Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (2019) s01e07 Episode Script

1 - Ah! - She looks excited! I'm so excited because I love mess.
It's a never ending battle to fight the clutter.
Oh! I want things to be more simple.
I don't know how to fix it.
With the baby coming, it's gonna be more chaos.
Oh, my God! We have too much stuff! Hello, I'm Marie Kondo.
My mission is to spark joy in the world through cleaning.
Ching! Best-selling author and world-renowned tidying expert.
Marie Kondo is dedicated to inspiring the world to choose joy with the KonMari Method.
A feature of the KonMari Method is that you clean by item and not by location.
And we will always clean using the same categories.
First, is clothing.
I can't reach.
Next, is books.
Giving them a little shake and wake them up.
Then, paper.
I can't do the papers.
The largest category is komono.
Komono is kitchen, bathroom, and garage.
Everything miscellaneous.
Finally, sentimental items.
It's kinda hard to let it go, 'cause I really like this one.
This is kinda hard.
I don't want to just, you know, dump it.
But I want to be thoughtful about it.
From the moment she set foot in our house, she had this presence to her.
She wants to see this place turned around.
Marie brought a whole bunch of joy upon our home.
This is amazing.
You're so cute! I love you! You're so cute.
I love you, too.
These are, like, happy, happy tears.
Thank you for what you've brought to our home, really.
Hello.
What's up, babe? - Come here.
What's up? - Okay.
- Nothing.
- How are you? I'm wet now 'cause it's raining a lot outside.
- Was it raining? - Yes.
She's home.
Gus! - Gus? - It's okay, I'm watching them.
- There you go.
- Where you going? Come here, baba.
Over here.
Okay.
- It's okay.
- It's like I'm not even here.
I'm Clarissa.
This is Mario.
I'm Mario.
 We've been together now for going on six years now.
You know, the first time I saw him, I was like, "Oh!" - And I was just kinda smitten.
- How was it? This is the trip when we, like, officially became boyfriend and girlfriend, went to Cabo.
It started off slow.
I was always here, staying the night.
You know, we just always hung out.
Immediately, when I first met her, I was just captivated by her eyes, she has beautiful eyes, and her smile is what won me over.
Immediately, I knew there was something there.
I love his personality.
He's always, you know, trying to make the best out of a situation.
So I just I love everything about him.
And he's not bad to look at either.
He used one of my eyeliners to write "Will you be my girlfriend?" on the mirror.
- With a check box "yes" or "no".
- Did you say yes? Of course I said yes.
- We've been hanging out ever since.
- Yeah.
God we, uh I don't know what I'd do without this girl.
We complement each other so well in anything and everything that we do.
So we have each other's back.
Through and through.
Tidying is not just about cleaning.
It is also about creating a space that sparks joy.
By doing this, you get one step closer to your ideal life.
I will be visiting the house of Mario and Clarissa.
Their biggest challenge is to be able to let go of their items from the past and to create a tidy home for their future.
I'm looking forward to helping Mario and Clarissa as they set out on their new journey.
Yeah, so Yeah It's getting real.
Look at the other picture.
- His flexing? - Yeah.
This is your kid.
That's a little dude! We are expecting a little one in about six months.
We're expecting our firstborn.
It's a boy.
Uh, and we are stoked.
We are so eager to be parents.
Going to, you know, see the sonograms or to hear the heartbeat It melts you.
With the baby coming, we gotta get our stuff in order, - otherwise it's gonna be more chaos.
- Yeah.
This is ultimately where I wanna see my kids grow, but we are slightly overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that we keep in certain rooms.
That's where the problem begins.
We've just accumulated all of our extra stuff: clothing, shoes, just whatever you can think of.
Storage bins full of things that don't get run through.
We need to get rid of it, move it, because we do need to make room now.
It's not a matter of we want to clean up this room 'cause it'd be nicer that way, now it's like we have to.
I would like to have the house as complete as possible and still have some time before the baby gets here.
I don't want my water to break in the middle of us painting or something.
Well, Mario painting, 'cause I won't be painting.
It's time.
We're gonna have to part ways with a lot of things we don't want to.
Yeah.
- But it's all for the better.
- Yeah.
All for the better of our guests, our family, our friends, and the baby.
Oh, this is it? - Oh.
