Decluttering My Books, Marie Kondo Style

It’s come to my recent attention that I have too many books. I have so many that I actually got agitated by my overflowing bookshelves at one point.

And though as much as it pains me I knew I had a problem and needed to declutter. I had just cleaned out everything late 2017/early 2018 and I still had way too many. Despite the heartbreak that was coming, I went on a journey to clean my books.

Looking for a new way to clean, I decided upon the help of Marie Kondo and her wisdom from the book The Magic Art of Tidying Up.
What is the Konmari way? It’s approach to decluttering based on Japanese values in order to surround yourself with items that spark joy. Basically, you go through various items and ask yourself, “Does this spark joy?”. If it doesn’t then it’s something you should get rid of.
I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical of this philosophy because it was so simplistic, but it turns out it actually does work if you put your mind to it. I know I have a hard time getting rid of things since they have a sentimental value (especially my books), but if you’re truly committed it will work.
I applied this decluttering style not only to my books, but also my clothes, jewelry, and other trinkets and I saw great results! It took a few weeks to complete, so I suggest you take your time if you’re using this method.
First off I attacked the main shelf, and sat through stacks of books to see if they sparked joy or even if I had a genuine interest in them.
I thought I wouldn’t be able to part with my books, but I was able to find a lot of books that had me questioning, “Why did I even buy this?” or “I don’t even like this genre anymore”. It was such a relief to see some empty shelf space.
I repeated the same with my other bookshelves ans saw great results. I will say that the Konmari method is a bit time-consuming so make sure to do this type of cleaning when you have a lot of down time since it’s such a time-consuming process.
And result? My goal was to AT LEAST get rid of 100 books. I got rid of 110!
Cue my happy dance!

I am so proud of myself! Now I can finally see all of my books. Even though they are still double stacked on my shelves, I can navigate them much easier. I also was able to take 90% of physical TBR that was in storage containers and add them to my shelves. I also was able to cut down on my book storage as well, no more cardboard boxes full of book! I also have more space in my room!

My next project will be to get a large, study bookshelf instead of having multiple cheap bookshelves that don’t hold much. Hopefully it will also help to clear up floor space too!

What did I learn from my Konmari project?

  • I am an impulse buyer. I really need to stop cover buying my books.
  • I need to read what I own. I wait so long to read my own books that I don’t even feel like reading them anymore.
  • I need to tidy my books on a more regular basis. So often I leave stacks of books around my room that I don’t clean up until it becomes an issue.

That concludes my decluttering story! The Konmari method is not for everyone, but if you’re interested in decluttering I suggest you give it a try. Which decluttering methods work best for you? Have you tried the Konmari method? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. 🙂

9 thoughts on “Decluttering My Books, Marie Kondo Style

  1. Oh man! I need to do this so badly. I have two LARGE bookcases that are full right now. I’ve been basically been just stacking them in horizontal stacks in front of the others. It doesn’t look bad, BUT I do need to go through and unhaul some books soon. I think I put it off because it is such a time consuming project, and I hate the chaos my shelves are in while I am doing it.

    You unhauled 110 books!!! That is CRAZY! Good job!

    1. Thanks Amanda! It was difficult, but I’m so proud of myself. I also had stacks sitting up in front of my bookshelves and one point I just got fed up with all the clutter (my room is small). It is time consuming so my best advice would be to do the cleaning in small chunks. I set aside time once a week. Good luck to you when you clean your books! I know you can do it! 🙂

  2. Well done you!! Congratulations on getting rid of more than your goal’s worth of books! Historically I haven’t had that much money to be able to buy books, which means I mostly have only bought books when there was a giant crazy library book sale OR I was on vacation, which did not happen very often because I didn’t have that much money to go on vacation either. But now I have like a grown-up job with a real salary, and it is harder to resist buying books.

    1. Hi Jenny! Thank you! 🙂 I have mostly acquired my books through book sales, the library, or discount book stores. I used to have a bad habit of buying any book I saw, but once I started getting serious about my budget to read what I owned, I still found I had way too many books for my shelf space. It’s still hard to resist buying books though. My next project is to get a larger bookshelf. I think that will also help my decluttering process.

  3. That’s great that you were able to declutter your shelves. I did that a couple months ago but everytime as soon as I’m done, I go buy more book and fill it up again. But it is nice when the books are neatly stacked on the shelves.

    1. This year, I’ve been doing good so far. I’m trying to utilize the library more. I guess not having shelf space is deterring me from buying more books, lol.

  4. Congrats on all the hard work. It must have been really hard to start that project but obviously it’s paid off brilliantly for you. One thing that I find helpful is tracking stats for habits that I want to change. For instance, if I know exactly how many books I’ve bought and how many I read in an average year, then I can quickly see how realistic it is to be acquiring new things or whether it’s simply buying for the thrill of buying (not actually reading). Somehow just the desire to do less/more of something doesn’t click for me; I need to see figures (even though I’m more of a words gal). My biggest challenge is reading from my own shelves rather than the library’s because the library has such an awesome collection. 😀

    1. Thanks! I’m actually horrible at stats, but I have tried that method before. I didn’t stick to it too long, but I might try again. I’m guilty of reading library holds over my own books all the time. Lol. Don’t feel too bad.

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