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For Aidan Gately, discovering Marie Kondo’s approach to tidying eventually led to a career change and, he says, more time for walks with his dog, tennis, and the people close to him. His story is one person’s experience—not proof that decluttering will create the same result for everyone—but his practical advice is straightforward: decide what you need before buying storage, and take the work one category at a time.
How the KonMari Method shaped Gately’s path
In an Irish Examiner profile by Home Editor Eve Kelliher, published 1 October 2026, Gately says he first encountered Marie Kondo through her Netflix show. He then read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and enrolled in consultant training in London in 2020.
Gately had worked in arts marketing. After training, he left that field, set up his own business, and began working as a KonMari consultant. He connects working for himself with having more time for walks with his dog, playing tennis, and spending time with friends and family. That is his account of what changed in his life, rather than a guaranteed outcome of tidying or self-employment.
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Gately does not describe his ideal home as minimalist. He says he prefers fewer possessions so he can live in a calmer space and find and choose things more easily. The aim, as he describes it, is not to remove everything but to keep the home manageable and leave room to use it.
#1 Best Overall
- This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.
- Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?
He advises using about 70% of a wardrobe, drawer, or fridge’s capacity, leaving the remainder as breathing room. That percentage is Gately’s personal recommendation in the profile, not an independently established rule or a requirement of the KonMari Method.
Declutter before deciding what storage to buy
For small homes, Gately’s first step is to reduce what needs storing rather than immediately look for more storage. He puts the principle bluntly: “Storage is not that problem — the problem is too much stuff!” Buying containers before sorting can mean paying to store items that are no longer wanted.
Rank #2
- Sort first. Decide which belongings you want to keep, donate, or recycle.
- See what remains. Once the items you are keeping are clear, assess what needs a home and how much space it takes.
- Plan storage last. Choose storage for the remaining items rather than buying it in anticipation of keeping everything.
For seasonal decorations, Gately recommends reusable lidded boxes rather than plastic bags. The profile offers this as general advice; it does not test or endorse a particular box or brand.
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Gately recommends treating the task as a gradual process: “Remember it’s a marathon, not a race; have a system — bags or boxes for Keep, Donate and Recycle and then just start — start with clothes; if you can’t do them all at once, then one sub-category at a time.”
- Set out separate bags or boxes labelled Keep, Donate, and Recycle.
- Begin with clothes, as Gately suggests, rather than trying to tackle the whole home at once.
- If the category feels too large, narrow the session to one sub-category and continue in stages.
This sequence makes the decision about each item come before the decision about where to store it. It also gives you a natural stopping point: finish one sub-category, then decide when to continue.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Gately’s account can—and cannot—tell you
The profile is a personal interview, not an evaluation of the method’s effects. It documents Gately’s own route from discovering Kondo’s work to training and changing careers, along with the tidying advice he gives. It does not establish that decluttering generally creates more free time, validate the 70% suggestion, or compare organising methods.
The profile also reports two different consultant counts: around 12 practising male KonMari consultants worldwide as background about Gately and the field, and almost 1,000 KonMari consultants worldwide, attributed to Gately. It does not describe how either count was compiled, so they should be understood as figures reported in that interview, not verified census totals.
Gately says he read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The book is relevant as part of his personal story; the profile does not say it is required to use the method or review it as a product.
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