Some of us—not naming names here—really appreciated Marie Kondo’s take on clutter. Maybe we didn’t thank our sweaters for their service before donating them to Goodwill—and we’re still finding that folding method a bit tricky—but we found her bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up and Tidying Up With Marie Kondo Netflix series inspirational enough to rid ourselves us of things that didn’t “spark joy” (which, as it turns out, was a lot).
So imagine our dismay upon reading in the Wall Street Journal this week that Kondo has now opened her own online store, which is supposedly filled with joy-sparking objects. On one hand, given how popular she is, this Goop-like effort isn’t much of a surprise. On the other hand, we feel betrayed. We thought the whole point was to get ride of stuff, not to acquire more stuff?
You can scroll through over 100 of these items on her website, which is divided into three categories: Decor & Living, Tidying & Organization, and Tabletop & Entertaining. Under Decor & Living, you’ll find a $75 tuning fork and rose quartz crystal and, coincidentally, the site’s “Most Popular Articles” includes one about “How to use a tuning fork.” (Kondo says that she uses “tuning forks as a way to center myself—their sonic vibrations have a subtle healing power that helps me to reset.”) The Tidying section includes a $34 computer brush. And would anyone besides Gwyneth Paltrow be up for spending $156 on a small cheese knife?
Sure, nobody should fault Kondo for being a capitalist, and props to her for introducing some Eastern spirituality staples to Western sensibilities. But we can’t help but think that this is a marketing Catch-22—her most devout followers would likely steer clear of stuff like this, right?
