The Complete Idiot's Guide to Decluttering

by Regina Leeds

Do you own your stuff—or does it own you?

Whether someone lives in a mansion or a studio, drives an SUV or a MiniCooper—stuff often builds up into an endless stream of clutter, taking over living spaces and complicating lives. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience organizing living and work spaces, renowned organizing expert Regina Leeds has the solution for conquering clutter in every room of one’s house, along with in one’s office, car, and garage.
—Short, easy-to-use format
—Quick and easy steps for evaluating and organizing your possessions
—Unique room-by-room approach
—Tips on maintaining a clutter-free space—forever
—Includes a complete list of resources

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Professional Organizer. New York Times best selling author of 9 books. Speaker.

Reviews

[Hollie Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a Personal Organizer who specializes in Decluttering so I like to read things like this now and again.
This book is supremely unhelpful for someone who doesn't know what to do or how to start or how to truly get this done.
"Keep things clean - do little cleaning tasks regularly, organize overstuffed areas and get rid of what you don't need, buy new containers to house your stuff decoratively. Do you have too much furniture, or too little? Get rid of some, or buy new things." That's about what every chapter says.

Seriously? Buying more ANYthing never helps the matter and people generally KNOW what needs doing (as mentioned in every chapter) and if they could do so just by being told - they wouldn't need your book! Nothing here tells anyone how to get this done...
Don't waste your time.
Go read this instead -
SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck
by Julie Morgenstern

[Ginger Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trite and obvious ("If you have closets, they should be organized")and there was just something annoying about the author's tone. Thank goodness it can go back to the library.

[Annburnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good basic decluttering book that share many ideas on how to go about the process of decluttering.

[Laurenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow does the author infer that you *are* an idiot with the condescending tone. I read to learn, not to be shamed. Did not care for, though have 2 stars because there were some good basic tips.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book to get some ideas on how to pare down before moving into my first home. The most useful aspect of this guide is that it breaks down what can feel like an impossible task into much smaller tasks. Most of it was common sense, yet I did find it useful. I reinforced some things I was already doing, and gave me a few ideas to improve other areas. Nothing earth shattering here, but worth the quick read.

[Doris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good composium of common sense approaches to getting organized.

The main thing I didn't like was the constant insistence of the need for a notebook in hand whenever a task is tackeled. However I concede that some people have a need to make lists in order to move forward, so mentioning it is good (it could just be repeated less).

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. Huge decluttering projects are broken down into smaller steps. One thing I really liked about this book was that the author is a fan of the black trash bags. If you don't use it, get rid of it. What's left, organize. The downside of the book is that it's one long commercial for the Container Store.

[Kim]

I hope this book helps me get my home organized. Please send help....

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read, but not very helpful - everything in it is common sense.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much easier read than the larger Zen books and provides the necessary tools without the extra cruft.

[Desperate · Rating 4 out of 5]

It motivated me to clean my storage room

[Abcdarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I preferred her 8 Minute Organizer. Parts were useful, but it got repetitious.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple yet effective suggestions and advice. Things we should know but have forgotten or it was assumed we knew and were not told. Common sense.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not exceptionally helpful. Most of the ideas were common knowledge, I thought.