Should You KonMari Your Kids’ Books?

by Geraldine Grandidier, founder of Tidy Books.

So who went a little declutter crazy at the start of 2019? January is traditionally the time of year when many of us have a bit of a clear out when we’re packing away the Christmas decorations. But while you were dispatching those unwanted items to the loft or local charity shop did you ‘KonMari’ your kids’ books too?

In case you didn’t know, ‘KonMari’ is the method devised by Japanese declutter guru Marie Kondo. And her recent Netflix TV series, ‘Tidying up with Marie Kondo’, caused a bit of an outcry when it showed Kondo helping two people lose a sizeable chunk of their book collections. Get rid of books? Many book lovers couldn’t believe Kondo could suggest such an outrageous thing!

Photo @totaleve

Well when it comes to children’s books, I think less is more. It can be overwhelming if kids have too many books – they’ll spend half their reading time trying to decide which one to pick. And if the books are crammed onto a bookshelf with only their spine showing it makes choosing even harder. It’s exactly why our bookcase is front facing – kids can see the book covers to help them decide.

The Tidy Books bookcase holds up to 85 books – which might not go down well with Marie Kondo, who has scaled her books down to just 30 – but it’s small and slimline, so it doesn’t hog room space. And the thing is, you don’t have to fill it with 85 books. When my kids were growing up, I let them keep out a small selection of books at a time so they could get familiar with the ones they had. I put the rest of their books away in the cupboard then every couple of months I’d rotate their collection, so they had a whole lot of new books to enjoy.

I think Marie Kondo would approve. When challenged over the book decluttering issue, Kondo explained that if the thought of getting rid of a book made you angry, then of course you should keep it. Her mantra? ‘If a book sparks joy for you – keep it with confidence.’ And that’s definitely something we agree on!

Tidy Books is exclusive to Nest in South Africa.

Click here to view the full Tidy Books range: https://www.nestdesigns.co.za/products/tidy-books/

Geraldine is Tidy Books’ founder, designer and CEO, as well as mum to Adele and Emile.  She started Tidy Books in her violin workshop because she couldn’t find a good bookcase for her kids.  Now her Tidy Books bookcases and storage designs are encouraging independence and a love of reading in kids all over the world.