The “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” series on Netflix this month seems to have inspired some Edmontonians to de-clutter.
“It feels great. I feel lighter, our space feels fresher, the items that we kept actually do bring us joy every day,” said David Lopez.
He cleaned out his own home after watching the series.
Lopez is also the general manager of Find, a furniture bank that gives free furniture to people getting out of homelessness.
“We’re hoping to be beneficiary of all this tidying up.”
At Goodwill, donations are slightly higher than normal this month.
“I think the increase has been about two and a half per cent,” said Doug Roxburgh, marketing coordinator at Goodwill.
Roxburgh can’t say for sure if the series lead to the increase.
It’s a similar story at a non-profit organization that offers clothing to women entering the workforce.
“This year we’ve seen a little bit more interest in people donating,” said Lori Mcconnell, Suit Yourself Wardrobe for Women Association executive director.
“What we’re assuming, and again you never really know with donations, but we’re assuming people are starting to take a look at their belongings and deciding whether or not they believe they can live without it,” said Mcconnell.
Professional organizer Katie Hudson has read Marie Kondo’s books, which inspired the Netflix series.
“I’m really happy that it’s become more main stream now on Netflix. I feel like it’s cool that people are getting excited about organizing,” she said.
“My hope is that they realize they’re not the only one with a mess.”
Hudson says the hardest part is getting started.
“I think a lot of times there’s a lot of emotional attachment to items so the de-cluttering starts and we start realizing that things have a lot of emotional meaning or a lot of stories behind them. So it ends up becoming a process to get rid of things.”
She uses a similar system to Kondo’s with her clients, having them sort items into piles.
“When it’s in a pile you can assess just how much of it you have and then from there you can I think make more educated decisions about what you’re discarding.”
She also encourages clients to donate items to charity.
“It’s really nice to know that you can give your stuff sort of a second life.”
Lopez is hoping his organization will see donations pick up.
“We’re hoping that people also look at not just the little things like clothing and whatnot but also look at furniture items.”
