Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - From Students to Improvements - full transcript

-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.

The KonMari Method is unique

because I organize by category,
rather than by location.

In the KonMari Method, we tidy
five categories in a specific order.

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.

You didn't see me
wash my hands before,

but I want you to know
I washed my hands before.

- Okay. Good.
-Okay.

In case you were worried about that.

Hi, my name's Frank,

and I have lived in this happy home
for a little over two years now.

My name is Matt and I have lived here
a little over three years.

Oh, so it's not a happy home for you.
Okay. Alright. Cool.

Thanks!

I can never find
the spice that I want, ever.

Do you have any idea what artichokes
look like when they're done?

They're just tender.
I don't know what they look like.

We are a classic love story.

We opened an app and swiped right.

-Mm-hmm.
-And that's, uh, how we met.

And Matt moved fast.

It was like, "Let's go on a date,"
and I'm like, "Okay, sure."

We went to this bar near my house

and Matt goes to the bathroom,

he comes back and I'm like,
"Oh, do you want a second drink?"

He just grabbed my face and kisses me,
and I was like,

"Okay, okay."

So we go back to my place
on Friday night.

Matt does not leave until Monday morning.

We keep canceling everything we have
so we can hang out with each other.

So, at the end of this 62-hour date,
we have said, "I love you,"

and said that we want to be
in a relationship

and stay together forever.

For those keeping score at home,

this was after three dates
and a week and a half of dating.

We're still here three years later, so...

- So, I talked to my mom...
- Mm-hmm?

But what do we have to do
before they get here?

Um...

I don't know, just make
the place look presentable would be nice.

-That's a good start.

My parents have not visited me
in California since I moved here,

actually, five years ago.

I love my family,
but I'm also really nervous

for them to come visit because...

if you were to walk through our home,

you'd think
that college students live here.

We very rarely make the bed.

Between us,
we accumulate a lot of stuff.

I feel like both of us have things
from our college days

that are in our closets.

Yours I'm more worried about.
Yours has melted cough drops on the floor.

Oh! That one came up. That's good.

-Busted!
-Busted!

I'm proud of our place,

but it definitely can use
that extra oomph.

It's just not quite there. And, I yeah...

And I want it to be
before your parents get here.

Our home is
a reflection of our relationship.

So if our home isn't in harmony,

I feel like they might worry
that this might be just temporary.

-So...
-Yeah, I could see that.

It'd be nice if it looked nice for them,
for sure.

My parents, they've met Matt,
they love him,

but just to see that, like,
the life we've created together

is something to be, like, admired.

I think if they take our home seriously,

they'll be taking
our relationship seriously,

and that's what we want,
to make sure they know this is...

We're gonna be here for a while
and we're gonna be together forever.

Tidying not only changes
your home or life,

but it also allows you to create a space
that suits your ideal self.

Frank and Matt are

a young couple wanting to live
a more mature lifestyle.

I am so happy to be able to support them
during their transition into adulthood.

-Hello.
-Hi.

Nice to meet you!

-Very nice to meet you.
-Hi, I'm Iida, Miss Marie's interpreter

-Sure, nice to meet you.
-Hi, nice to meet you.

-I'm Frank, this is Matt.
-Ah!

-Hello!
-Hi.

-It's very clean in here.

-Thank you.
-Thank you.

-We wanted it to look clean for you.

So I'd love to get a little bit of a tour
of your space.

-Of course.
-That'd be great.

So, this is our living room.

We, uh, watch a lot of TV.

-We have all our board games here.

Yeah, and some pictures,
postcards, and stuff.

Some books and we also have
all our DVDs are here...

-...on those shelves with some books.

Every space I've ever had,
my parents referred to as a college dorm.

And so I don't know that I've given them
every reason to, like,

respect me as an adult.

That's why I really want the place to...

look like someplace they can trust me
as an adult to live in.

And I want them to see, like,
we've got a handle on it.

-Mm-hmm.
-We're good, you raised us right.

Well, me, they didn't raise you.
But, yeah.

I write at the desk a lot.

I'm a writer, too, so I usually,
will be just working here.

This is my sort of station here.

What kind of writer are you?

I'm a TV comedy writer.

Do you guys work together?
You're-- As a pair?

-Yeah. No. No.

