I speak from experience because within the decade of 2009–2019, I downsized from my enormous home and cleared out both of my parent’s houses. I felt like I was drowning in stuff when I added up all three houses. Lighter Living is a collection of my insights from, and candid reflections on, my journey of owning less. The benefits of lighter living are so broad and deep that they can’t be boiled down to one end result. My hope is that you will find the process of consolidation to be satisfying and fulfilling. That was my experience. My choice of a lighter lifestyle has brought me a greater sense of well-being. In a world that often seems stressful and chaotic, that’s a feeling I cherish.
I love the concept of being able to breathe easier in life and at home. The first part of this book is about getting clear on the intention of decluttering each room. I appreciate that each chapter offers a blessing for that room as well. The second part of the book dives into spiritual decluttering: heart, mental and emotional clutter, relationships, roles, and responsibilities. I particularly love the concept of passing your clutter through the three gates of meaning: "Is it true to my intentions? Do I use it? Is it kind to my heart and spirit?" I enjoyed the gentle nature of this book.
In Breathing Room, Dr. Melva Green, expert on A&E's Emmy-nominated series Hoarders, along with Lauren Rosenfeld, creator of the popular blog Your To Be List, help you find emotional healing and spiritual renewal through the unique practice of decluttering. Whether it's clothing that no longer fits or relationships we've outgrown, we all have burdens and attachments that manifest themselves in our physical living space.
In each chapter, Green and Rosenfeld focus on a different room, showing how each one represents a corresponding place in your heart. The bedroom is for peace and intimacy. The kitchen is for comfort and creativity.…
I am an award-winning producer, author, and member of the Producers Guild of America. One of my fondest memories as a child is coming home from a weekend at my oma’s house to find that my mother had redecorated my room. The bedspread was pink, red, and white and so were the curtains but the main event was the fluffy white pouf of a rug on the floor. Home is a place that has always been important to me, which is why these books have found their way into my library.
Nikki Boyd first started growing her audience on Youtube sharing beautiful images and advice for creating a welcoming, and well-organized home.
Based in Charleston, Boyd is a professional organizer who started organizing as a hobby and built her audience several years before mainstream design magazines recognized her talent. Even if you can’t get it together and organize your own house, looking at the images of her home and the homes of the clients she organizes is a whole lot of zen.
"Professional organizer Nikki Boyd has a gift of transforming a space into a captivating work of art. She sprinkles a little bit of glam and a whole lot of functionality into every space she touches." -Toni Hammersley, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Author of The Complete Book of Home Organization In Beautifully Organized: A Guide to Function and Style in Your Home, Nikki Boyd shares her best advice for how to create an organized, beautiful, and welcoming home. Nikki developed and honed her five essential steps to an organized home through her experience working as a professional organizer. In Beautifully…
You know how most young kids go through a phrase where they ask “why” about everything, and then they ask it again, and again, and again? Well, I never really outgrew that. I studied journalism because it gave me permission to be curious about new things every day, and to ask experts “why.” Marketing gave me a new way to chase my curiosity: Why are people clicking this ad, opening this email, following that social account or searching for that phrase? I’ve helped 30% of the Fortune 100 answer the questions about why their content is working, or isn’t, and my first book, The Content Fuel Framework: How to Generate Unlimited Story Ideas, was born from my introspective curiosity about how my own idea generation process worked.
This book is a hefty one—I recommend the audiobook if you’ve got a bad back—but it will help you understand how your brain works in a way that almost no other book can. And the better you understand your mind, the better you’ll be able to make it do what you want, and how to protect yourself from the things that might otherwise sabotage your creative thinking.
In The Organized Mind, New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin offers practical solutions to the problems of information overload. ___________________________________________________
Overwhelmed by demands on your time? Caught in an unproductive spiral of emails and multitasking?
You're not alone. When we're deluged with information our creativity plummets, our decision making suffers and we grow absent-minded. Nowadays, we drown in our inboxes, forever juggle several tasks at once and try to make complex decisions ever more quickly. This is information overload.
Combining the latest neuroscience with everyday examples, Daniel Levitin explains how to take back control…
I'm the founder of Life Organized Inc, a firm specializing in the organization of people, their lives, and physical spaces. Known for creating solutions that are as aesthetically appealing as they are practical, I transform spaces from the inside out. My areas of expertise include home and office organization, time management, digital decluttering, organizing for academic success, maximizing productivity while working from home, and management of everyday chaos. I'm a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the NYU Stern School of Business.
