Tidying Up: Cures for Disorderly Living

Our culture of material accumulation has its unexpected ills. Homes can be overwhelmed by disorganized, useless clutter. Does a disorderly living space reflect a disorderly life, one lacking in serenity, beauty and joy? The answers is apparently yes for many people based on two books topping The New York Times best seller lists: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo and Lovable Livable Home: How to Add Beauty, Get Organized, and Make Your House Work for You by Sherry and John Petersik. Kondo's KonMari method discards the traditional room-by-room clean-up approach in favor of categorizing objects and providing guidelines on judging the purpose of each, whether something "sparks joy" or not, moves you forward or holds you in the past. Reviews are rhapsodic: "Reading it, you glimpse a glittering mental freedom from the unread/uncrafted/unworn, buyer's remorse, the nervous eyeing of real estate listings," declares The Atlantic, while The London Times salutes Kondo's "recognition of something quietly profound: that mess is often about unhappiness, and that the right kind of tidying can be a kind of psychotherapy for the home as well as for the people in it." Be warned that the book has a Japanese anthropomorphic soul that attributes feelings to things like socks, but that's part of its charm--and maybe its effectiveness. The Petersiks' book is down-to-earth American. A follow-up to their Young House Love success for young couples, the new book introduces kids and pets into their maturing home life. Divided simply by space function--living, eating, sleeping, washing, entry, working and playing--Lovable Livable Home uses lots of color pictures to show how to organize and use DIY projects to avoid toy-strewn mess without sacrificing style and comfort. So if you want to start organizing before the holiday chaos, or to prep for a New Year's resolution to tidy up, check out these guides. http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering/dp/1607747308/