A TIDY SUM
People often ask Japanese tidying queen Marie Kondo what containers they need to achieve her brand of organizational success. They expect her to “reveal some hitherto secret storage weapon,” she explains in her popular book.
Instead, when The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was first published in Japanese in 2011, she advised, “You can solve your storage problems with things you already have in the house.”
But Kondo’s thinking has evolved as she’s leveraged her massive, global fan base to expand her empire. She now has an upcoming Netflix show, a fledgling corps of consultants working around the world to help her fans declutter their homes, and she recently launched her first product line: six-piece sets of beautiful, sturdy paper boxes for US$89 a pop.
In a recent appearance in Manhattan to announce the show and merchandise line, Kondo said she thinks lovely storage options will spark the life-changing joy she wrote about in her book, which has sold more than 10 million copies in more than 40 countries. She also hopes the boxes will motivate more people to actually complete all the steps in her laborious KonMari Method of sorting, tossing and putting things away in their right and righteous locations.
The new storage sets are the shape and size of shoe boxes. (Her book recommended using real shoe boxes for organizing.) Smaller boxes in the set are akin to iPhone boxes (another reuse hack she recommends). All are intended to be of service on shelves or in drawers to hold such things as sunglasses, handbags, papers, socks, undergarments and T-shirts.
“I’m probably the only person in the world who makes such an official occasion to introduce empty boxes,” the soft-spoken mother of two recently told a small gathering of journalists through a translator as she unveiled the containers. “These are meant to enhance your experience of the KonMari Method.”
The boxes will also enhance her bottom line. Since Kondo unleashed the bestselling LifeChanging Magic, including an English translation in 2014, she has published three other books, earned a spot on Time magazine’s 2015 list of 100 most influential people and given birth to two girls.
She has given birth to a new business as well: consultants certified by her and sent forth into homes in 23 countries, from Europe and the Americas to Australia and the Middle East. As for her new show, Netflix ordered an initial eight episodes of her series of home consultations but will say little else.
For now, it’s all about the boxes, in pale pink, soft grey, taupe and purple watercolour designs. Customers ordering the containers for delivery in mid-September from her website, konmari.com, will receive a series of emails and other help online to guide them through the tidying process. Two additional sets are planned for the holiday season.
Kondo said she’s not done writing books quite yet. Her next one will focus on workplace organizing.
Of late, Kondo has been engaged in motherhood, not a small thing when your passion since age five has been tidying. The unflappable Kondo still lives a tidy life, of course, but young kids have been a challenge.
“I try to teach them how to fold clothes. Children are very close observers so I try to make it so they can watch me folding clothes,” Kondo said.
“From time to time I do feel anxious. It’s not 100 per cent. It’s not perfect.”