Over the last six months, we’ve all spent more time at home than ever before. As a neat freak, this experience has made me hyper-conscious of the clutter around me. (I swear my overstuffed T-shirt drawer is mocking me.)
I’m not alone. Marie Kondo has noticed a spike in interest in her tidying method during quarantine. And if you’re interested in Kondo-ing your home, she would like to guide you through the process. Today, Kondo’s company, KonMari, launches an online course called Fundamentals of Tidying, consisting of 10 episodes that are between 3 and 20 minutes long, in which she demonstrates the foundation of her tidying method for just $39.99.
The KonMari team had been planning to launch a video tutorial for a while, but the global lockdowns made such a product more urgent. “Many people are looking to make better use of their homes now that they are doing so much more at home, like working and homeschooling,” says KonMari’s CEO (and Kondo’s husband), Takumi Kawahara.
Kawahara says people have been asking for opportunities to connect more intimately with Kondo and watch her demonstrate various techniques, like folding. So in these classes, she speaks directly to the viewer in Japanese (with English subtitles, rather than through an interpreter). She appears alone in a minimalist home full of white furniture, with soothing music in the background. She walks us through her approach, which involves getting rid of items that don’t “spark joy,” then organizing what is left in a functional, aesthetically pleasing manner.
As I described in the cover story for the May issue of Fast Company, Kondo’s home organizing philosophy has proven to be so compelling that she’s been able to build an empire around it. She’s found many formats to teach her now-famous tidying method, including books, a Netflix series, and a team of consultants who go into people’s homes and help them in person. This year, the brand introduced the idea to new audiences with a kid’s picture book and a business book for professionals called Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life. KonMari also has an e-commerce store curating objects that spark joy for Kondo, along with a newsletter.
Kawahara says that the brand’s newfound focus on professional organization is particularly important right now as more people are working from home—an experience that, for many, has not sparked much joy. “They’re looking for ways to reorganize their homes to create home offices,” he says. “They’re trying to declutter to focus on their work.”
The series that launches today focuses on the foundations of the KonMari method, but as feedback comes in from viewers, Kawahara expects the company to expand its classes to tackle more complex aspects of tidying. The course starts streaming today on the KonMari website.
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