- Moment of truth.
Here we go.
Oh, Lord, here we are.
- Hi! Hello! - Hello.
Welcome! Nice to meet you.
I'm Marie.
- Nice to meet you.
- Miss Marie, Mario.
Nice to meet you, Miss Marie.
Welcome to our home.
- Thank you for inviting me.
- No, thank you.
We're excited that you're coming to help us.
Yes, I'm so excited about tidying this house.
We're excited, too.
- A little nervous, but excited.
- Yes.
Don't worry.
Have fun.
Okay.
It'll be fun.
- Good, good.
We can't wait to get started.
- Yeah.
So this is one of the areas, for example, that we've put it together, and eliminated some of the clutter out.
So, I'm just so excited to see all the other rooms.
Are you ready? Okay, let's do this.
This is our kitchen.
So, I mean, trying to keep it as organized as we can, but - So do both of you cook? - Yes.
Yes, we do.
I specialize in breakfast.
She kinda handles the other two meals.
- Trouble drawers.
- Just junk.
So, this is receipts Oh, you can't even open it because she's stuffed her gum in there.
We could get rid of a lot of the stuff that's in here.
Yes, I agree.
I think this place will change very dramatically.
Oh, man! I can't wait.
I can't wait.
The next space that I guess needs help, - the office.
- Ah.
Um Over time, things have just gotten stored in there.
I hold onto things and throw 'em here, just so they're out of the way.
So, are there any spaces that you use as an office besides this one spot? - No.
- No.
Because we do most of our Our tablets and our laptops, we take with us wherever we go, into every room.
So doesn't serve us really any purpose.
One thing that we're considering is it possibly being a nursery, because we are expecting our first child.
Oh! - So - Oh, you have child? - We're carrying it right now.
- Congratulations! - Thank you.
- Thank you.
I think this is an excellent opportunity for you to tidy, because my clients have told me that they're so glad that they got it over with before the baby.
- Oh, yeah.
- Because of time.
- Of course.
- Yes.
I can understand, because I have two babies.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah! You should expect to have a lot more things.
When your first child is born, your world changes completely.
So you get to imagine what kind of parents you want to be, or how you want to live as a family.
This is the excitement that parents get to experience as they tidy for their first child.
For me, what changed after my daughters were born, was that no matter how much I tidied, my daughters would pull things out.
So keeping a tidy house became very difficult.
Okay, so we'll go ahead and go upstairs.
- Up here is two bedrooms.
- Yeah.
We both have a lot of shoes, so Oh! - So should we have shoe racks? - Yeah.
Call it the clutter room.
- I like it.
 Yeah, he's so cool.
- He's cool, right? That's what I saw! This we use as a guest bedroom.
- These are Mario's shoes.
So - Ah! Yes.
That's me.
I've been collecting sneakers now for over 25 years.
Oh, 25 years! And it was a lot worse.
Now it's only about 150, 160.
I've been collecting sneakers since I was 12 years old.
- Put 'em down on the floor, look at 'em? - Yeah.
That way you really know what you have.
I loved sneakers, I loved sports, I loved athletes.
These are the people I looked up to, and it sounded so far-fetched for me back then, but I think when I became an adult, and as I started having an income, that was a priority, and I started just kinda buying, and it got maybe a little out of control.
Ninety-five percent of them were never used, never unlaced, let alone ever tried on.
So, more than anything, I'm ready to get started.
So first, really look at all the shoes that you own.
Everything.
Alright, we got some work.
You'll be able to do it, trust me.
- We trust you.
- Yes.
Alright.
Let's go.
So, tidying will begin now.
- Yes.
- Okay.
Before starting, I would like to greet your house.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Greeting house is very important for me.
Okay, good.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Thank you so much for giving me the time.
- Sure.
- No problem.
- Okay, so let's begin tidying.
- Okay.
Oh, my.
Let's go.
Ready.
- What's first? The first step is clothing.
- Clothing, ooh.
- Okay.
Put them into a pile.
Okay.
- Okay.
- Down here.
- Here? - Here.
All of your clothes.
- Everything? - All the clothes? All the clothes.
Okay.
Oh, my That's a lot of clothes, Marie.
- I know.
- Yes? - Yeah.
- Okay.
- We begin now.