People who live with clutter and disorganization are far more likely to struggle with weight issues than those who keep their homes orderly. In my years of organizing kitchens and pantries, I’ve seen that buying healthy food is only a small part of healthy eating; organization of that food and meal planning are equally important. In Fridge Love, Kirsten Hong not only shares how to organize your refrigerator so healthy foods are easily accessible, but also shares recipes and meal planning tips.
A one-of-a-kind guide to organizing your fridge-including practical tips for meal prep and storage, plus more than 100 recipes-that makes it easier to eat better, save money, and get the most out of your food
Practicing "fridge love" is a roadmap to eating healthier, saving money, and reducing food waste while enjoying a beautiful and harder-working fridge. This book-part organizational guide and part food-prep handbook-is your guide. Author Kristen Hong adopted a nutrient-dense, plant-based diet in an effort to lose weight and improve her health. But amidst the demands of day-to-day life and a busy family, she found it impossible…
Matan has over a decade of experience at Ecoline and has helped 3500+ clients to renovate their houses. He has earned the title of the best window & door expert of the year for four consecutive years, from 2013 to 2016, helping countless homeowners to create their dream houses. Matan has built a team of 50+ professionals across Canada for Ecoline. His leadership and mentorship have enabled his team to achieve remarkable success, consulting homeowners and helping them choose and install the best products. He looks forward to helping you!
Minimalist is our go-to book for visualizing a simpler, clutter-free lifestyle. I love how helpful it is for envisioning new ideas for smaller spaces. And if you are downsizing, this book will be extra beneficial.
The book is broken down per room, and she guides you through the process in manageable chunks. It makes thinking about a remodel much more straightforward.
Elevate your personal style, trim your belongings, and transform your life, one room at a time, with this visionary lifestyle and home organization book from professional organizing expert, Shira Gill.
“Warm, funny, and direct, Shira builds you up while helping you edit down to the best version of yourself.”—Stacy London, New York Times bestselling author of The Truth About Style
As a professional home organizer with clients ranging from students to multi-millionaires, Shira Gill observed that clutter is a universal stress trigger. Over the years she created a signature decluttering and organization process that promotes sustainability, achieves lasting results, and…
In 2012 I started a minimalist journey, inspired by my 1,500 square foot house that could no longer comfortably contain the possessions belonging to me, my partner, and our then 2-year-old triplets. I was a full-time working mom with little time to declutter, yet I knew that if I didn’t change our home, the stress of our stuff would rob us of valuable space and time to enjoy our young family. Over a period of eight months, I let go of about 70% of our possessions, and I’ve never looked back. I’ve since taught hundreds of thousands of busy parents how to do the same through my blog, book, TEDx, keynotes, classes, and coaching.
I was introduced to this book by a client of mine who, due to her severe ADHD, was struggling to manage her life while pursuing her dream of a graduate degree. I got my own copy and have since recommended it to nearly all my personal clients! This book is written with plenty of bullet points, clear pictures, and open space on the pages to help ADHD brains focus and get the information they need. Although the author addresses readers with ADHD specifically, I think the title of this book should be “Organizing Solutions for Everybody!!!” It’s one of the few organizing books I keep on my own bookshelf.
If you're one of the 10 million American adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), every day is a struggle to keep your home, your office, your electronics, and your calendar organized. Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD, 2nd Edition presents a simple but effective, long-term solution to get you back in control of your life. Written by professional organizer Susan Pinsky, this book outlines a practical, ADHD-friendly organizing approach that emphasizes easy maintenance techniques and methods for maximum efficiency, catering to the specific needs of the ADHD population. Color photos, useful tips, and bulleted lists make this a quick…
I am a clinical psychologist who was surprised to realize that I am both Autistic and an ADHDer in my late 40s. I have always been fascinated by psychology, and now Autism and ADHD have become my areas of “special interest” (“spin”). I have been reading widely to learn more about myself, find practical ways to alleviate the chronic sense of overwhelm I experience and recover from burnout. Most of my clients are also late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults who have complex mental and physical health problems, so the reading I’ve been doing has given me fresh insights to share and helpful strategies we can test out together.
This tiny book taught me how to be more self-compassionate in some very practical ways. On the surface, this book is about housekeeping and chores, but it’s much more than that. When I read this book, I was in burnout, and “doom piles” of unfinished tasks were building up in my home.
KC reminded me that I could unhook from the unrealistic expectations I had of myself, see this mess as “morally neutral,” and understand that my home being messy did not mean I was a failure. She gave me practical strategies to show “kindness to future me,” and I still love how the book has a shortcut way of reading it, with all the key points highlighted, so I can jump back in at any time and find something useful.
