Confessions of an Organized Homemaker: The Secrets of Uncluttering Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life

This book is so old-school, the 50+ year old librarians laughed when I told them I'd been reading it. The title is silly, I admit, but this book is a gem. My working, absent-minded mother could have used this book, and I wish she had so that I could have learned the techniques as a youngster rather that waiting till I had my own household to run and was feeling overwhelmed by the work and the craziness that comes along with staying at home with young kids. Better late than never, though. Like others have mentioned, the book is full of practical, easily-implemented advice that is totally common-sense,even obvious, but sometimes it takes hearing it from someone else. For example, I always knew I *should* do a little more prep work the night before, and I knew I *should* get up before the kids, but after reading this book, I hear her saying "Go like a pro" and "Tomorrow's success begins today" in my mind and I actually do the preparation and getting up early! I also liked the tips on calendaring, even though I don't use a paper calendar. I just took the parts of her system that I thought would be helpful (along with some tips from the classic "Getting Things Done") and applied them to my gmail calendars and tasks system that I already used to make it more effective. It is working! I really do feel less stressed, overwhelmed, and like I am making progress in the organization of my home and my goals, even though I am a full-time sahm with a 4 year old and a 10 month old, and have an art business that I work on part-time as well. It's really good. I know I'll refer to it again and again. I also bought her "Confessions of a Happily Organized Family" because I liked the ideas about how to organize for homework and chores.

This book was wonderful! It really motivated me to get organized. I enjoyed reading it [it is "easy reading" - the author writes very well] and couldn't wait to get started organizing our family. This book is exactly what I needed to get myself going.One thing that really helped me was the chapter on throwing stuff away. I never realized that I had such pack-rat like tendencies till I read this book. I am now a firm believer in throwing stuff away [or recycling it, giving it to charity, etc] and our home is so much more uncluttered and nice to live in.She has so many great ideas in this book that it would be impossible to list all the ways I've been helped by it. She does have some ideas that didn't work for me [I spent a long time trying to organize my recipes and shopping like she suggested, but it just didn't work for me], but they might work for others. I found this a great book to use on a "take what works, leave what doesn't" basis. I think our lives have been improved as a family because I read this book and used many of her ideas and suggestions. I highly recommend it to anyone - but especially to young families!

I really enjoyed this book. The ideas aren't necessarily original compared to other household organizing books, but it was more enjoyable to read than most. I enjoyed the author's anecdotes and personal remarks throughout. It made it more fun to read something that was already full of good advice. I'd love a new and updated version that brings us more up to date with the technology that is omnipresent today, but even though this is dated, it doesn't feel that way. Instead I'd call it "timeless". I will keep this and enjoy reading it and referring to certain sections over and over again. A great household resource.

This book is so motivational. I come from a long line of keepers, but feel I am on the road to recovery. I have been through my entire house with the help of this wonderful book and made vast improvements. I no longer feel guilty about tossing the things that only have sentimental value and are other wise useless. Like the Author says,"Keep the love and get rid of the symbol". I was literally becoming depressed with the state of my house and unable to tackle it. She gives you the tools and knowledge you need to approach it without being overwhelmed. I feel so much better about my home and possessions. The key is everything has to have a well-defined place so that everyone knows where it belongs. And you need to go though things periodically and not let it get out of hand. Her storage tips are so wonderful and organizing is very important. I am so grateful for the help this book provides. I am giving this book as gifts to family and friends. Nancy Ansel

My old book of Confessions of an Organized Housewife from 1980's is now worn out...so I have ordered a new one! I have several books on home organization....but this is the best. The book is full of practical advice to get you started into organizing...and these ideas NEVER get outdated. Being organized does not come natural for me....but there are no excuses...it CAN be learned. This book was a lifesaver for my family and my marriage, because my husband is a very organized and neat person and likes the house to look reasonably nice. By following the author's advice, I was able to learn some very basic skills on organization...and things began to look much better! My goal now is to work specifically on the kitchen, getting spices better organized so they will be easy to use.

This book changed my life over 40 years ago! Key thought is “Have a place for everything & keep everything in it’s place.” Also helped me get rid of so much clutter & duplicates & unnecessary “stuff”. I studied it & really paid attention to making good choices.

This book was so helpful and useful, I'm tempted to order the hardcopy too but that would go against the principles. I read the book three weeks ago and while I was reading the book I started implementing the advice as I went on - ordering the life planner, re-arranging the kitchen to make more sense and save time, organising the kids rooms, having a SCHEDULE that works ha! The book is a life-changer for me. I have saved so much time in my life, it's the book I needed to get me into gear. Believe me I never write reviews this long or even have time or motivation to do so.... but I do now. The ideas are so simple and basic that they are genius and I often thought - why didn't I think of that before?! (and I have read lots of books on this topic)! I think everyone will gain something from it - it is tailored to suit all different lifestyles - 10 kids or no kids...! This woman has a talent and I am so glad she wrote this book. I feel much more in control of being prepared for things in everyday life, definitely less stressed and actually excited about getting the stuff done. Before it was a vicious circle of no matter what I did, within days things ended up the same - I felt I was going round in circles with no benefits from my never ending tasks. Now I have time, aims and plans to do the things I wanted to but never even got started! I highly recommend this book. Oh, one thing I didn't get on with too well was I think the author justifies herself and her methods at times when she really doesn't need to. Some of it could have been omitted and the book would have still delivered the relevant info. while being shorter and succinct. But I can overlook that versus the benefits I gained from it.

A little bit fanatical but some good ideas to help you get organised. You can take what you need from this book to help you get yourself organised and ignore the over the top list making and rigid rules.