Take a dash of Hoarders, add a pinch of HGTV aesthetics, finish off with the unique stylings of Japanese tidying phenomenon Marie Kondo, and you’ve got Tidying Up, Netflix’s unusually calming home makeover show. Kondo’s famous KonMari method involves learning how to fold properly, sure, but it’s essentially defined as a reframing of how you see the stuff in your life by separating everything into categories: clothing, books, papers, komono (or “miscellaneousâ€), and by far the hardest, sentimental. But what Kondo does in Tidying Up is shockingly nonjudgmental. She doesn’t gasp at mountains of clothes, or shake her head at an overflowing collection of sneakers when she walks into a slob’s house. She actually cries with joy, often, exclaiming more than once: “I love mess!â€
Kondo’s glee about messes is not so far off from her main rallying cry about determining what “sparks joy,†the main directive of the KonMari method. Does this thing spark joy? Is this it something you see in your future? Imagine getting asked this as you grasp an old rusty mailbox or a stack of tattered papers. Thank you, next.
All of this makes Tidying Up a comforting (if slightly dull) experience. Kondo will leave you with a fuzzy feeling in your stomach and bags of crap for Goodwill on your curb. Before you start trashing all that junk, though, here are the show’s most relaxing moments.
Here, Kondo is graciously folding a tank top that reads “#SQUAD GOALS.†Pay attention to that technique!
Look how nicely this small box fits in this big box.
Has the folding of a fitted sheet ever been so effortless?
*breathes deep* The small bag goes in the big bag.
And this striped tie gets folded three ways.
Ooh, these tiny socks!
The gentle placing of sneakers.
And, to match, more socks.
Imagine, actually folding jeans, and not just throwing them over a chair. I can’t!
Does all this folding actually stress you out? I’m sorry. Here are a few GIFs of Marie quietly blessing the lucky homes where she does her magic.
Thank you, Marie.