This is a book for anyone who is looking for an accessible and gentle way to care for their home - and themselves.
KC Davis, therapist and busy mother of two, will introduce you to six life-changing principles to revolutionise the way you approach domestic work, all without a single to-do list. Inside, you'll learn how to stagger tasks to avoid procrastination, soothe stress by setting priorities, set up your space to work for you... and tackle that ever-mounting laundry pile. With KC's help, your home will feel like a sanctuary again.
I opened my first history book in school at 6 and have been fascinated by how people lived since then. I found the evolution of furniture, interiors, decorations, exteriors, and everything that relates to how we live of the utmost importance if we want to know who we are and why. I am the son of antique dealers, growing up in France, so furniture is my principal domain of expertise, but I always put it in relation to the epoch they are from and the people who used them. I became the go-to of Martha Stewart for antiques and furniture restoration and have been featured in TV shows and magazines regularly.
I find myself consulting this book at least once a week. I know I will find the answer or the advice for every question that may arise in decorating, organizing, cleaning, and simplifying your interior.
I am always in awe of the simplest solutions being the best ones and that Julie and her team always have their pulse on it. Kuddos!
Buy fewer (and better) things. Store like with like. Get rid of the plastic. Display-don't stash-your belongings. Let go of your inner perfectionist and remember that rooms are for living. These are a few of the central principles behind Remodelista: The Organized Home, the new book from the team behind the inspirational design site Remodelista.com. Whether you're a minimalist or someone who takes pleasure in her collections, we all yearn for an unencumbered life in a home that makes us happy. This compact tome shows us how, with more than 100 simple and stylish tips, each clearly presented and accompanied…
I didn’t choose clutter as a topic—it chose me. Around the time Marie Kondo became a tidying-up sensation, my mother suffered a breakdown and could no longer live in her dangerously cluttered house. I’m an only child, so it fell to me to figure what to do with it all. So much stuff! It got me wondering: How did clutter get to be such a huge problem for so many people? The books on this list helped answer that question and made me feel less alone in the struggle with stuff. I hope you find them useful too.
Dealing with a lifetime’s worth of possessions feels like a heavy task—heavy in every sense. In this breezy book, Margareta Magnuson reminds readers that it doesn’t have to be a drag. Figuring out what to do with all your things can be cathartic, liberating, even fun, a chance to relive some of the highlights of your life and celebrate where you’ve landed. It’s also a kindness to your nearest and dearest. As she wisely observes, “A loved one wishes to inherit nice things from you. Not all things from you.” I wish I could go back in time and give a copy of this book to my mother with that passage highlighted.
Dostadning, or the art of death cleaning, is a Swedish phenomenon by which the elderly and their families set their affairs in order. Whether it's sorting the family heirlooms from the junk, downsizing to a smaller place, or using a failsafe system to stop you losing essentials, death cleaning gives us the chance to make the later years of our lives as comfortable and stress-free as possible. Whatever your age, Swedish death cleaning can be used to help you de-clutter your life, and take stock of what's important.
In 2012 I started a minimalist journey, inspired by my 1,500 square foot house that could no longer comfortably contain the possessions belonging to me, my partner, and our then 2-year-old triplets. I was a full-time working mom with little time to declutter, yet I knew that if I didn’t change our home, the stress of our stuff would rob us of valuable space and time to enjoy our young family. Over a period of eight months, I let go of about 70% of our possessions, and I’ve never looked back. I’ve since taught hundreds of thousands of busy parents how to do the same through my blog, book, TEDx, keynotes, classes, and coaching.
Stephanie Seferian is a good friend of mine and her Sustainable Minimalists podcast is one of my favorites! When I found out she was putting all her eco-minimalist knowledge into a book, I knew I had to get a copy. This book shares practical, well-researched advice on how you can reduce your number of possessions while also reducing your carbon footprint. Stephanie is a mother of two young girls, so her advice is applicable to busy moms who don’t have a lot of time. You’ll want to dog-ear and sticky note many of these pages!
The Aspiring Minimalist's Guide to Living Consciously and Contributing to a "Greener" Tomorrow
"This is the perfect book for people that want to find a realistic roadmap to sustainable living." The Holistic Millennial
Eco-minimalism is a hot-button issue right now, and for good reason. Living a life with less can be the key to saving our precious planet.
Break the consumption cycle. There's so much to do, and way too much to buy. Whether it's through late night TV ads, social media, or other sources of influence, we are addicted to buying and then storing things. Sometimes we consume with…
