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Wendy Chamberlain and Barb Haymour aren't just enthusiastic about tidying up like Marie Kondo, they're trained experts. Now they are taking-on clients. Their company is called Simply Spark Joy. In an interview at KelownaNow, the pair said they guide people through a tidying process that can be nothing short of life-changing.
First Chamberlain and Haymour read Marie Kondo's book, The LIfe-changing magic of tidying up, then they applied the process to their own homes, then they went to San Fransisco and got trained as certified KonMari consultants.
Kondo's new approach to decluttering became the focus of a Netflix series with the same name.
"What Marie Kondo suggests is that you hold each item to your heart," said Chamberlain." The question is "does this item spark joy?" If it does, it can have a place in your your life.
There are a lot of physical tricks to the tidying process that the pair will tell you about. Like better ways to fold and store your jeans, but the process starts with visualizing a better lifestyle before the tidying even begins.
By the end of the process, clients will definitely be getting rid of some things but it's more about deciding which things to love and keep, rather than the reverse. And the results can be very uplifting for people.
"It's really neat to see the changes our clients make in their life," said Haymour. "They face a lot of emotion doing this. They don't know why they've hung onto something so long. wonder why they've lived in a house that didn't function well."
"It's a big stressor for a lot of people," she added.
Sometimes the problem starts at the shopping stage, Chamberlain said people need to ask themselves some questions before creating clutter in the first place. "Do I have space for this in my home? And do I need this?"
The process at home takes a while to go through.
"Normally it's three to five hours a session," said Haymour, "and depending on the size of the home and how many people live in there, how much stuff they have will determine how many sessions they need."
But Chamberlain said it doesn't have to be a chore. Pointing out that Kondo likes to refer to the process as a tidying festival. "This is supposed to be fun," she said.
For more information check out the Simply Spark Joy website.
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