Marie Kondo Is Selling All The Expensive Junk She Encouraged Us To Throw Away

Nov 21, 2019 by apost team

Marie Kondo, the world-famous tidying-up expert, has just launched an online shop which people are dubious about—since it actually might just contribute to more clutter in the home. The various lifestyle items are available on her web shop which is dubbed “The Shop at KonMari.”

Marie Kondo’s claim to fame is her philosophy on organizing the home, based on only keeping objects that ‘spark joy.’ Her website notes that she has a step-by-step method of helping others organize their clutter by going through items by category (not by room) and deciding which of those items really creates a jolt of happiness within themselves when it’s touched. For the objects that don’t, she recommends thanking them and letting them go.

Her popularity has grown exponentially based on this copyrighted ‘KonMari’ method, so the newest aspect of her empire is to, naturally, launch a shop of home items.

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The items in the shop are beautiful and minimalist, but there is doubt at the usefulness of a few choice objects that range in price from about $12 to $275. They are categorized into decor and living, tidying and organization, tabletop and entertaining, cooking and kitchen, bath essentials, aromatherapy, and books.

There are familiar organizational objects for sale such as keepsake boxes and tote bags, but some might be confused as to how to use the $75 tuning fork and clear quartz set, or the $18 Binchotan charcoal.

Doubters on the internet are especially pointing out the ‘Shiatsu stick,’ which is crafted by woodworkers from locally grown trees, made for shiatsu massage with specially angled ends for targeting pressure points according to the item’s description. One tweet is even captioned with the hashtag #goop2 referring to Gwyneth Paltrow's much-mocked website for useless and pricey lifestyle items.

Coming from the queen of decluttering who wrote 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing,' and hosted her own Netflix show dedicated to helping people clean out their houses, the shop seems like a very strong irony.

However, as Marie Kondo says in her video that accompanied the store’s launch, it was born from people asking what she uses in her everyday life. It is a collection of her favorite things that ‘spark joy’ for her. In the end, “the goal of tidying is to make room for meaningful objects, people, and experiences,” she says in the video while slicing fruit to be placed in one of her food storage boxes in an immaculate Japanese-style home.

If these objects spark joy for those who purchase them, then who is to say that they are clutter or junk? It isn’t the goal of Marie Kondo to throw away objects at random, but just to be mindful of exactly what you surround yourself with.

What do you think about the new KonMari shop? Is it just about making money or do you subscribe to the Marie Kondo 'spark joy' philosophy? Tell us about it in the comments below and pass on this article to get others thinking about the objects in their lives.