Marie Kondo's Kurashi at Home summary

I have a question for you, and I’d like you to think about it carefully before you respond.

What is your ideal living space?

Give yourself permission to think big. Given the choice, would you like to live in a modernist Frank Lloyd Wright marvel? A rustic alpine cabin? A Versailles-chic rococo palace? A countryside cottage, a bohemian apartment, a beachside shack?

It can feel silly, imagining yourself in a rococo palace, when in reality you might live in a one-bedroom apartment. You might be thinking, I should probably get my broken kitchen cupboards fixed before I think about installing chandeliers. 

But it’s important not to cut corners or focus on constraints – you’re imagining your ideal home, here. And if you can’t allow yourself to fully imagine your ideal space, you won’t be able to inhabit it. Trusting your imagination will allow you to activate your intuition. And all the decisions you make about your space should be guided, above all, by your intuition of how you can achieve your ideal life.

Notice I said ideal life, just then, not ideal space. I’m not about to tell you that you can physically transform your current living space from a studio to a mansion (though later in the blink I will be sharing plenty of techniques to optimize your space). But when you start thinking beyond your four walls, you’ll soon see that the qualities of the ideal home you envisioned earlier can inform every aspect of how you live your life – and help you live as if your space truly were your dream home. 

When you begin to make decisions and establish rituals based on reaching your ideal conception of your life, your space will naturally transform into something closer to your ideal space; and, as you consciously work to bring your home closer to your ideal space, you’ll find that your home inspires you towards living your ideal life.

Kurashi is a Japanese word that roughly translates to “lifestyle.” But it’s a bit more nuanced than that: it describes the actions that make up our days, the way we spend our time. After all, it’s our conscious actions and decisions that comprise our way of life. Lifestyle, according to kurashi, is not something you have but something you do.

In the following blinks, I’ll tell you more about changing and organizing your home to help you achieve your ideal kurashi. But the first step is allowing yourself to be inspired about the possibilities your space, and your life, holds. Once you have a clear picture of your ideal life, refuse to compromise on aesthetic decisions – because everything in your home should support your vision. Find joy in aspirational images of interiors and lifestyles – even if they seem out of reach to you now, allow them to excite you rather than deject you. Above all, commit to living just like you would inside your ideal home.