Decluttering expert Marie Kondo admits her house is now 'messy'

LOS ANGELES – Japanese decluttering expert Marie Kondo has confessed to something many parents will empathise with – tidying up her house now plays second fiddle to other priorities.

Kondo, 38, rose to fame for encouraging people to organise their homes and minds using the KonMari method.

The mother of three is the author of the 2014 bestseller The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art Of Decluttering And Organising. She also has two Netflix series Tidying Up With Marie Kondo (2019) and Sparking Joy With Marie Kondo (2021).

Kondo, who moved to Los Angeles in 2016 to launch a consulting business in the United States, told The Washington Post that her life went through a huge change after she gave birth to her third child, a son, in 2021.

“Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times,” she said at a recent media webinar to promote her new book, Marie Kondo’s Kurashi At Home: How To Organise Your Space And Achieve Your Ideal Life.

“I have kind of given up on that in a good way for me. Now I realise what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.”

She has two other children – daughters Satsuki and Miko – with her husband Takumi Kawahara, who is the chief executive of KonMari Media, the company she founded.

“My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life,” she said at the webinar.

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The couple now plan their days diligently so that they can spend time with their kids while getting their jobs done.

Mr Kawahara, for example, goes to bed at the same time as the children and wakes up at 4am, according to The Washington Post.

Kondo elaborates on the Japanese concept of kurashi, or the “way of life”, in her latest book which was released in November.

“Tidying up means dealing with all the ‘things’ in your life,” she writes in the book. “So, what do you really want to put in order?”

She believes her way of life will change again as her children grow up.

 “I will keep looking inward to make sure I am leading my own kurashi,” she said.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.