Tidying Up with Mari Kondo – Episode 2 Review

Re-evaluating their lives in their retirement years
The second episode features Ron and Wendy Akiyama, an empty nest couple who have been married for 42 years. Between items inherited from their parents, storing things for their children, and having their own challenges with collections and shopping, the Akiyama home is filled to the brim.

Ron doesn’t seem to be bothered by it as much as Wendy, but he agrees to take part in the process because it is important to her. I love that he is intentional in his decision to participate. His willingness to do that makes all the difference in reaching their goals. I admire their enthusiasm and attitude of getting to know one another all over again as they face the mountains of “stuff” that have built up over the years.

The Pile Method
After asking the house to cooperate with them, Marie leads Ron, Wendy and their son Russell through the task of piling every piece of clothing Wendy owns onto the bed. While I understand that the purpose of this piling is to feel the literal “weight” of how much clothing she owns, I have a problem with this methodology.

For starters, this is a time-consuming activity—particularly if the clothing is spread out into more than one space. I also personally find it overwhelming and more difficult to go through clothing with it draped over the bed and falling down. Lastly, I find it hard to believe that Wendy was able to face that huge pile alone without support.

The Sort method
My preferred method is to sort like things together into categories and to go through one category at a time. This method breaks the process down into manageable pieces. I also believe in having the support of a professional organizer throughout the process rather than directing and leaving the client to do everything on their own. The organization process can be physically and emotionally exhausting. Having the support of extra hands, direction, encouragement, and insight into the deeper issues (in Wendy’s case her shopping addiction) are critical to success.

Lacking direction
I realize this is a TV show and not everything can be shown, yet I struggled with the lack of advice or direction given by Marie in this episode. When Ron and Wendy entered their Rumpus Room piled high with Christmas decorations, it didn’t seem believable to me that they would know how or what to do with them. Yes, you’ve got to touch everything and decide if it should be kept, but what about the things they did want to keep? Did she tell them how to properly care for and store those items? In my experience with clients, not having a method or knowing what method to use is often a big part of the problem and something every organizer should be helping with.

30 years of collecting baseball cards
After clearing the Christmas decorations, it’s time to face Ron’s overgrown collection of baseball cards. Boxes of baseball cards he had collected over the course of 30 years were piled to the ceiling. Once again, Marie left them to sort all alone. This was honestly not the least bit believable to me. In 15 years of organizing, I can’t think of a single client that would have the capacity to sort and edit all those cards alone. What I can celebrate, however, was Marie and Wendy’s ability to recognize the progress he made, despite the fact that he still had way too many cards (in my opinion). The level at which something feels cluttered is personal and it’s something I keep in mind as I work with clients.

The process is as important as the outcome
In the end, Ron and Wendy agreed that the process was fun. They had a lot of laughs (and probably a few arguments) and ultimately felt closer to one another. Ron stated “it brought about changes we didn’t expect. It changed the way we look at things.” I believe the organizing process is just as important as the outcome and it is my goal that organization will change the way you look at things too.