- Alright.
Okay, let's go.
Oh, God.
- Can you take that off, babe? - Yeah.
I can't reach.
- Yeah.
- Babe, help! I'm trying, I'm trying.
I need your help, of course.
Oh, God.
So this will be Clarissa's mountain.
This isn't even.
.
close to all of it.
'Cause we want everything.
- Like, drawers too? - Yes.
- Wow.
- Yes, drawers, everything.
This is gonna get in tomorrow.
- Oh, my.
- Okay.
- I see a unicorn outfit.
What is that? - It's a onesie.
It's a onesie? That I've never seen? This'll be a lot of homework.
Dang it.
- This girl is no joke.
- This is giving me anxiety.
Deep breaths.
- Alright, you still - It's still not as bad as Are you kidding? This mess makes me it's kinda like I need to Everything needs to be out of here.
- Yeah, this is a lot.
- Yeah.
Yeah.
But this is so important, to see everything you have.
- See it, right it? - See, yeah.
I knew we had a lot.
 I didn't envision this.
Yeah.
When you see clothes laid out, displayed entirely, this is my life.
So from here on out, you will be selecting things that sparks joy for you.
Okay.
- Spark joy.
- Spark joy.
So this is Yes.
Yes.
- Yes.
- Alright.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Keep.
He has a lot of clothes, and I think a lot of the stuff going into the love, love love, and I'm like, where's the stuff you're getting rid of? No.
No.
- No.
- Goodbye, sir.
And this is goodbye? - Not yet.
- Not yet? Alright.
I'm still yes, no.
Like Touch it.
I don't know, I might need it this summer.
This is hard.
This is sentimental.
What I recommend when that happens is to start with something that's really easy to make a quick decision.
There you go.
Oh, yeah, this is not fun.
Right now.
But I know, I get it.
- No.
- That's a no? I'm saying goodbye.
- Thank you.
- Reluctantly, that's a no? Yeah.
Many people may feel guilty when letting go of items.
By expressing gratitude toward the items you let go, it will lessen the feeling of guilt.
Thank you very much.
For example, it's important to express gratitude toward clothes you never wore.
This is because the shirt taught you that you do not like to wear shirts like this.
By doing this, it will become clear what is necessary for you.
So, I think it's going pretty smoothly, so I was thinking of assigning all the rest for homework.
Okay, so we're done here, right? That's it, right? I'm realizing a lot of these clothes I haven't touched in years.
Okay.
I have a lot of stuff, man, and I don't let go of things, so it's gonna be hard.
It's gonna be rough.
Less clutter and more homework, right? - Alright, thank you.
- Okay, thank you.
Bye.
- Have a good night.
Bye.
- Bye, guys.
- Bye.
- Bye.
No.
That's still a lot of shoes.
No.
No.
Starting to feel good about the process, starting to really get rid of a lot of stuff.
Things that I haven't used, whether it be clothing, shoes, you know, some purses I'm fine with getting rid of, and just creating more space.
So, I'm not someone that's gonna hold onto something that I haven't used in years just because I want to keep it.
But I don't know if that's happened for Mario.
I'm interested to see how quickly he's willing to actually get rid of something.
Because he's definitely got much more of an emotional attachment to things.
Come on.
Come on, I'm sorting.
You guys come here, I'm not gonna be able to do anything.
Oh.
Yeah, this one I don't know if I can part ways with.
This one means a lot.
'Cause despite whatever struggles or financial burdens my parents were going through, I think actually my Dad might have been unemployed that Christmas.
And nonetheless, I remember he took us to go buy.
These were real sacrifices that my parents were going through, to sometimes just put a smile on our Me and my brother's face.
I've kept things just because I do appreciate what my family has done.
My first Guatemala soccer jersey.
So, it's not as easy as I thought it was gonna be to let go of some of this stuff.
Yeah.
But, uh, I guess you just sit back and trust the process.
Granted, I haven't got to my shoes yet, which I think is gonna be the hardest part.
But I think that, uh I'll take my time with that, I will say that.
But no, that's staying.
That's Yeah.
Oh! Hello.
Hello.
- Hi.
How are you? - Hi.
Good.
- How are you? - How's it going? Nice to see you.
- Nice to see you.
 Hi.
- Hi! Hi.
