15 Tips From Marie Kondo That Have Genuinely Changed My Life

One of the insights I took away from Kondo’s book is how much "noise" branded products add to our space. "The neater the home, and the more sparse its furnishings, the louder this information feels," she writes. "By eliminating excess visual information that doesn't spark joy, you can make your space much more peaceful and comfortable." Meanwhile, a 2015 New York Times piece highlighted the huge number of ads and branding we're subjected to — without our consent — every day.

I took all this to heart and bought some inexpensive pump bottles from Muji and Target. Then I spent about 10 minutes decanting face wash, body wash, shampoo, hand soap, and dish soap into the new bottles. It was such an easy swap, and I love how clean, unified, and elegant my counters look now.

This creates way more storage space and makes it much easier to find everything. (It also makes it much easier to stay tidy, in my experience.)

Not only does this mean the items will take up less space in your home, but it also means you’re less likely to forget they exist.

“This is how I see it: clothes in a store are products, whereas clothes in the home are personal possessions,” Kondo writes. “Clothes that still have their price tag on have not yet been made our own and therefore they don’t quite ‘belong.’ Overpowered by the aura of ‘legitimate’ clothes, they are less noticeable. It is only noticeable that we overlook and eventually even forget them as we look through our wardrobe.”

So whenever I bring new things home, I make a point to unpack them right away. It’s such a small act, but can be weirdly hard to do — I think because it’s the moment you really commit to owning the thing, because there’s no longer the sense of “I can always return it” or “I’m saving it for a future day.” But I’ve found it’s made me more intentional about what I buy/keep, and it’s helped me buy less overall.

This book made me realize that storage is kind of a scam, y'all! “Putting things away creates the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved,” Kondo writes. “But sooner or later, all the storage units are full, the room once again overflows with things, and some new and ‘easy’ storage” method becomes necessary, creating a negative spiral. … We need to exercise self-control and resist storing our belongings until we have finished identifying what we really want and need to keep.”

(PS I really liked this Curbed article on the subject of storage: Self-storage: How warehouses for personal junk became a $38 billion industry.)

I love beautiful bins as much as anyone, but this tip inspired me to suck it up and use Amazon boxes, tampon boxes, and makeup bags I got for free instead of going out and buying a new bin for every little thing. I like that I’m no longer married to certain storage mechanisms — because if I eventually realize I don’t need the container anymore, well, it’s just a cardboard box that I saved from the garbage — and it helps me save money / put a little less strain on the planet. I still have some nice storage containers — some of the containers themselves spark joy! — but I’m way more intentional about them now.

When I first read this tip, I was somewhat baffled by it. You’re asking me to envision a world in which there isn’t a smashed piece of unchewed gum, a few pennies, a bobby pin, and a crushed receipt from six weeks ago at the bottom of my purse? Then what exactly is a purse for? Seriously, my purse feels weirdly empty without all this garbage in it! But then I committed to doing it for a month, and it turns out, having a clean purse is actually really nice. Also, by putting things away each day, it means you’ll know where your shit is, which is so helpful. (I know this sounds fairly obvious...AND YET.) And the cleaning out is a good little after-work ritual to take you from day to evening. Even if it’s not something you can commit to every day, doing it on Sunday nights isn’t a bad idea. Definitely a good micro resolution to try!

I used to second-guess throwing this stuff out, or would at least make myself hold onto it for some imaginary amount of time before I could throw it away; now I don’t!