Netflix's 'Tidying Up With Marie Kondo' Is a Feel-Good Version of 'Hoarders'

Netflix launched a new series called Tidying Up With Marie Kondo this week, and subscribers are [...]

By Michael Hein

Netflix launched a new series called Tidying Up With Marie Kondo this week, and subscribers are loving the wholesome approach to organization.

Netflix kicked off the new year by dropping the eight-episode reality series all at once. In it, author and organization expert Marie Kondo helps people to clean up and organize their homes, forging new habits and appreciation in the process.

The show has been a hit among subscribers, many of whom have found it useful in their new year's resolution quests. For a lot too, the show is like a more palatable version of Hoarders, trading in the extreme scenarios of that show for honest looks at clutter that are, at times, just as painful.

"Tidying Up, on Netflix. It brings peace to my heart in the same way Hoarders gave me panic attacks," one fan noted on Twitter.

"Tidying Up with Marie Kondo: like watching Hoarders but there aren't any dead animals buried underneath all the garbage," noted another.

"Tidying Up with Marie Kondo gives the satisfying before and after of Hoarders but without the fear of seeing a pancaked cat or a bathtub full of used diapers," tweeted a third fan.

In truth, the show is more of an invitation to minimalism than a treatment for mental health. Where Hoarders addressed a debilitating issue for many of its subjects, Tidying Up invites relatively normal households to be even better.

The show is based on some of Kondo's books, including The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Organizing, and Spark Joy — a catchphrase that Kondo uses often on the show.

As the show gains popularity, many fans are focusing less on its similarities to other home makeover shows and more on what sets it apart. In a review published by The Atlantic, Sarah Archer wrote that Kondo's "attitude is rooted in empathy rather than in judgment or in a prescriptive approach to outward appearances."

After less than a week on the air, the show is already a far-reaching sensation. Fans are wild for Kondo's practical solutions and encouraging tone. On Friday, Netflix Canada posted a tweet inviting fans to post photos from their own experiments with Kondo's methods, and the results were impressive.

The massive success already has many fans wondering whether a second season of Tidying Up could be on the way. So far, there is no word from Netflix, though fans online seem to find the show to be one of Netflix's most addictive additions yet.

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