by Marian White from moving.com
Embarrassed to invite people over? Scared to open the closet for fear of a shoe landslide? Feel like you can’t find anything? If the answer to these questions is a resounding “yes,” it may be time to take home organization matters into your own hands. If you’ve decided to forego hiring a professional organizer, you’ll need to figure out how to handle this overwhelming task by yourself. Fortunately, these 7 helpful books (listed below) will help you do just that. To learn how to declutter and organize your home like a pro, we recommend reading these how-to guides, below.
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The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
Written by Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” is perhaps the most well-known guide for decluttering a home. This best-selling book, often considered to be the “bible” on home organization, offers readers a unique approach to tidying their house. Unlike most cleaning methods, the book’s KonMari Method advocates organizing a home by category – not by room – and keeping only the belongings that “spark joy.” The guide is sure to not only help readers simplify their homes, but their overall life as well. -
Real Life Organizing: Clean and Clutter-Free in 15 Minutes a Day by Cassandra Aarssen
Organizational expert and YouTube cleaning guru Cassandra Aarson takes readers through her simple decluttering steps in “Real Life Organizing: Clean and Clutter-Free in 15 Minutes a Day.” Aarssen argues that it only takes 15 dedicated minutes a day to achieve an organized home and a simplified life. “Real Life Organizing” is filled with easy-to-follow organizational tips and tricks, as well as Pinterest-like photos. According to its description, readers will learn how to create a household management binder, “kids cupboard,” an “in/out” system, a gift closet and more. -
365 Days of Decluttering and Organizing Your Home by Jamie Stewart
In “365 Days of Decluttering and Organizing Your Home,” author Jamie Stewart reveals simple and time-saving life hacks for getting your closets and rooms in tip-top condition. The book focuses on breaking your house down into several different “zones” including: entryway, living room, kitchen, bathroom, dining room, bedroom, children’s room, pet area, laundry room and garage. In the book, each zone comes with multiple tips, tricks and step-by-step instructions for successfully organizing that specific room. -
Declutter: How to Organize your Life, Maximize your Productivity, and Enjoy a Clutter-Free Life (Life Simplified) by Jennifer S. Edwards
Written with hoarders and cleaning procrastinators in mind, “Declutter: How to Organize your Life, Maximize your Productivity, and Enjoy a Clutter-Free Life (Life Simplified) helps messy folks figure out how to tackle their home. Edwards focuses on clutter prevention, with tips on closet organization, cleaning the house, organizing collectibles and more. The book even includes a special section for those with serious, existing clutter in their home. -
One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, the Week-by-Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized for Good by Regina Leeds
Need more than just your home organized? This is the book for you. In “One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, the Week-by-Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized for Good,” author and professional organizer Regina Leeds teaches readers how to turn their messy lives around. The book offers a week-by-week guide to organizing your household and your life, with tips on stopping the cycles of clutter, organizing closets, dealing with finances and more. -
The Complete Book of Home Organization: 200+ Tips and Projects by Toni Hammersley
Organizational expert Toni Hammersley reveals her decluttering tips and tricks to readers in “The Complete Book of Home Organization: 200+ Tips and Projects.” The books includes easy-to-do storage solutions, cleaning tips, space-saving methods and expert strategies for decluttering, according to its description. This how-to guide also features ways to organize small spaces and apartments, with a special focus on design. With a 15-week home organization challenge included inside the book, readers should be able to successfully conquer clutter in no time. -
Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes a Day by Becky Rapinchuk
Enjoy reading housekeeping blogs? Then you’ll feel right at home with Becky Rapinchuk’s “Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes a Day.” The author, a cleaning expert and creator of the popular blog “Clean Mama,” helps readers follow an easy step-by-step approach to cleaning a home. The best part? This book proves that it only takes 10 minutes a day to maintain a tidy home. According to its description, “Simply Clean” strives to help its readers develop neat habits in order to maintain a clutter-free home. The book features: a 7-day Simply Clean Kick Start, 28-Day Simply Clean Challenge, tutorials on “speed cleaning,” recipes for environmentally-friendly cleaning products, checklists, habit trackers and more.
Ready to start organizing?
As you begin the house purging process, you’ll be forced to deal with all of your unnecessary stuff. Here are two efficient ways of ditching those old futons, tight-fitting jeans, and other unwanted items.
Sell them
While decluttering, you’ll most likely come across quite a few items that you could potentially sell. From gently-used clothing to unnecessary furniture, there are multiple ways to sell these items. A few secondhand marketplaces we recommend include: LetGo, eBay, Gone, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, local consignment stores, Trade-in programs, Nextdoor.com, and OfferUp. For more information on how to sell your stuff before a move, check here.
Donate them
When donating your used items to a charity organization, be sure to save tax deduction receipts for the upcoming tax season. Several charities and non-profits to consider when donating clothes, books, household goods and baby items include: Goodwill, local libraries, Dress for Success, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Baby2Baby, local food banks, eBay Giving Works, Salvation Army, and Pickup Please. For more information about these charities, check here.
Store them
Not quite ready to get rid of your things? Try renting a storage unit. To compare and find self-storage units in your area, check Moving.com’s “Find Storage Now” tool.