I don't know if we want to put
that tension on our relationship.

-Still very neat here.

Oh, no. It'll get worse.
It'll get worse.

Okay. Well, before you decide that, um,

so we only have one closet in our bedroom,
so my closet's right here.

Yeah. Take a look. Please, go right ahead.

-Ah!

Yeah. Feel free. There isn't...

Seems to be a lot of things
stuffed deep in there.

-There's a world in there, yeah.

- Wow, it's so deep.
-Yeah.

I see there's a place to hang
clothes all the way in the back.

- Yep, that there is.
-Oh, wow! Okay.

Oh, wow. Look how deep it goes.
Yeah. Oh, my goodness!

In terms of storage space,
this is very nice.

So most of your clothes, Frank,
are in here?

In the room there is still a dresser
where I have, like, a lot of other stuff.

-Okay, the rest of the the…
-Sure, yeah.

So, next, we have
the kitchen in here.

Our pantry is open,
so you can kind of see the chaos.

This is where we keep our dishes.

I see a little bit of clutter now.
Okay. Okay.

I think the kitchen might be
our most disorganized area.

-For sure.
-Yeah.

We'd accumulated stuff
over the years

because we had roommates come and go

and some people just left their stuff.

I hate the kitchen. I get out
of the kitchen as fast as possible.

-And he loves food, so that's actually...
-So that's-- that's been hard.

Somebody who loves food
to just grab it and go.

He just runs into the kitchen
and grabs the snack and runs out.

Yeah, you'd think there were an egg timer,

and the floor would collapse
in a certain amount of time.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

- I'm already getting a vision...

...of how better its going to be.

So, I'm getting very excited.

And then straight ahead
is the bedroom.

These are Frank's drawers here.

They're all very stuffed full.

Uh, pants.

And also there used to be lots
of documents in here that I just got rid.

It was worse, if you can believe it.

-Ah!

What about this?

- Closet. It's pretty bad.
- Closet.

- So, how is this separated?
-Well, this is just mine.

I'm the baby of my family,
so I think I've always been given

a little bit of slack
when it comes to, like, chores.

Definitely kept a messy room.

I rarely made my bed,

which might be part of the reason
why I am so cluttered right now.

I didn't really learn those good habits.

But I've been the baby long enough

and I kind of need to move onto
that next stage.

Although those socks are mine
that you're seeing right in front of you.

Ah!

So, Frank, do you always
reach in here and get your socks?

This is new.
I used to have them in here, but--

It was an attempt to de-clutter this,
but it, uh... yeah.

Growing up, whenever my mom
asked me to clean,

I would just shove a bunch of paper
in my desk and be like, "It's clean."

And that's sort of
what we've done with our closets.

They're overflowing.

There is some closets
we haven't looked at for a long time.

I'm organized in some aspects of my life,
like professionally.

my email inbox is organized. I'm great.

And I just, like,
get frustrated with myself

that I haven't translated that
into into my home life.

It feels like I give it all at work
and I come home and I'm like--

First thing I wanted to ask was

why the two of you felt that you wanted
to go on this tidying journey with me?

I think that we both have felt
that it's a little bit

dorm-like, it's a little bit adolescent.

And I think in particular is you saw
we're good at hiding things

that aren't organized,
so to the outside world

people walk in, and say,
"What's wrong with it?

But, like, we know what we aren't liking.

Has your friends
or family often visit here?
My parents have come around
a couple of times,

but your parents haven't visited at all.

They are coming next month,

so it's especially important
to me to, like,

make the home someplace
that they feel, uh,

welcome as guests and not just as parents
who have to, like,

reorganize or clean or anything.
I want them to just to be here,

have a nice experience, and then go back
to where they came from.

I don't feel actively judged
by my parents, but that being said,

I do feel like I have thrown them
a few curve balls.

I didn't go to medical school.

I am in a gay relationship and...

um...

I don't know why
I'm getting worked up about this.

They're very loving people, but, uh,...

you know, I don't know
that I've always, uh...

It's probably just in me again feeling
like I haven't always made them proud.

I'm sure every kid
goes through that, being like,

"Oh, have I, like, justified my parents
having me and all the expenses."

But, yeah, I want them to see this home
and feel really like,

"We did everything we could for this kid

and he's really taken on everything
we taught him and...

we love him."

