Spark Joy by Marie Kondo

I had never heard of the KonMari Method until a few weeks go when I saw a video tutorial of her folding socks and other clothes to fit into a box. I couldn't stop watching because I was so amazed at how neat and tidy it all looked. And it didn't take up much room and looked like it would make things so much easier to find. So when I saw this book coming out, I was interested enough to grab it!

My first thought as I flipped through the book was "Wow!" I enjoyed seeing the illustrations on how to fold certain items. They were perfect instructions and not one step was left out. I was easily able to figure it out. Believe it or not, it was a lot of fun to do. Who knew that about tidying?!

The theme of the book is about sparking joy, as indicated on the title. Everything she says about cleaning up goes back to joy. She even hits on the sore spot for book lovers--decluttering books and how to choose which books to let go of and which ones to keep on your shelves. My heart may have skipped a few beats as I thought about going through my own shelves.

The book breaks the sections up into very specific parts, including your recreational things, seasonal things, kitchen items, photos, books, etc. If it takes up a spot in your house, you can pretty much guarantee there's a spot in the book that discusses it.

I've kept this book out on my kitchen counters so I am reminded to do just a little bit every day. It is a little time consuming in the beginning, but I am so looking forward to having everything neat and tidy in my house. Well, at least the places where my children aren't located. I went ahead and bought the first book because I wanted to know even more about this method and why so many people are talking about it.

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I received this book free from Ten Speed Press through the Blogging for Books Program in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

5 Days to a Clutter-Free House by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims

As soon as I got this book, I couldn't wait to read it.  The cover made me want to get to work right away and simplify my house and make it look clean and fresh.  I have read many of Sandra Felton's books and have enjoyed all of her tips.  They are easy to incorporate and have kept me somewhat organized.  I had not heard of Marsha Sims, but am now intererested in learning more tips from her, too.

I like their idea on a team approach.  I think house cleaning would be so much more fun with friends.  I actually did use this tip when we were staging our house to move and it was easier to let go of things because they would remind me that I didn't need to keep it or that it wasn't as important as my emotional self thought it was.

I also enjoyed the section on resisting the excuses for keeping things.  I use many of those excuses and am trying to get better at it.  I did some of their plan this week, in very small chunks because of my little children, but I tried to challenge those excuses with their ideas.  It helped me realize I should just get rid of it.  It felt so good and freeing to be decluttering.

Since I probably won't have 5 consecutive rows to declutter my house, I decided to take it in small increments and do what I can each week.  I figure it still will get decluttered and I won't have missed time with my children.

The Manage Your Home chapter inspired me to label, label, label.  I went through and labeled all of the bins for my children and am hoping to continue that in many other rooms.  It was fun doing it with my son, too, because he's just now learning how to organize things and group things.  Hopefully it will also make it easier for him to pick his things up.  I still have a little more to do, but I think this tip alone is going to help me a lot.

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I received this book free from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.