Good to see you again.
How are you guys doing? - We're good.
- Good.
- I'd love to see the closets first.
- Okay.
- If that's okay.
- Closets, alright.
Mine.
And then his is over Wow.
How did you feel sorting through your clothes and making selections? I feel good.
It was nice to get rid of things that I don't use anymore and things that I know that I'm not going to use, so How about the clothes that you folded? May I see those? - Yeah.
- Yeah? Okay, so there is my dresser.
So all of this pretty much took up this whole drawer.
You are so great at folding! - Thank you.
- I'm surprised.
I'm stunned.
- The socks, I can recommend another way.
- Okay.
Ooh.
So just stack them together like this.
Fold in half.
- Oh, okay.
- You see? And then that way you can stack them all.
And also the band won't stretch out.
Yeah.
Yeah, I throw away a lot of socks 'cause that happens.
Okay, babe, it's your turn.
- Please.
- Thank you.
Oh! - Yes, the same method, I think too.
- Socks, I've done the same here.
I have socks, bigger socks obviously.
How would you fold that technique that you were telling Clarissa with something like this? For socks of this length, I would recommend folding it in thirds.
Okay.
For thicker materials like this - Okay.
- thirds work.
And just file it as well.
Okay.
I think you guys are on a very, very good pace.
But what's important is that you guys are motivated to transform your lives.
- We are.
- That's what matters the most.
So after clothes, the next category is books, right after that is paper documents.
Tidying together is a great way for couples to see if they share the same values.
From here, I'd like for them to learn the importance of working together.
Okay, so I'm gonna start moving the papers.
Just realized, babe, this is all your stuff.
This ain't none of mine.
The black stuff is yours.
Yeah, that little container.
Oh, jeez.
I hold on to note books.
I'm just like you.
I have stickers.
Why? My prom invitation.
- You got stuff I think you can - That I'm keeping.
Shred.
Shred.
One thing for me I think which was so easy for me to kind of get rid of things is, if I'm looking at it and it's not something I like or not something that strikes anything in me, I'm fine with getting rid of it.
An unopened invitation to my brother's wedding.
I'm keeping that one.
These are from all our holiday parties.
These are keep.
Argh! But I don't know if Mario's fully there yet.
He's still not getting rid of things.
What's this little pile I see here, hmm? Oh, this is just some stuff that needs to kinda find a place here in the house still.
It's a little frustrating just because we have a set timeline where we're gonna be expecting a baby in, what, five months? I'm worried because, even though it's five months away, like, the days seem slow.
But then all of a sudden, like, a month goes by and I'm like, "How did that happen?" Okay.
I'm working on it, babe.
I'm working on laying on this couch.
Probably shouldn't be in the living room, but I definitely hope that Marie really helps get him in line with what needs to be done, because I could tell him ten times to move something or put it away, and he's gonna do it when he wants to.
You still have homework to do.
Just you today? - Yes, just me today.
- Yes? Okay.
I think your next assignment is gonna be miscellaneous items.
Okay.
Maybe garage.
That'd be great.
Yes, I'd love to.
- Excuse me.
- Alright.
The garage seems to be a little neater.
- Wow, very clean.
- We picked up a little bit.
Yeah.
Um, our doggies are out here hanging out for now.
- Mario, I was wondering.
- Yes? Is there anything in here that you would let go? Most of the stuff here still has function.
Like, I have a lot of tile stored away here.
These are essential electrical supplies that we're gonna need once we redo this room, so, uh, there is a purpose for all this stuff eventually.
Okay, let's just take everything out.
Okay.
Anything you want to keep, try to keep them in separate categories.
- Separate categories? Okay.
- Yeah.
- Uh, and for the doggies.
- Ah, doggy.
Okay.
And this is a vintage clock that someone gave to me.
This is the alarm clock that woke me up every day for high school and I loved it so much.
I'm just that kinda dude that attaches emotion to things, you know? I might be what some people call sentimental.
And I guess over the course of time, I've found it really hard to part ways with some of this stuff.
As scary as it is for me to admit, I definitely need just an intervention.
Now, here's a good question for you, because this does have some type of sentimental value.
Ah.
Because this was the mailbox that was originally on the home when I purchased it.