It'd mean a lot for them to really be...

...come in here
and see all that

that I'm feeling about this place.

I-- And that's a lot of a meaning
to attribute to a home, but...

it has that for me.

Before we start, I want to first
introduce myself to the home.

If that's okay.

This is a ritual that I do
before we begin.

I think this will do.

So, while I introduce myself,

I would love for you to picture
your vision for your home.

Okay. Very good.

Very good. Thank you so much.

How did you feel
communicating with the home?

I think more so than anything
when I was concentrating,

there was, like, a feeling I had of, like,

just joy of, like, people walking through,

me being happy with how it was,
us being happy.

It's like I want to get that feeling.

It's very important
to have a vision

and to communicate the vision
to your home.

It allows the rest of the process
to go much more smoothly.

So, ready?

-Yeah.
-As ready as we're gonna be.

Just around here.
Just keep it together as much as possible.

-Yeah.
- Almost done.

-Okay. That's it.

- Very good. Well done!

What do you think looking at
all the clothes that you own?

There's so many I don't wear or need.

Definitely looks like a lot more
when I see it piled in one place.

So what we'll be doing

is you'll be going through all
of your clothes one by one

and selecting only the clothes
that spark joy for you.

What does "spark joy" mean for you?

Oh, for me "spark joy" is all about
how my body reacts.

So when you hold an item in your hands
that sparks joy for you,

this is how your body should react.

-Ching!

-Do you understand?
-Yeah. Yeah.

The cute sound that she made
that I'm not gonna translate.

Is there anything that you see
in here that clearly sparks joy for you?

-Yes, definitely.
- Let's try touching that.

That is really cute.

You also should envision
as you go through the selection process.

Like, what do you see yourself wearing
that will make you feel

more mature and grown-up?

So before I visit next time,

please finish,
complete all of your clothes.

This feels like kinda like the last step
to get us to being adults.

And I think we just need that last push.

Like, that push out of the nest
that the mama bird does.

Hopefully Marie can be our mama bird.

I've actually watched Planet Earth,
that doesn't actually happen.

No bird pushes their children
out the nest.

-You're ruining my metaphor.
-I am, but...

but the point stands, uh, yeah.

We need a last bit
of energy and we're gonna get it here.

Uh-huh.

-Thank you so much, guys.
-Thank you.

Bye.

-See you soon. Bye.
-See you soon.

Do I like this? Eh...

Thank you.

See, I feel like I have more socks,
even in my yes collection than you.

I didn't throw out that many,
though, in all honestly.

I just guess I don't have as many.

I'm having trouble connecting to the idea
of items of clothing sparking joy.

See, so far this is everything
I'm keeping here.

I've felt joy from all of it.

I definitely was
an over achiever at school.

Gotten As and I've always grasped
concepts really quickly.

Didn't have to study like a super ton.

So when I'm not getting
the concept right away,

it's kind of like a disconnect of, like...

Like, I'm usually good at this,
what am I-- what am I doing wrong?

I have a few items
that really, like, speak to me,

but then I have a lot that

don't speak negatively,
but don't speak positively.

I feel like are in-- in the in-between.

My policy for that is sort of like
if the answer isn't yes, it's no.

I know. That's what it should be.

What I've noticed is the stuff
that sparks joy, like,

I honestly have that like, "Oh!" reaction
that Marie was talking about.

I do have it with some of my clothes,
but not...

a lot, and that's why I'm not filtering
as well as you, probably.

I'm not really listening to myself.

I'm not always
emotionally available.

I'm not the most emotional person.

Ever since I've been little
I've been shy and, like,

I've had a few close friends
that I'm really close with,

but then everyone else, not so much.

Sometimes I can seem cold
and a little bit distant to people,

so kind of just opening up
as the process goes along

would be a good first
stepping stone to that.

I think I need to...

re-focus.

I think I've gotten a little too--
a little bogged down

and have become a little precious.

Yeah, I feel like
if you're not sure, you keep it.

Yeah. That's fair.

When I get to the ties,
I might ask you to weigh in

because I feel like you have
a good sense of color,

and I don't want to throw away something
where I'm just inaccurately assessing

what I can pair it with.

Neckties are important
accessories for men.

So let's store them with respect.

