75/100 How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana K White

This is a re-read. My life feels out of control due to circumstances outside of my control, re-reading this book and other organization books remind me of what I need to do.

White leads us through her journey of getting her life under control. She is very relatable, describing everything she is thinking and the excuses that we all come up with and how to get around them. She simplifies all of the complicated steps many other organizers have you go through, the best example is: ’Where WOULD I look for this?’. Not using should, or the best place for this, just where would I look. All of the advice in this book is dead simple, nothing earth shattering, unless you didn’t know the information and then it is a revelation.

White makes no bones about it, this is not a book for someone with a bit of extra stuff, it is for someone that is terrified of company coming over because you don’t want them to see your house. This is a book for people that have trouble ’adulting’ as my best friend says. If you pull everything out to declutter in one great big gesture and then forget about it when life gets in the way, then you need this book.

I enjoy listening to this book, it reminds me that I am not the only one with these problems. I can get over/around/through this because I know what I need to do.

74/100 The Home Edit by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin

Previous Review: I did enjoy this book, however I find the first part of the title to be a bit of a misnomer. The book I read previously, Decluttering at the Speed of Life, was much more of a book on home editing. I did enjoy listening about some of the techniques that they employed to get things within the home organized, they use a ton of plastics beware, however I think that this is more of a last step book for me. When I’m done filling my containers and getting rid of the excess, then I will go back and listen to this book again. This is a good book, just not for the stage of decluttering I am in.
Added Review: This book is not about how to edit your home, however it is about how to organize your home in a visually pleasing way. These authors own an amazing business, I recommend you follow their instagram, where they go into peoples homes and organize their belongings in a way that works for that person or family. This is very inspirational as to what your home can look like when time and attention is taken. If you are just starting your decluttering journey, do NOT START with this book! This will make you think, ‘Well, I’m too disorganized/lazy to ever have my home look like this’. If you think this, check out any of the ClutterBug information. As I mentioned in the previous review these individuals use a lot of clear plastic containers and are firm believers in organizing (everything) according to the rainbow colors.

68/100 The Home Edit: Stay Organized by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin

If you are looking for groundbreaking information that adds quite a few new tips onto the original Home Edit book, then this probably is not what you are looking for. Most of this book seems, at my first listen through, to be a condensed read through of the original Home Edit book. There is more emphasis on organizing in a way that is sustainable, and meets you where you are, but most of the tips and tricks are based on their original book. If you don’t want to read the original book then this might be a good jump into the Home Edit ‘lifestyle’ and if you really like it go back and read the first book. Good if you’re getting into this organization method, perhaps if you’re looking for some action plans or reasons why you are not staying organized. I’d refer people to Cassandra Aarson’s books that go over ‘clutterbugs’ and why you organize the way you do since those books helped me quite a bit.

61/100 The Home Edit by Clea Shearer and

This is another reread. I have posted my previous two reviews below, they are both still applicable. There is a new book in this series geared toward keeping your home tidy that I hope to read this year.

42/100 Big Dreams, Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe

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Big Dreams Daily Joys

This book reads more like an autobiography. Those there are several lovely nuggets of advice within the pages. I did find this to be very inspirational as the author speaks about how they go about making sure that they have sufficient time and energy to accomplish their goals. There are definitely promotions for their particular journals that they created. However, they do it knowledge that you need to use whatever resources work for you not necessarily what they have created. If you’re looking for some inspiration, advice and achievable ways to accomplish large goals, then this is a good book to help you get started.

32/100 Declutter Your Home and Simplify Your Life by Sophie Largen

This is not a good starting place for decluttering. Admittedly it is an overview of a wide variety of decluttering styles, I can almost hear the different Decluttering styles I have read about over the years being condensed in this very short audiobook. I suppose if you do not know what style will work for you this may be a good starting point. This very well-organized author has accomplished much in their life and I can easily see how this would work for them. The idea of decluttering being the only real move you need to make to clear out your house and get it organized. This is a good quick reminder of some decluttering ideas however I would look for a longer book with a style that fits you more than this.

25/100 Cozy Minimalist Home by Myquillyn Smith

This author has a very unique, slow, methodical way of home decorating. They are very big believer in making sure that all elements in your home work together. They have some very good points about making sure that your rugs and drapes are what you like first and then building the rest of your room around those. They have interesting ideas about painting, thinking that that is easier than changing out rugs and drapes, I can see where they’re coming from though I’m not sure I agree. They’ve done a bit of research and have looked into what are good sizes for certain artworks in proportion to the rest of the room. One of their ideas is that a room should not be completely comprised of a singular style, and something else for contrary style should be introduced to create balance. A lot of what they say makes sense, personally I am a crafter, so I am not certain that this would work for me since I do need a wide variety of supplies to not only enjoy my hobby but to do my job. And a few of the phrases that they choose to use are effective but disgusting. All in all, if you’re looking for unique way of decorating or seeing your house, and this might be a good read for you. If you’re just looking to declutter, or to create a cozy home, I do recommend other books.

22/100 The Home Edit by Clea Shearer, Joanna Teplin

Re-Read of a well loved book. This is not my favorite organization book, however it ranks right up there.

Previous Review:

This book is not about how to edit your home, however it is about how to organize your home in a visually pleasing way. These authors own an amazing business, I recommend you follow their instagram, where they go into peoples homes and organize their belongings in a way that works for that person or family. This is very inspirational as to what your home can look like when time and attention is taken. If you are just starting your decluttering journey, do NOT START with this book! This will make you think, ‘Well, I’m too disorganized/lazy to ever have my home look like this’. If you think this, check out any of the ClutterBug information. As I mentioned in the previous review these individuals use a lot of clear plastic containers and are firm believers in organizing (everything) according to the rainbow colors.

20/100 World’s Best Life Hack by Sara Devos

I started this a long time ago on my Kindle App and have only recently returned to reading ebooks instead of just audiobooks. If you enjoy looking at Pinterest, hacks and checking out different hacks available on TikTok, then this is the book for you. This book takes a look at all of those hacks, well, maybe not all of them, but quite a few different hacks, and decides which ones work and which ones do not. They only include the ones that work in this book, it is very illustration heavy so there isn’t a ton of text. I really enjoyed looking through this, it gave me some ideas for what I can do in my own home as well as a few hacks that I’m probably going to use to get organized a bit more. Right now my favorite one is painting stones glow in the dark and using that in landscaping. I will probably also start filing my T-shirts as opposed to storing them horizontally. For some great hacks, and a quick read this is definitely a book to look into.

19/100 Real Life Organizing by Cassandra Aarssen

If you were looking for a good way to get your house, back under control, or under control for the first time, then this is definitely the book for you. Cassandra tends to describe organizing in terms of clutter bugs. This is her way of defining different styles of organization, it does sound weird, but when you actually take the test to find out what kind of a clutter bug you are everything kind of starts to make sense. Well, I don’t like to admit that I am a butterfly, this does help me to understand why I organize the way I do and why traditional organization methods have never worked for me . Even with this realization, it is hard work to get your life and your house under control. However, Cassandra manages to find ways that you can take it in individual steps rather than as one big organization project. I will admit this will not work for everyone however, she has made it as accessible as I think is possible. There are different ways to organize and a lot of different books so if Kassandra doesn’t work for you, then maybe Dana K. White is the one for you or perhaps the women of Home Edit.