Secrets of an Organized Mom: From the Overflowing Closets to the Chaotic Play Areas: A Room-by-Room Guide to Decluttering and Streamlining Your Home for a Happier Family

This book is amazing. I'm a mom of four and with each passing year get more and more unorganized. Before kids I just had a little bit of clutter. I wasn't worried. I knew it was just the matter of me putting in the time to handle it. What I didn't realize was I was not good at upkeep and with each child, their toys and clothes and my clutter stayed cluttered with more adding to it. Especially when school started and so much paper was brought home. Add to the insurance and doctors and that paperwork. I no longer had any brain to spare to organizing even though I have basic organizing skills.I saw this book at the library. Checked it out. I read a chapter and thought I really like how she writes. It's informative, engaging, and reassuring that I'm not alone in my chaos.I started on the room that bothers me the most just like she recommends. My dreaded game room. A huge task and no small undertaking but within a week I feel so good about the process made. The kids and I only worked a few hours in the evening because of schedules but seeing the progress gave us the oomf we needed to keep going.What I like best about this book is how I don't have to come up with the strategy myself. I just don't have the brain power to do that. I'm so tired and this author knows that. She point blank says how to handle each item in a way I've not seen explained before.She doesn't just say make a decision to keep, donate or trash. She explains how to come to that decision. She gives expanded thoughts behind how to come to a decision that takes away any guilt I usually feel about throwing something out or donating it. Those two things are what really set her apart from other organizing books.In fact, as I read aloud to my husband, who is frugal by nature and realizes my bookshelves are packed with books so much that books are on the floor in front of them...he said why don't I buy the book so I don't have to keep going to the library to continually check it out. I've tried quite a few organizing books, purchased and borrowed, and none have inspired as much as this one. My husband can vouch for that.

There are oganizing guides and then there is this book. Stuff you wish you knew before you moved out on your own, got married and had kids etc. Stuff like how many towels you should have, what actually belongs in your utlity room, toy organization, what you need in your kitchen. She pulls no punches. Its exactly what the kind of book that tells you and asks you questions for each area of your house and then breaks it down in to steps. Love the steps she gives and her style of writing. I bought his on Kindle and now I'm buying in hard copy to give to my kids :-)

I have this book on loan from the library and have renewed it three times. I am a single working mother, so it is taking me a long time to get through it and my mess of a house....one room and one closet at a time. Since I just received yet another 'due in three days' email notification this morning, I am about to order it on the Kindle.There is a lot of excellent advice in this book. Much of it you can find online for free; much of it is common sense, such as donating or trashing things that haven't been used in a year. Most of it is available in other organizing books I've read over the years. To be truthful the main reason I am buying this one is simply because it is the one in front of me, now, and by getting it on the Kindle I will have it available indefinitely without adding more clutter to my bedside table.The one thing I don't agree with so far, and the reason I am giving this book four stars instead of five, is the author's recommendation to keep a bare minimum pantry. That is foolishness. Keeping a decent-sized stockpile of water and shelf-stable foods and a method of cooking if the power and gas go out is simply a wise thing to do in these uncertain times even if you are not a zombie-apocalypse prepper, In the event of a natural disaster, grocery and hardware stores will be emptied in hours if you can even reach one safely. Aside from that, you never know when the economy is going to go south again. I have a friend whose husband went through a prolonged period of unemployment and her stockpile enabled her to feed her family for several months, with only occasional trips to the grocery store for milk and fresh veggies when her church's food pantry did not have those available. Because of her stockpile, the tiny bit of money they had coming in from unemployment could go towards paying the mortgage and keeping the lights on, instead of towards groceries.. She was even able to dig into her own stockpile and help another family out when THAT family's main breadwinner lost his job. So I say ignore the author's advice to 'let a store be a store'. Put aside a decent closet or pantry area in your house, and start building an emergency stockpile (6 months to 1 year is the ideal, but even a month is a start).Food storage is the only thing I disagree with the author on so far. I know some reviewers have criticized the author for some of her 'expensive' advice...matching clothes hangers, matching storage containers...but I think that is great advice. Space saving hangers can free up a lot of closet space, and having matching containers that stack evenly to store the things that you do need to keep but use less often, such as seasonal clothing, helps save space and reduce the appearance of clutter.

I recommend this book to everyone (especially anyone with a busy schedule).. It's well written and easy to follow. Some great tips !!I initially bought it as a gift.....but I have purchased one for myself. I love the way it is written and the way it flows. Easy to follow guidelines.I was a fairly organised person........but I picked up some great tips that has made my life so much easier to manage. some great time management tips too .. once you apply these, you will have more time in your life.. you will appreciate this.I highly recommend this book to anyone.

Right before bed is not the best time to read this because you'll find yourself thinking, "yes! I'll start right now! " but your family is asleep and it might not be nice to wake them in your enthusiasm. I love the step by step approach. I have multiple hot spots and I think if I do as advised, schedule 2 hours per area, I may start seeing success and let my anxiety.

This is a quick read and organized by room so you can read the sections that apply to you. She has some simple mantras ("Your house is not a store. Let a store be a store.") that are easy to remember and apply. She adds a touch of friendly ruthlessness when it comes to disposing sentimental items but that is what some of us need. Highly recommended to help conquer the clutter.

Very obvious tips. Did not learn anything new.