Store neckties in boxes

to keep them organized.

- Hi!
-Hi!

-Hi. Nice to see you again.
-Nice to see you again!
-Nice to see you.
-Good to see you!

-Hi. Nice to see you.
-Hi. Good to see you.

- Is that what I think it is?

-What you're letting go?
- Yes.

-That is a great amount. Very well done.

And let's tackle the books
and paper categories next.

-Yeah.
-Yes!

So let's take out every single book
from the house and collect it in one spot.

Is that yours? No, it's mine.

So, the process is the same
with clothes.

Take every single book into your hands
and see if it sparks joy for you.

How do you fold the books, though?
I don't see how that works.

Books, you don't fold.

-You read them.

But with books, you also want
to ask this question to yourself.

By having these books, will it be
beneficial to your life going forward?

Books are the reflection

of our thoughts and values.

So by tidying books,

it will show you what kind of information

is important to you at this moment.

- Good over there, yeah.

Which one is this? Spark joy or no?

-Definitely, yes.

-Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is this difficult for you,
going through the books?

Uh...

Yeah.

I assume you always love to read.

Uh, yeah, ever since I was a kid.

Like, when the Scholastic Book Fair
would come to our school

that was, like,
the biggest day of the year.

What's your number one book
that you will never let go?

-Is there such a book?
-I think...

To Kill A Mockingbird really sparked
with me and connected

back in high school when I first read it.

- Will you try touching that for me?
- Mm-hmm.

Yeah, definitely, like,

I can remember reading it in high school
for the first time.

Um, yeah,

it's a def-- It's like a for sure,
like, just immediate.

Books like that
are very useful for you

because that's the spark of joy
that you should be feeling.

Mm-hmm.

To Kill A Mockingbird
really inspired me a lot.

I still read it about once
every two years.

Um...

And, uh, I just...

really connected to the characters
and it really inspired me

to want to be a writer myself.

Um, so when I hold this,
I kind of feel this warm sensation,

and it slowly dawned on me just, like,

"Oh, this is what you're supposed
to be feeling

when you have that spark of joy."

The ones that I didn't feel connection to,

it was immediately clear
that I was ready to let those ones go.

I think that you really honed
your sensitivity to joy

through going through these books.

-Yes.
-I definitely feel that way.

I think with books I feel more
of a connection

than I do with clothes, where I'm just
trying to, like, look decent,

and I don't put that much energy into it.

Where books I've spent the time with them,

so I'm more connected to them.

The moment you realize what it means

to spark joy comes to people
at different times.

As you continue to tidy,
your sensitivity to joy will be honed.

So there will be an "aha" moment

when you realize what it means
for something to spark joy.

So even though you decided
to keep items now,

you may feel that you want to

revisit those items again
later on in the tidying process.

I'm done, so...

-All done. Oh, my goodness!

You can move on to
the next category, actually.

So can you make a pile of paper
on the dining room table?

You bet I can.

Thank you.

And done.

-Oh! Well done.
-Thank you.

And now you can see Frank's paper mess
that he's just starting on.

- Oh, and he's still going.
- I heard that!

Frank does not let go of any papers.

He still has notes
from, like, high school,

and he puts a lot of emotion
and memories in those notes.

I'm aware of my problem, I guess,

because I see them stored
all over the house.

So I knew the amount was too high,

but in order to veil that from myself,
I increased the number of locations.

I get very sentimental about cards.

Yeah, well this one I'm keeping for sure.

So this is, like, sort of history
into why I started writing.

There was a bunch of, like,
Power Rangers fan fiction.

- Ah!

Scrap in here.

How old were you
when you wrote those?

So this goes back
from when I was a teenager to, like...

this was just a couple years ago.

I have a great appreciation
for my childhood.

I grew up very happy in my house,
and as a result I've kept a lot

of like, you know, little drawings I had,
even from, like, age eight or something,

and I've kept those just for, like,
inspiration and comfort and warmth

and I'm worried that, like,
I'll want to hang on to everything.

I feel like for me,
this actually might be the hardest.

Discovering what's
difficult for you

is just the whole point
of this process, too,

which is understanding what sparks joy.
It's the things that are
the most meaningful to you

that are the hardest.

He loves books
and I love just writing a lot, so...

