The Kondo Life

The Decluttering Guru Gets A Show On Netflix. Will It Spark Joy?

- Pamela Druckerman

Marie Kondo’s decluttering technique has always been refreshingly strange: Make a pile of all your clothes—down to the last pair of socks—then discard anything that doesn’t “spark joy.” Repeat this with books, papers, and the contents of your kitchen cabinets.

Kondo herself, known for her KonMari Method, is an unlikely American guru. The middle child of a doctor and a housewife, she speaks halting English and admits that she relates better to inanimate objects than people. (She is surely the only author to thank “all my possessions” in the acknowledgments of her book.) Yet Kondo, 34, now sits atop a small decluttering empire. Two years ago, she moved from Tokyo to California to run her San Francisco–based company, KonMari Media Inc. It now has 10 employees and has certified hundreds of consultants in her trademarked tidying method. Kondo’s 2014 book, The Life- Changing Magic of Tidying Up, has sold more than eight million copies worldwide—half of those in the U.S.—and spawned a manga edition, an illustrated guide, a calendar to track joy, and a line of $89 organizational boxes. A reality TV show, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, just launched on Netflix.