One of the most interesting parts of our job is being invited into peoples homes to help them make sense of their belongings and their homes. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been working with folks who have such a hard time with clutter and yet own just about every home organizing book that has come out in the past 5 years, a vast array of bins and baskets in every size, shape, and color, and have a thing for planners. It’s tempting to think that the next book or tv show or podcast will offer you a piece of advice that will change everything, but it’s just not the case— we’ve rounded up a few of the top selling organizing books that have come out in the past few years and given an honest review of them here for you. After a while, organizing books can all start to feel like a regurgitation of the same information with a prettier, more on trend image to accompany the age old tips and methods. To be clear, we do have great respect for each of these organizers, authors and creators - it takes a lot of hard work to put a book out in the world. However, if you are feeling the urge to go buy them all, wait it out— consider renting from the library, borrowing from a friend. We’ve linked each book to Amazon but want to give a shout out to our favorite locally owned book store and encourage you to purchase through Union Ave books if you decide to buy one.
Martha Stewart’s Organizing: The manual for bringing order to your life, home and routines
3/5
My favorite thing about this book is the way it was laid out. The book is split into 3 parts. Organize your year (followed by monthly breakdowns), Organize your home (broken down by room), and Organize your routine (broken down by categories). If you have read the Martha Stewart Living magazine, the monthly breakdown format will be familiar. I love getting a peak into a daily calendar example. From holiday prep to eating seasonally, and gardening reminders, the monthly sections offer fun ideas as well as helpful reminders for annual chores and making time for friends and family. In the “organize your home” section, each room begins with tips to evaluate your space and strategize storage along with customized recommendations depending on the function of the room. This section, while helpful is more like what you will find in most organizing books and doesn’t have a whole lot of new information. In the “organize your routine” section, it’s broken down into categories like, cleaning, cooking, entertaining, kids, pets, wellness, gardening etc. Again, this chapter is more or less what you would expect to find in your typical organizing book with supply lists and schedule recommendations. Over all, I liked the flow of the book, makes a good coffee table selection but not necessarily something I would pick up and refer back to often.
The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace what matters, ditch what doesn’t, and get stuff done by Kendra Adachi
5/5
While not specifically a home organizing book, this one is full of really helpful and practical advice about creating and maintaining systems that work for YOU. Some of my favorite concepts gleaned from this books are “deciding once” on a myriad of topics like what to get your kids teachers for Christmas- if you decide for example that you will always give teachers a book, you can pick a different book each year and your decision is a one time thing rather than a frantic scramble every time Christmas comes to figure out what to get them. You can use the same concept for gift giving to kids, in laws, or service workers. Another tip that we love from the book is creating “stuff habits” like practicing the habit of having a plan for where something will go or be stored BEFORE you buy it and bring it home. From meal planning to decision making to scheduling, this book is a great read full of easily applied techniques to help life run a little bit more smoothly.
The Home Edit: A guide to organizing and realizing your house goals
3.5/5
This book is full of really pretty and magazine worthy images. It makes a great coffee table book and is really fun to look through. If you follow The Home Edit on instagram, you already have a good idea of what this book is like. While the pictures and ideas may not be as realistic or relatable for most folks, they do a great job of recommending storage products, label categories, and blogs/social media accounts to follow for inspiration. Their fun and quirky personalities definitely shine through in the text which make it fun to read as well.
The Life changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese art of decluttering and organizing
5/5
We read this book when it came out several years ago and recapped in in a blog entry here if you’d like to see. Of all of the organizing specific books we’ve read over the years, this one always stands out. When this book (and when the tv show) came out, thrift stores across the country noticed an uptick in donations. The straightforward and step by step approach of this book seems to really motivate people to let go. Many times, organizing books focus on storage methods, containers and labeling but this book had such a massive focus on decluttering. Often times the first step in organizing is figuring out if you have a stuff issue, a storage issue, or both. If you have a stuff issue, no storage strategy will help you— it begins with letting go of the items that no longer serve you and your family.
What are some of your favorite organizing books or social media accounts?