The trick to keeping
paper documents in order

is to have a designated spot in the house.

Papers you decide to keep
can be divided into three categories.

The first category is pending documents.

Pending documents are papers

that are waiting for you

to take action upon,
such as letters and bills.

The second category
is important documents.

Important documents are papers

that you need to keep permanently,

such as contracts and insurance forms.

The last category is
miscellaneous documents.

Miscellaneous documents are papers
that you refer to often,

such as recipe cutouts from magazines,

or papers from a seminar you attended

that you frequently go back to read.

Oh, boy. I wrote some
angsty songs in college.

But, like, on a serious note,

I think I started songwriting when I was,

like, coming to terms with, like,
having gay feelings,

and I didn't kinda get it yet.

It got me through some hard times
writing songs, so, huh.

You're ready to let that go?

Part of me feels like I should save these.

I attribute a lot of emotional value
to papers,

like, because even today,
going through them, I was like,

"Oh, this was the first script I wrote
that, like, did well in a competition.

This is, like, when I first had
my creative inklings about this concept,"

and so it's hard for me to let things go.

That's funny.
Now I wonder if I should keep it.

- I can't do the papers.
-They're all yours.

I like papers. I've always liked papers.
-I just like...
-I think it's really just about

what-- like, the ones that really you feel
like are particularly sparking your joy.

I love Matt and want the best for him,
but, man,

there is like a total flip
from, like, clothing to papers

that I was not anticipating.

I totally understand
his frustration before,

and it doesn't feel good to be
the one at the back of the class.

You want to feel like
you're really taking it on.

I sorted the mail already,
so this is your new mail right here.

-Great. Thank you, Matthew.
-Yep.

-Appreciate this.
-You're welcome.

-Hi.
-Hi!

-Nice to see you.
-Hi, Marie. Nice to see you again.

Come on in.

-Oh, we have gifts! Exciting!
-Yes.

Yes. We have a lot of boxes.

Oh! Perfect. Okay.

So today's category will be
miscellaneous items.

I'm a catastrophizer,

and it means to prepare for
the worst case scenario doomsday,

but, like, at all times.

Someone who catastrophizes,
it's a problem in your home

because you think,
"What if I need this one?"

You just sort of keep everything.

But then it's ultimately useless

'cause you don't
remember where it is when you need it.

Do we have an earthquake kit
at all prepared?

-No.

No, nothing
that for an actual emergency.

Matt, I'm gonna make a box of stuff
that I don't think I need,

-but I want your opinion on it, too.
- Okay.

Do you know what all these cords are for?

Some of them I can. A lot of them I can't.

A lot of them I'm not sure why
they were in there in the first place.

I was thinking we could use one
of these drawers for electronics.

Okay.

Out of the miscellaneous items,

electronic gadgets tend to become a mess.

The goal is to store things in a way

where you can see everything one look.

TIPS ON STORING MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS:

1 COMBINE BOXES TO COMPARTMENTALIZE

2 STORE EVERYTHING STANDING UPRIGHT

ESPECIALLY, SMALL ITEMS
SUCH AS USB DRIVES AND MEMORY, CARDS

Thank you.

What kind of things are you letting go
would you say?

Um, just random things that were,
like, boxes for electronics a lot. Um...

From my first visit
to Disneyland out here.

I just don't think I need it.

-Oh, I'm torn. Matt, I'm too sentimental.

Never mind, I take it back,
it brings me joy.

Thank you.

- Look at you, Matt.
- It's a lot less.

You've made such huge progress.

Thank you.

I feel guilty, because I see
how much work Matt is doing

and I feel like I'm not helping him.

Ever since the paper assignment,

I have this block against
letting go of things.

And that triggers some disappointment
in myself and...

-Pfft. Hey.
-Hey.

I'm done with the, uh,
Christmas and holiday drawer.

-love you.
-I love you, too.

Alright. I think I'm feeling
a little anxious 'cause I feel like

we haven't gotten rid of anything yet
and it's making me a little...

-Yes.
-...feel crowded, I guess.

Frank is usually the more outgoing person,
the person with more energy,

so when he, um,
is feeling a little bit less...

self-confident,

it definitely puts a damper on things.

Just because his energy
feeds into my energy.

Feel like I'm really glad my parents
aren't coming for another, what,

like, week and a half?

