Decluttering gurus like Marie Kondo, Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin can help you appreciate your possessions – Laura Waddell

I’m on a decluttering kick. My problem is not that I am yet to ask myself what “sparks joy”. My problem is that too many things spark joy, and they’re piling up as clutter.

Marie Kondo’s approach to tidying caused a lot of buzz, a few years ago, when the Japanese TV star arrived on Netflix.

Her catchphrase to "spark joy” entered popular vocabulary, but there was pushback against Kondo’s method from those who panicked she wanted them to throw out, for example, the contents of their bulging bookshelves.

This was, for the most part, a misinterpretation of the methodology, which at its core merely wants us to consciously consider the use of each and every object: whether it is wanted, useful, valuable to us in some way.

Kondo’s method wants us to deliberately choose the objects we keep in our home, which is a sound principle.

But since watching The Home Edit, another tidying-focused Netflix show, this time starring professional organisers Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, I realise what I was missing.

The pair go into the cluttered kitchens, shoe collections and garages of celebrities and normal folk alike and, after deciding what to keep, donate or toss, they aggressively sort every object into piles, subsequently contained in storage solutions and designated zones.

The finished result is not always aesthetically up my street – everything seems to end up rainbowfied and stored in clear Perspex boxes, which, naturally, they happen to sell. It looks cute and neat, if more the vibe of a teenage bedroom than what I want for my adult home.

But the simple premise that everything needs a proper storage place, or it will end up floating around as clutter forever, is one I’m now subscribed to. By borrowing a bit of what I like from both methods, finally I feel on top of all of my stuff.

Bring on the drawer dividers, make-up towers and new shelving. It’s ironic that my quest to pare down begins with new purchases, but I am soon singing the praises of storage solutions.

Finally, I can see and appreciate the things I own, previously stuffed in heaps and piles. Now I know where to find that jumper I bought last winter, and can reach for it easily.