own personal art museum  45
Add color to your life  47
How to make the most of “useless” things that still spark joy  49
Make your own personal power spot  54 

3
Everything you need to know about storing joyfully   57
During the tidying process, storage is temporary  57
Store by material  60
Pack drawers like a Japanese bento box  62
The four principles of storage  65
Fold clothes like origami  67
Everything you need to know about the
KonMari folding method  69
Plan storage with the idea of getting rid of furniture used for storing  73
Ideal storage weaves a rainbow in your home  75
Part II  |  The tidying encyclopedia

4
Tidying clothes   81
Tops  82
Bottoms  92
Dresses and skirts  94
Clothes that hang  96
Socks and stockings  98
Underwear  100
A clothes closet that sparks joy  107
Bags  115
Clothing accessories  115
Shoes  120
Tips for packing a suitcase  122

5
Tidying books   125
Advice for those who think they can’t part with books  125
Series  127
Magazines and coffee-table books  128
Storing books attractively  129

6
Tidying papers   131
The basic rule for papers: Discard everything  131
Make a pending box  132
Course materials  133
Credit card statements  134
Warranties  134
Manuals  135
Greeting cards  136
Clippings  136
Assign a day to attend to pending items  137

7
Tidying komono   139 
CDs and DVDs  141
Stationery supplies  142
Electrical komono  145
Skincare products and cosmetics  147
Relaxation goods  153
Medicines  154
Valuables  154
Sewing kits  158
Tools  158
Hobby komono  159
Collectibles  160
Things you kept “just because”  161
Linen and bedding  161
Towels  162
Stuffed toys  163
Recreational items  166
Seasonal items  166
Emergency supplies  167
Rain gear  167
Kitchen komono  168
Cleaning supplies  208
Laundry supplies  208
Bathroom komono  209


8
Tidying sentimental items   221
Tidying sentimental items means putting the past in order  221
Putting school memories in order  223
Putting memories of past lovers in order  223
Sentimental recordings  224
Your children’s creations  225
Life records  226
Letters  226
Tidying your photos as the final step in your campaign  227
Part III  |  Life-changing magic

9
A home that sparks joy   237
An entranceway that sparks joy  237
A living room that sparks joy  239
A kitchen that sparks joy  240
An office that sparks joy  241
A bedroom that sparks joy  242
A bathroom that sparks joy  243

10
The changes that come when you’re done   245
Tidy up and put your love life in order  249
Tidying brings relationships into focus  251
If your family’s stuff bothers you, be like the sun  253
Don’t force people to tidy if they don’t want to  257
Teach your children how to fold  260
Even if you fail, don’t worry—your house won’t blow up  262
Things that spark joy soak up precious memories  266


Epilogue  271
Afterword: Preparing for the next stage of your life  275
Acknowledgments  281
About the author  283
Index  285

Editorial Reviews

New York Times Best Seller

". . . the organization expert who dazzled the world with her Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is back with more spirit-rousing advice."
— People

"Just in time to make good on your New Year’s vow to get organized."
— The Washington Post

". . .perhaps the world’s only decluttering celebrity."
— The New York Times

"If the first book was merely an introduction to Kondo’s radical philosophy, known as the KonMari method, the new one goes deep into the details . . . the result is inescapable: a home, and a vision of life, that truly sparks joy."
— ArchitecturalDigest.com

"If you wanted more from her first book, this is what you've been waiting for."
— MindBodyGreen

"In her new organizational how-to book, Kondo's mission is to help us identify what brings joy while simultaneously cultivating more of it."
— Los Angeles Times

"I'm an evangelist for Marie Kondo, the Japanese organizational guru whose unique tidying techniques have become a worldwide sensation. I've read both of her books and completed the full decluttering/reorganizing program in six months. In the last year, it has been my favorite thing to bring up to my friends, co-workers, heck, even distant cousins. I am obsessed, because it really has transformed my living space and shattered many of my bad habits related to tidying."
— PopSugar

"Kondo’s way of anthropomorphizing belongings and paying them the respect of taking them out of the closet for a proper dismissal makes a big difference. . . . consider me a Konvert."
— Chloe Malle, Vogue.com

"From the perfect underwear drawer, to how to store socks, Marie Kondo is helping the world to properly (and lovingly) store their most beloved possessions, one fold at a time."
— Bustle

Praise for Marie Kondo and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up:

"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

". . . 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 

"I can only describe the way I felt afterward as an organizational high. I had a sense of being more in control of my life than I ever had before, which inspired me to maintain the order in the months that followed. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon."
— In Style

"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)

"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

"Its strength is its simplicity."
— The London Times

From the Publisher

02/01/2016
Best-selling author Kondo (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up) has written a companion book that delivers additional instructions for "tidying up." Essentially, the key criterion to keeping a specific object is that it brings joy. Not only does Kondo advise readers about what to keep/discard, but she discusses storing items happily and offers an encyclopedia of tidying clothes, books, papers, sentimental items, and so on. Focusing more on the spiritual than the material, the author suggests that restoring order brings relationships into focus and causes one to concentrate less on others' faults. VERDICT Kondo presents not a decluttering manual but a way to look at the relationships and things that are meaningful in life.

Library Journal