-Mm-hmm.
-Because we are not ready at all.

So just trying to stay positive

and help inspire him
'cause he did that for me during clothes.

-Medium plates, do we need 12? To...
-No. It feels extreme.

We don't need to throw out
just to throw out.

-Like I'm fine having nine.
-No, if it sparks your joy.

It's not the number and--

No, but I'm--

I meant using the number
as, like, a guideline.

Yeah, yeah.

Matt can be a little
quieter sometime,

so to see him projecting opinions
so openly about the home,

it made me really happy and inspired

that I wanted to, you know,
keep up with him,

and not like-- especially because
he was experiencing a positive moment,

I didn't want to take away
from it by being, like,

you know, sad sack, so I was like, "Okay,
I have to kind of muscle through this."

I find myself gravitating
towards these,

perfectly honest, but how do you feel?

We don't use small plates all that often,
so this would be an extreme amount.

So I'm good letting these go.

-Okay.
-Thank you.

I don't like either of these,
so I'm good with these leaving.

Thank you.

Twenty, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26.

- Yeah.
-We have 26 mugs.

Thirteen for each.
That seems totally reasonable.

For two people.

In some ways I think, like, having ties
to childhood makes you less of an adult,

so it's incumbent upon me
to know, like,

what really is valuable and meaningful,

and what I'm just sort of afraid
to not hold onto anymore.

I think fear isn't a good reason
to hold onto things.

It should be, you know,
something positive, like happiness.

Plastic knives.
I don't know if people really use knives.

Knives we have a ton of.
I think let it go, let it go.

Yeah. I don't feel like we ever cook
a quantity of food large enough

that we'd really need this. Thank you.

I'm definitely proud of Frank.
He puts a lot of memories
into these things,

so it wasn't easy for him
letting go of stuff.

But now I feel like we're both finally
on the road to adulthood.

Oh, yeah. We're gonna make
some people very happy today.

Where are we going?

We're going to Out of the Closet
to donate our clothes.

And other objects.

I feel like we're on
the homeward stretch.

Like, it feels like we've conquered
so much in the house already,

like, getting through some
of the miscellanea today

made me feel like,
"Okay, we're, like, coming on the end.

Knowing I have this home that, like,

is getting to where I want it to get
and will eventually

is just, like, giving me an extra boost

that I'm-- for which I'm very grateful.

We are off to Goodwill to donate the rest!

And I think that will be it,
believe it or not.

-Hello.
- Hi!

-Hi.
-Nice to see you.

Nice to see you, Marie!
Hi, Iida, nice to see you again!

-Hi. Nice to see you guys.
-Hi.

-How was homework?

A lot, but we actually got
all the way through it, yep.

-Oh my gosh! Let's go see it! Can't wait!

-Lead the way.
-Okay.

Here it is.

- Linen closet.
- Linen closet.

Oh, my goodness!
Look at how neat it looks!

Mm-hmm.

And it's washcloths
and hand towels.

Oh! Beautiful!

So beautiful!

Breathtaking.

This makes it so much easier
to see where everything is.

Before everything was, like, exploding
out of it. It feels much easier now.

I feel really good. I, like, want
to invite a lot of people over now,

so I can, like, open up the closets,

be like, "See how organized we are?
Look at this."

I'm growing up and moving on

and this is the time
where I think we're gonna

have a home that we're very proud of.

Wonderful. Okay, let's go
to the kitchen. Can't wait to see.

So we reorganized,
and sorted all the food,

and made this our kind of breakfast area
with our coffee maker and toaster.

- It looks like a store.

-Oh my gosh!

I feel like I am the adult
that I'm presenting to the world.

I'm not hiding my messy
true self anymore.

We are stronger for doing this because,

you know, it challenged both of us
in different ways.

I had to sort of let go of some things
to which I was clinging,

and Matt over time learned
to, like, vocalize his emotions.

So, I think it helped us
address things within our self.

I definitely feel like I've become
more emotionally open,

and I finally felt that, like,

"Wow, like, I really am feeling
that spark of joy."

I did want to have that feeling
and bring it through the rest of my life

because you're just
a happier person, honestly.

So how do you feel now
that you've reached the end?