So how do you feel about something like this? So, when you hold this in your hand, does it still spark joy for you? I guess joy wouldn't be the right word to identify this as to what it means to me, because it's just a reminder of, hey You know? For what it's worth, I never thought that, you know, to have my parents come from Guatemala, and where they came from, to be here in America now, and have their home and, you know, have their son have his home three doors down from them is something that I think no way could they have ever fathomed or even thought of ever happening.
So, that's why I guess little things like this mean something to me.
But this is something that you'd like to keep as part of your life going forward? When you put it that way no.
I can comfortably say that the mailbox I have outside is more joy than what this is, because it's something that we did together.
I can let it go.
Thank you.
Through the Kondo process, yes, it's changing me as we speak and it's starting to make sense.
It's time to let go of some of this stuff.
I don't know who the Mario's gonna be after this process, but it's uncharted territory, and I'm really kinda anxious to see where it ends.
I mean, I was anxious to get here.
So now that we're here, I feel like now I'm gonna go through this as much and as hard as possible.
So next time you're here, maybe it looks different.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Gracias.
- Gracias.
And Mario right now is going through paperwork.
- Huh, babe? - Yeah.
- Let the shredding commence.
- Let the shredding commence.
The wheels are in motion, and I'm just seeing seeing and looking at things completely from a different perspective.
I'm really second guessing everything as to why it's here, why we're keeping things.
I'll keep.
That's it? We have a lot more real estate here.
- So here we go.
- Trash.
Mario's about to dump a whole bunch of stuff in the trash.
I think Mario's mindset has definitely changed.
It was a bit hard at first for him to get rid of things, but he's much better than before.
And Mario's much much more eager to get things done right then and there.
So, I've gone ahead and emptied all of the drawers here.
And got through everything in the kitchen.
And I'm excited, it looks completely different than what it looked like before.
I'm more surprised about how Clari has come along in this whole process.
There's this driving force behind her and I can't help but to feed off of her.
I got a pregnant girl that's doing the work here.
The last thing I want her to do is feel stressed, especially going through this pregnancy.
I want her to be confident knowing that I have her back and I'm supportive with anything and everything that she might need.
There's our little guy.
Twelve weeks.
He's much bigger now.
Teeny tiny.
He's as big as a dollar bill today.
Obviously we're transitioning into parenthood and to have this kind of approach of tidying things up ultimately be part of our everyday kinda habits, that's kind of the life I wanna lead, you know, when my son gets here.
Oh, man.
Before the whole process even started, I knew, I was kinda hesitant to, you know, get started with what was gonna be addressing my shoe situation.
Oh, man.
Because those are the ones that are dear to me, that obviously has more sentiment behind um, each and every one of those pairs of shoes.
But I think I'm finally ready.
It's time to part ways and de-clutter some of these shoes.
The first pair.
You'll stay here.
$10,000 worth of credit card debt.
I remember that was the first time I realized I had a problem.
Debt to tennis shoes.
No, that's not what I want my little man to think is what life is, nah.
I don't ever want him to glorify anything materialistic.
That hurts.
Never got to wear you guys.
Well Some of these shoes have been with me God, over three decades.
These are like childhood sneakers that I might have preserved because even though they weren't my size as an adult, I still kept them just for the sake of what they were when I first was introduced to them or laid my eyes on them.
Almost the same exact shoe.
But now into my adulthood and let alone transitioning into the next chapter of my life, which is fatherhood, I realize that certain things have kind of served their purpose with me, and I guess maybe that's more of an invitation now, metaphorically, to what's to come, and just open to receiving whatever it is that comes my way, that I'm kind of detaching myself from what was that kinda like that mindset that I had when I was younger.
Hello.
What's up? What are you doing? Trying.
Looking at things differently.
Do we have a a, uh, give away or - Yeah, those.
- don't keep? These? So, you're giving away all the shoes that I've actually seen you wear.
Yeah, because I intend to wear the ones that I love now.
I'm definitely proud of Mario because he's finally willing to part with shoes that he has held onto.
And the amount that he has chosen to get rid of, to me, was surprising because I didn't I'd never seen that before, so I certainly didn't expect him to get rid of as much as he did.
So that was that was surprising to me.
This has never happened with this pair of shoes.
- Do they fit? - Yes.
Like a glove.
