Organizing Plain and Simple: A Ready Reference Guide With Hundreds Of Solutions to Your Everyday Clutter Challenges by Donna Smallin

Living Mind
Home Improvement

Cleaning, Caretaking & Relocating

Organizing Plain and Simple: A Ready Reference Guide With Hundreds Of Solutions to Your Everyday Clutter Challenges
by Donna Smallin

Paperback: 309 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.83 x 9.18 x 7.26
Publisher: Storey Books; (September 2002)
ISBN: 1580174485

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New York Daily News: "Smallin helps the skeptical see how they can not only get their houses in order but keep them that way..."

Houston Chronicle: "If you have a tough time getting rid of things, organization guru Donna Smallin offers some helpful guidelines."

San Francisco Chronicle: "This is a logical course, that give you the push to tackle any challenge, from the medicine cabinet to finances."

Book Description: Desk drowning in papers? No room for the car in the garage? Santa still sitting on the roof in May? A less-is-more philosophy is great, but we all still have way too much stuff. The home office swallows up whole rooms, as does the family computer station. Then there's the home gym, the TV room, and the playroom, not to mention our collections - books, CDs, toys. Time management experts agree that when the minor things that take up space in the mind are eliminated, there is room to think about the big things. The same goes for the home. The visual clarity that comes from de-cluttering rooms, finances, and time promotes mental clarity, peacefulness, and contemplation. When everything is organized, it is easier to enjoy the meaningful things in life.

Organizing Plain & Simple is like a course from an expert teacher, grounded in the fundamentals and enriched with philosophy, tips, anecdotes, illustrations - everything necessary to make home and life run more smoothly. Donna Smallin takes a personalized, nonjudgemental approach to explaining how to assess each individual's situation and suggesting where to start organizing - room by room - and then covers how to stay organized. Then she offers advice on organizing time and finances, as well as organizing for the seasons and for special events - the birth of a baby, combining households, a move, kids going off to college, successful downsizing. Smallin presents a broad range of innovative solutions in the running feature "One Challenge, Three Solutions" that includes tips for solving classic organizational issues from a wide range of professional organizers.

About the Author: Donna Smallin is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and the author of 7 Simple Steps to Unclutter Your Life and Unclutter Your Home. She lives in Lake Placid, New York.

Customer Reviews
It's a start..., January 29, 2003
Reviewer: fuzzypinkslippers from Huntsville, Alabama, USA
This book is very straightforward and quite helpful. It's set up in a very organized manner (room-by-room), but if you have more than a bed and clothes in your bedroom, then you have to skip around to find the tips you'll need. That is a bit annoying, but I guess its not too much of a hassle.

Useful Tips for the Average Joe, December 10, 2002
Reviewer: evilash14 from Newington, CT United States
This book is written for real people - those of us on the go who want to organize using the (usually limited) space and accessories readily available in our homes. Donna Smallin offers practical solutions for corraling clutter and organizing everything from decor, gadgets, clothes, linens, papers and toys on a room-by-room basis. No need to purchase expensive closet organizers or remodel your home for the sake of storage - this book offers tips on making room for everyday items in places that already exist. The author is a big proponent - as am I - of getting rid of useless junk, so packrats beware! The book is written clearly and concisely, with well-organized (of course!) paragraphs, sidebars and chapters that make it easy to find the information you're looking for quickly. A perfect book for anyone wishing they were more organized but don't know where to start.

Best Organizing Book Out There, October 13, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Cooper City, FL United States
I was so pleased and thrilled to have read this book. The author covers more topics than I have ever seen in a book on this topic. It is well-written, easy to read and simple to follow. The tips are so practical and there is more than one solution provided for each issue. This is so helpful because the readers now have choices about which solution will fit them best.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to supplement their organizing knowlege, get started getting organized, or improve their current level of organization.

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