I'm very proud of our home
and happy with, uh, the work we've done,

and really grateful for you teaching us.

Yeah. I believe your parents
will be pretty shocked

to see how tidy this home is.

- "Shocked" is the word.

It really feels like
our lives are changed

because you came and helped us,
so thank you.

I don't think it would've been done
if you hadn't come in here and helped us.

I'm so glad to hear that.
Thank you.

I think my parents are gonna be
really happy with what they see

and they're gonna feel that we've really
created this home for ourselves

as adults, which makes me
very happy to think about.

-Keep in touch.
-Thank you.

Bye!

Thank you.

-I'm sad to see her go.
-Oh!

- You miss her already.
- Mm-hmm.

I think Frank's parents are not
gonna be worried about him

being with me 'cause
this place looks so nice, so...

In large part to you, so...

And you. It was a team effort.

I suppose you're not nervous at all
'cause they're not your parents.

I am nervous.
I want them to like it, of course I do.

Ah, Matt, I got a tiny fleck
of beet on me.

Oh, it's fine. That's barely--

-You sure?
-Yeah.

Don't put water on it

'cause that's gonna look wet
when your parents get here.

This visit from my parents
is a big thing for me

because this home is a symbol of my, uh...

my relationship with Matt
and my relationship with my parents,

my relationship with the world.

So it's vital that they like
what they see.

Okay.

-Hi.
-Hi, Frankie!

Hi. How are you?

-Wow!

Hi.

It looks really nice!

This isn't what I was expecting.

I thought I'd show you guys everything

just 'cause we've been doing
a lot of folding,

and sort of compartmentalizing
techniques with Marie.
-Oh, I love that.
-And this is our dining room.

-How pretty.
- Then I can show you my closet.

-It was very disorganized until recently.
- Well, this I gotta see.

-Yeah, this is it.
-Wow!

We got all my shirts,

my sweaters.

Oh, this is cute.

I'm gonna reheat the chicken for you guys.
That's a cake for later.

-You cooked for us?
-It wasn't-- Of course I did!

Anyhoo, so, yeah, we have just
a limited number of pots and pans,

so you can grab what you need.

And then we tried to pare down
how many things we have.

That way we have, like, you know,
our mugs, our cups, our plates, our bowls.

That looks really nice.

Frankie has never failed us.

He is a wonderful, wonderful guy.

He's one of those guys
that always does the right thing

and makes the right decisions in life.

And I'm very happy he's my son.

What I'm most proud about Frankie
and what he's done

is that he's matured as a person,

and it shows in how he's living
and how he's organized his life.

Imagine that you've had a son
living with you,

and you see his room,

which wasn't the best.

And then you see him in college,
which really was bad.

And now to see a difference
tells me that he went forward.

I'm very proud of him.

Down here are sort of some accessories.

-Oh, wow!
-Oh, wow!

-I love the way that looks!
- Look at the ties.

-This one I like. I can take that one.
-No. No. No.

The fact that he and Matt,
as a partnership, agreed to do this,

it just makes you
feel good about the two of them.

I'd love to see them together
for a long time,

'cause they're really good partners.

Are you guys hungry?
Do you want us to serve you lunch?

-Did Matt supervise?
-I supervised.

Okay, I feel better. I'll eat it, yeah.

-Great. Let's go to the kitchen.
-Let's go to the kitchen.

They said everything I wanted them to say
without being prompted,

-which made me so happy.
-No prompting.

I know.

I've always been proud
of the place,

but now it's just like tenfold
of what I was feeling before,

and it's nice to just see

such a positive reaction
from your parents, for sure.

I feel our union is very, um,

you know, respected by them, and...

Not that I didn't believe in it before,

but it's always good
to have family on your side.

And here's a toast to the two of you.

May you always be happy in this house

and everywhere else that you live.

- Thank you.
- God bless you both.

♪ One place means everything to me ♪

♪ Na-na-na-na-na-na-na ♪

♪ One magic carpet's all I need ♪

♪ Na-na-na-na-na-na-na ♪

♪ One face that waits to smile for me ♪

♪ Let's go back to that no place ♪

♪ No place like home used to be ♪

♪ Na-na-na-na-na-na-na ♪

♪ No place like home ♪

♪ Na-na-na-na-na-na-na ♪

♪ No place like home ♪