- You bought those, what, four years ago? - Yeah.
And if that doesn't tell you something.
I've never even put 'em on.
It feels good.
There are many people like Mario who want to display their shoes.
This arrangement creates an aesthetic balance to the shoe rack.
Hello, hello.
- Ah, hello! - Hi.
Hi! - How are you? - How are you doing? I'm doing really well.
Good, good.
The house is yours for you to run through it and see what you think.
And please, we're always ears to anything that you're gonna counsel us to do.
I'm most interested in the rooms upstairs.
- Phenomenal.
Wow.
- Yeah.
I think I took the most from this process, just because I, uh I did have a lot of stuff.
Where I started, I was over 160 pairs of sneakers, and that's now chipped away to probably, like, below 45.
It feels good.
I have an appreciation now for the things that I did keep and, most importantly, it made things easy to part with.
Wow, this area changed so much! And so I don't ever see myself going back to the way I was before Marie came into our lives.
Just the techniques we've learned, you know, folding the clothes, I think it's just gonna make it a lot easier for us to continue to keep the house, you know, clean and in order.
The kitchen is probably the biggest change.
I'm really happy that the kitchen looks the way it does now.
The counter tops are as, you know, empty as they can be.
The cabinets are organized.
- You've worked so hard, you guys! - Thank you! Oh, Clarissa.
Okay.
Wow! Yes, I think this is remarkably done.
Mm-hmm.
I love walking in here now.
I literally have come here just to grab a chair, sit on my phone, and just hang out in here.
So I just want to commend you, Mario, because how I remember this garage was on the first day, to this dramatic change? - It was bad.
- This is very impressive.
- Great job on the garage.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
He passed, right? - He more than passed.
Very good.
- With flying colors.
I can't believe how much progress we've made from what the house looked like to, you know, once Marie got here, to what we've been able to do now.
So I'm just completely surprised, had no idea it would end up looking like this.
Alright.
I can clearly see that you guys both worked so hard in the tidying process.
It was a bit stressful 'cause it was just so much at once, um, but I'm very happy with the end result.
I feel like 95% of everything is where it needs to be, so I don't feel as overwhelmed with the amount of work that we need to do to ultimately, like, clean.
The office area since that's looking like it's gonna be the final spot for the nursery.
It's, I mean, obviously not ready for us to do that yet.
The desk is in there, there is stuff that just needs to not be in there, but it's very close.
But I think now, you said you're 95% there, but the road to 100%, I think it's very clear.
- Yeah.
- I have every faith that you can finish.
I know that along this process we've gotten stronger.
I am so eager and so motivated, now more than ever, to just plow through as much as I possibly can in terms of addressing things and projects around the home.
Just to see it just coming to fruition, it's just, it's so Such a good feeling and I'm hooked on that feeling right now.
- We'll be done before the baby's here.
- Yes.
And much before the baby gets here because we do wanna enjoy this free time that we now have.
So, is it okay if I ask when the baby is due? In August.
So do you wanna go grab the new pictures? Would you like to see him? Yes, I'll get 'em.
This is a great timing that you finished this.
Yeah, that's what we're thinking.
That's why, you know, we're kind of putting deadlines on all the other things we wanna get done to just - Please.
- enjoy.
Here, let's put 'em down there.
Put 'em on the table.
I can see the face! Oh, my gosh! It's a person! - Oh, there he is.
- So, yeah, he is a boy.
Oh, I can see.
What an amazing thing to look forward to.
- Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
I'm honored.
- So, gracias.
- Gracias.
Muchas gracias.
Muchas gracias.
Yes, to you.
Thank you.
Do you know how to say "spark joy" in Spanish? Te, T.
E.
- Te.
- Trae.
- Trae.
- Alegria.
Te trae alegria.
That's lovely.
I love the sound of that.
Mario and Clarissa learned the tools to create their ideal life, through this tidying process.
Even though they are still not completely finished, I'm sure by the time their son arrives, their home will be ready.
I hope Mario, Clarissa, and their son will continue to spark a lot of joy in their future.
Take me away Don't be afraid 'Cause they always say Let go of your fears 'Cause we all make mistakes in life But if we're ever gonna get it right We're gonna give it all another try That's what I'm dreaming of Follow all the things you love Love, love Love, love