So who went a little declutter crazy last month? January is traditionally the time of year when many of us have a bit of a clear out when we’re packing away the Christmas decorations. But while you were dispatching those unwanted items to the loft or local charity shop did you think about the KonMari (Marie Kondo) method for your kids’ books too?
Should you KonMari your kids’ books?
In case you didn’t know, the KonMari method is devised by Japanese declutter guru Marie Kondo. And her recent Netflix TV series, ‘Tidying up with Marie Kondo’, caused a bit of an outcry when it showed Kondo helping two people lose a sizeable chunk of their book collections. Get rid of books? Many book lovers couldn’t believe Kondo could suggest such an outrageous thing and thought that the KonMari (Marie Kondo) method for decluttering books is not realistic.
The KonMari Method for decluttering Books or Marie Kondo Tidying. Should you Kon Mari your kids books?. Photo @totaleve
KonMari method for kids
Well when it comes to children’s books, I think less is more and Marie Kondo Tidying method for kids’ books can be applied. It can be overwhelming if kids have too many books – they’ll spend half their reading time trying to decide which one to pick. And if the books are crammed onto a bookshelf with only their spine showing it makes choosing even harder. It’s exactly why our kids’ bookcase is front facing – children can see the book covers to help them decide.
The Tidy Books chlidren’s bookcase holds up to 85 books – which might not go down well with Marie Kondo method of tidying up books, who has scaled her books down to just 30 – but it’s small and slimline so it doesn’t hog room space. And the thing is, you don’t have to fill it with 85 books. When my kids were growing up, I let them keep out a small selection of books at a time so they could get familiar with the ones they had. I put the rest of their books away in the cupboard then every couple of months I’d rotate their collection so they had a whole lot of new books to enjoy.
Marie Kondo Tidying
I think Marie Kondo would approve. When challenged over the book decluttering issue, Kondo explained that if the thought of getting rid of a book made you angry, then of course you should keep it. Her mantra? ‘If a book sparks joy for you – keep it with confidence.’ And that’s definitely something we agree on!
