‘My home is messy’: Queen of Clean Marie Kondo admits life’s too short to be tidy

The birth of her third child has made the Queen of Clean realise spending time with her family gives more joy than a tidy house.

Marie Kondo. Picture: KonMari Media Inc

Nearly 50 years ago, the world’s first Superwoman, Shirley Conran, famously declared: “Life’s too short to stuff a mushroom,” as she urged women against trying to ‘have it all.’

Now icon of tidiness Marie Kondo, the woman who has spent years advising the messy majority on how to reduce their homes to the aesthetic of a monk’s cell, has her own confession to make. The Queen of Clean says she’s come to realise what every mother of young children already knows; life is too short to be tidy – at least when you have kids.

The admission from the 38-year-old expert on decluttering may well cause anger and angst among her millions of fans who have ruthlessly thrown out their belongings for the reason they don’t “give joy.”

But the Japanese best-selling author – her first book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has sold more than six million copies internationally – says she has changed her views since the birth of her third child, admitting she has “kind of given up” on keeping her house tidy.

“My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life,” she told The Washington Post. “Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times.

“I have kind of given up on that in a good way for me. Now I realise what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.”

The Konmari system meant deciding which items “spark joy.”

Kondo became famous in 2010 with her KonMari method of tidying, which encourages people to separate items into categories (clothes, books, sentimental items) then decide which possessions “spark joy.” Items that fail the joy test must be removed

The clue that Kondo was going to go easy on her tidy self came after her son’s birth in 2021 when she posted on her website: “Just after my older daughter was born, I felt unable to forgive myself for not being able to manage my life as I had before. But, with time, I eased up on myself; then, after I gave birth to my second daughter, I let go of my need for perfection altogether.

“I am busier than ever after having my third child, so I have grown to accept that I cannot tidy every day — and that is okay!” Kondo added.

She turned to the subject again at a recent media webinar and virtual tea ceremony, saying: “My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life.”

Kondo, whose daughters Satsuki and Miko are seven and five, focuses on the Japanese concept of “kurashi” or way of life in her latest book, Marie Kondo Kurashi at Home: How to Organise Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life.

The author, who married Takumi Kawahara in 2012, now says that her way of life will probably be messiness.

“I will keep looking inward to make sure I am leading my own kurashi,” she told the Washington Post.