Book Review — “Unclutter Your Home: 7 Simple Steps, 700 Tips & Ideas”

Sometimes a book’s suggestions seem a little obvious. In the best cases, it’s because the author has done such a good job spreading her message, we’re already familiar with it. The ideas in Donna Smallin’s Unclutter Your Home: 7 Simple Steps, 700 Tips & Ideas ring a bell, because she’s been a prominent writer on organizing for years, and because she explains things in such a simple, useful way it’s hard not to find her suggestions useful. Her seven steps,

1. Assess Your Situation
2. Plan For Success
3. Lighten Your Load
4. Contain Yourself
5. Revamp Clutter Zones
6. Simplify With Systems
7. Ban Clutter Forever

outline a reasonable structure for figuring out what you need to deal with, attacking it, and maintaining your changes; whether you’re doing it on your own or working with an organizer. Her writing style is straightforward, patient, and encouraging. I recommend this, either as a purchase (because the steps bear re-reading on occasion) or a library read.