The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your house once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room 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 wait list). With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international best-seller 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.
Where The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up keeps showing up
One of our editors' lists features this novel.
What you might want to know about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo argues that most tidying advice fails because it is room by room and item by item. She walks readers through the KonMari method, which sorts the whole house by category in a fixed order and keeps only the things that spark joy when held.
Marie Kondo's KonMari method teaches a one-time tidying festival approach: gather all items by category, keep only what sparks joy, and find a place for everything that remains. The method has been globally popularized through her book and Netflix show.
Yes. Marie Kondo's framework remains influential, though Kondo herself acknowledged in 2023 that her own house is messier after having three children. The KonMari method is still widely cited and applied.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was written by Marie Kondo, published in 2014 by Ten Speed Press.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is 224 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a standalone novel by Marie Kondo, not part of a series.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.