People around the world are obsessed with this household decluttering method

Marie Kondo Interview
Marie Kondo folding clothes at Business Insider. Justin Gmoser/Business Insider

Marie Kondo is a Japanese lifestyle celebrity in Japan. She's known for helping people decrease clutter and straighten up their homes for good. And she's developed a fan base so huge, her followers are flooding Instagram with photos of their "kondo-ed" homes.

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Her book — "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing" — became a top seller this year and even earned her a spot on Time's 2015 "Top 100 Influential People" list. 

She also has clients in Japan that seek her out to help them tidy their homes. She encourages them to clean everything in one fell swoop and only keep the objects and clothes that they truly love.

"There is an order to follow: 1. clothes, 2. books, 3. documents, 4. miscellaneous items, 5. mementos," Kondo told Business Insider about her method. "Working in this order, you can improve your judgement and determine which items spark joy."

She told BI that you can tell when something sparks joy when you "feel your body go upward." If something doesn't make you happy when you touch it, Kondo said you should "thank it for its service" and get rid of it.

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"When you choose things based on your real feeling, you can choose the right amount of items to totally fit [in you home]," Kondo said. "That is surprising for everyone — this is part of the magic of tidying up."

Bellow you'll see inspiring images of so-called "kondoed" homes that people posted on Instagram. You might even want to start "kondo-ing" yourself.

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This might be what your bedroom currently looks like right now. To start "kondo-ing," put all of your clothes in one spot and sort them by what to keep and what to throw away.

 

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The point of kondo-ing your home is to surround yourself with things that you love. Kondo recommends only keeping things that "spark joy," or that make you feel lighter when you touch them. She says you'll recognize the feeling immediately.

 

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That means you'll probably end up throwing out or giving away a lot of what's in your home.

How did 6 trash bags make it on Instagram? The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up that's how. It was a solid reminder to not keep things you don't need. So these 6 trash bags are filled with my clothes. They're clothes that I kept around because they fit into the business casual spectrum but I never wore, were pilling but I never got rid of them, said the University of Wisconsin and I didn't have the heart to part with them. I think that last part spoke volumes. I love Madison and loved my experience there. Living in the military, I don't think I get overly attached to things or clothes but anything from Madison and I just hold it dear. Those love of memories let me hold onto sweatshirts that have gone through so many laundry cycles and UW attire that when put on, made it look like I was working for tips at a campus bar. So I took the time today to separate them. I kept a few but in a separate pile from my normal clothes so that I could make Theta and UW quilts. While I think some aspects and stylings of the author did not fit my personality, I do recommend taking out all of your clothes and going through each piece. I went through my clothes twice and each round brought out more clothes. I'm ready for exciting new things and hopefully opportunities to get NEW Wisconsin apparel 😊 #littlefierceblog #konmarimethod #lifechangingmagicoftidyingup

A photo posted by Kimberly Erskine (@kimberlyersk1ne) on Jul 12, 2015 at 3:21pm PDT

 

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Kondo says she's seen clients get rid of as much as 200 trash bags filled with clothes.

Day 1 result of reading #konmarimethod Japanese art of tidying up... #cleancloset

A photo posted by Stacey D. Atkinson (@staceydatkinson) on Jul 12, 2015 at 12:14pm PDT

 

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The organizing expert has a specific way of folding shirts so they can stand on their sides. She said it allows you to see what you own better than if you stacked your clothes.

Had to see what all the fuss was about...#konmari #sparkjoy #iamaconvert #murphobrien appears dubious

A photo posted by Suzanne (@sobrien) on Jun 29, 2015 at 3:03pm PDT

 

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Kondo also recommends folding socks and standing them on end instead of rolling them into balls.

#KonMariMethod

A photo posted by Jordana Zeldin (@jordanazeldin) on Jul 11, 2015 at 1:18pm PDT

 

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It's important to have a place for everything, according to Kondo, so that when you come home, you will put things immediately back in their spot.

Cada coisa no seu devido lugar... Inspiração pra semana... #mariekondo #caixas #organizacao #casa #home #imoveisavenda #decoração #ximenes

A photo posted by Silvio Ximenes Imóveis (@silvioximenesimoveis) on Jul 13, 2015 at 2:53am PDT

 

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After you've finished sorting your clothes, Kondo says to tackle your books, documents, miscellaneous items, and mementos, in that order.

#postkonmaribooks #konmarimethod #declutter #lifechangingmagic #tidyingup

A photo posted by Nichole (@nicholecarbs) on Jul 9, 2015 at 3:59pm PDT

 

 

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Eventually, your book case could look this orderly.

#kondoed my #bookshelf

A photo posted by Hege Wiik haukeland (@hegewhauk) on Apr 3, 2015 at 5:17am PDT

 

 

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After you're done organizing, you'll realize you have a lot more room for storage than you previously thought. Your home, Kondo says, will feel much lighter.

 

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And once you learn to tidy up the Kondo way, she says that you'll never go back to being messy.

 

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Tidying up all at once the Marie Kondo way could even have a positive effect on your body, she said.

Throwing sh*t away, prompted by the book "The Lifechanging Magic of Tidying." Feels gooood 💃

A photo posted by Lindsay Norman (@lindsaypnorman) on Jun 19, 2015 at 12:29pm PDT

 

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She said some of her clients' acne cleared up while others lost weight. "Your self perception is improved by living in a clean and neat room," Kondo told Business Insider. "This can change lifestyle and in turn appearance."

Used the #kondomethod to declutter my kitchen and it feels so much calmer, bigger and happier. 😊 #kitchen #homedecor #minimalism

A photo posted by Melissa Carr (@meliss604) on Jun 8, 2015 at 11:37am PDT

 

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Now go forth and "kondo."

@Regrann from @embleyandyewbert - #konmari #konmarimethod #organizing #tidying #truth #Regrann

A photo posted by Karen (@thebrokenbird) on Jul 3, 2015 at 8:52pm PDT

 

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