Recently there have been a lot of new organizing books published
Many people liked The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (which I reviewed here) but there are some other wonderful new small Organizing Books and here are two, both excellent and quite different in their layout and approach of the same subject matter: Clutter Clearing!
Never Too Busy to Cure Clutter (More than 365 Tips to Maker Room for What’s Truly Important) by Erin Rooney Doland
I kind of feel that if I were to write a book on organizing it would be similar to this in many ways. Erin’s tone here is not one of preaching or stating that in order to successfully banish clutter you must do things in A—>B—>C order. Erin explains for some people priorities may be different, with a different emphasis on areas of the, some being more or less critical depending on your lifestyle. I love that this book is broken down by area of the home, identifying the ‘everyone’s use’ spaces and those that are more ‘private’. This brings me back to my days of doing hospitality work and maybe it would be helpful for you to also think of your home in terms of ‘Public’ and ‘Private’ spaces. Public or everyone spaces such as Entry, Living Room, Dining Room Kitchen and Bath are addressed first and more private areas in the second section. Each section (chapter) is broken down into tasks you can do in 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes or 15 minutes. In this manner she successfully makes it clear that living clutter free means always maintaining your home by doing small tasks with regularity. She reminds us that tasks will take each of us a different amount of time so to be aware of what task you choose and record it right in the book if it takes you more or less time. What I think works well about this book is that by repeating the same format of steps throughout the house but with tasks specific to those areas of the home she illustrates that there is a certain mindset behind living clutter free and she helps you to begin to identify what steps you need to take in each room on a regular basis to make lasting changes in your habits. In breakout sections through out the book she gives hints and tips on resources and tools (techniques, storage, apps, programs). Finally she concludes with some great examples of sample habits and routines including tasks and estimated time that can help us identify what we need to do on a regular basis. Maybe it helps to think of routines as rituals…like our morning ritual, house cleaning ritual, travel rituals etc. I’ve read quite a few small organizing “resource” books and find this one to be jam packed full of excellent practical advice and useful information.
Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness (One-Minute Tips for Decluttering and Refreshing Your Home and Your Life) by Donna Smallin
This book is almost what I would call a “Pocket Guide” to clutter clearing. Open it to the front and you won’t find a chapter index…she dives right into small tips and motivational words to get you clutter busting any time you are in the mood. The book has a warm and cheery energy with orange and gold hues throughout …(I love a books that have creative layout’s that are different!) The whole book is loosely organized by certain areas of the home but open to any given page and on each page you will find a motivational tip, quote or thought provoking mindset topic. In a very lighthearted way she probes into the “why” behind our clutter habits. Along with mantra’s and time savers like “Don’t Just Put it Down, Put it Away” there are a variety of organizing tasks to do within one minute (aprox). By the end she is really helping you to develop new healthy habits that will keep the clutter clear for good. In summary she ends by sharing that clutter comes from our bad habits, setting things down where they don’t belong, not having permanent homes for certain items, not making decisions that will keep us clear of clutter. It really comes down to two things…Commitment to Change and repeatedly following through by acting on these clutter clearing tasks. This is a great book for anyone who struggles with small day to day clutter tasks and keeping in the mindset of changing bad habits.
What Clutter Clearing books have you read or found helpful?
After about 8 hours of set up work (over 2 days) with at least 12 people involved, every last detail had been beautifully arranged. My brother and sister in law put so much of themselves into this production. Since my brother is a sound engineer there were musical themed objects everywhere, my favorite being the menus aka place settings and being in a Scandinavian country there were plenty of hearts!
A couple family members wore
Over at the fort guests were greeted with Champagne and delicious hors d’oeuvres while the couple and family had photo’s taken.
I obviously didn’t take this shot but the best man and talented photographer 
Here he is along with the bride, groom and bride’s gorgeous sister and maid of honor!
Back inside the fort the 
One of the traditions taken care of by the toastmaster is opening all the cards & gifts and displaying them as well as writing it all down! I love this, makes it so much easier for the bride and groom and you don’t have to worry about gifts “walking away”!
We ate Reindeer for our entree! It was delicious, similar to venison but also roast beef (a cross between the two maybe?).
It has been a truly spectacular fall here in Maryland and I will miss the rolling hills, fall color and yes I will even miss the snow a little, but it made a sneak appearance for us last week.
I’m ready for a little more of this!