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The Real Simple Method to Organize Every Room: And How to Keep It That Way
Rein in the chaos and regain control of your space. Whether you live in a small space or a large one, Real Simple has the best why-didn't-I-think-of-that advice for creating-and keeping-an easy, stylish, organized home. This practical and inspiring handbook covers everything from how to pare down to cleaning in way less time; from savvy storage solutions to apps that make organizing a snap; from handy checklists and cheat sheets to the most useful products. Organize Every Room is a clutter-busting, timesaving, space-maximizing road map to simplifying your life and creating a happier home.
520 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 7, 2018
149 people are currently reading
346 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
November 2, 2018
The book is divided into ten sections. It gives helpful tips for organizing the entryway, living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, home office, laundry room, kids' bedroom, and outdoor spaces.
After a quick overview of general needs required by each room, each section lists tools (furniture, hooks, trays, baskets, etc.) that might help organize the space. There's also a blurb on "small-space solutions," followed by short organizing checklists to follow based on how many minutes you have to tidy (15 minutes, 1 hour, a weekend). Last is a two-page spread on how to keep the space neat and organized over time.
The advice in here isn't earth-shattering. I discovered maybe one or two new tips, but most of the info is same-ol-same-ol. Still, I just love organizing books. I know it's weird, but I read them to calm myself down---and this book is no exception. I love the bright pictures full of light, and I like the idea of fresh starts and organized chaos. It just makes me feel better about life. So even though this book isn't revolutionary, I still give it 4 stars cuz it makes me happy.
Thanks to Amazon Vine and Real Simple for the ARC!
See more of my book reviews at www.BugBugBooks.com.
After a quick overview of general needs required by each room, each section lists tools (furniture, hooks, trays, baskets, etc.) that might help organize the space. There's also a blurb on "small-space solutions," followed by short organizing checklists to follow based on how many minutes you have to tidy (15 minutes, 1 hour, a weekend). Last is a two-page spread on how to keep the space neat and organized over time.
The advice in here isn't earth-shattering. I discovered maybe one or two new tips, but most of the info is same-ol-same-ol. Still, I just love organizing books. I know it's weird, but I read them to calm myself down---and this book is no exception. I love the bright pictures full of light, and I like the idea of fresh starts and organized chaos. It just makes me feel better about life. So even though this book isn't revolutionary, I still give it 4 stars cuz it makes me happy.
Thanks to Amazon Vine and Real Simple for the ARC!
See more of my book reviews at www.BugBugBooks.com.
June 7, 2020
I really liked this book had some great suggestions. I do like how they gave timelines. For example,if you have 15 minutes you can organize this or if you have an hour do that. I also really liked the list of items in your bathroom and how long you can keep them for.
November 19, 2018
I usually love reading these kind of books, and I enjoyed this one too, but I kept thinking, who really does this? It was very bougie, and completely aimed at married women with kids. It's very pretty, though, and there are some good tips.
November 7, 2019
Despite the title, this isn't a method. It is merely a scattershot collection of tips, arranged by room. Lots of cliched neurotypical advice like "reward yourself for cleaning", and recommendations for products that will help you shove more stuff into your same limited space.
If you need more ways to feel guilty about not cleaning enough, this book can help - do you deodorize your mattress every 6 months? YOU SLOB.
Also, I understand that this type of book comes out of a long tradition of homemaking advice literature written by & for women, but can't they at least pretend that it's 2019? *You* want a clean bathroom counter for *your* makeup, *men* want one for *their* shaving kits, ugh. If you're showing me an escapist fantasy world where my house is clean and organized, there's no reason for it not to also be a world where men are equally interested in working on their domestic idylls.
If you need more ways to feel guilty about not cleaning enough, this book can help - do you deodorize your mattress every 6 months? YOU SLOB.
Also, I understand that this type of book comes out of a long tradition of homemaking advice literature written by & for women, but can't they at least pretend that it's 2019? *You* want a clean bathroom counter for *your* makeup, *men* want one for *their* shaving kits, ugh. If you're showing me an escapist fantasy world where my house is clean and organized, there's no reason for it not to also be a world where men are equally interested in working on their domestic idylls.
November 9, 2018
An interesting book but disappointing in its detail. Some of the recommendations I just couldn’t visualise through their descriptions and there weren’t always corresponding photographs to go along. And their bookshelves are also rather laughable... Might get more inspiration from visiting the Container Store or Daiso!
January 26, 2023
Lots of good reminders of ways to organize each section of the home. Didn’t find a lot of new info here for myself. A practical guide for anyone needing some basic organizational help.
May 14, 2019
Nothing too new here, especially if you’re a regular reader of the magazine. Best take away, use a magnet in the inside of your medicine cabinet to hold tweezers, etc. Done, and it’s great.
December 21, 2018
4.5 stars
Organize Every Room: The Real Simple Method for a Well-Ordered Home is a new (at the time of writing this) organizing book that covers the whole house. The author chose good photographs, included good & helpful tips, showed good examples of storage and offered a few smart hacks.
I was very impressed with the clean & organized layout of the book - ironically a lot of organizing books can be bogged down with 35 pages of text and no pictures, or just are designed badly in general. This book was divided into rooms of the house (e.g. kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, etc.), and then offered curated tips and every room showed a "tools" page with storage/furniture you might need/want.
Thanks to the visual appeal and good choice of images, this book was a breeze to read! I'm not sure if I would go as far as buying it (unless it was used and at a good price - I don't buy many books) but there are a lot of good ideas I would want to refer back to. This book was successful at being inspiring and subtly motivating to want to go organize so your house can reflect the kind of clean, calm rooms in this book!
This book was heavy on the pictures though, which when complimented by a few tips can be fine - when the picture is doing the work of demonstrating organizing concepts. For an improvement, there could have been a bit more text (with the current amount of pictures).
I know I just finished reading it, but I would already consider reading it again in a few years for another round of inspiration!
Good things
Page 13 "Step 3: Are you actually going to use it? Instead of peering into the past with the old "Have you used it in the past six months?" question, think about the future."
Page 27: Assign each family member their own colour of hangers to organize coats. (Such a great idea!)
Page 39 Image: It's on the cover, it looks gorgeous and organized - love it! Also love the interior design - white cupboards with a pop of deep vibrant colour to contrast.
Page 171 Image: the desk & board are nothing special, but the cupboard on the right looks awesome with its device station, cute paper file and storage boxes.
Page 215 Image: I like the kid-sized sofa! Cute idea for a kid's bedroom
Page 227: Turn an old, smallish coffee table into a kid's "play table" with some paint & upgrades. Good idea to reuse instead of throwing away.
Page 245: Shows basketballs/sports balls stored in a cylindrical metal things hanging/mounted from the wall. The picture on the bottom left shows a great way to store soccer/basketballs, tennis rackets, and footballs/other oddly sized balls.
Page 251: Bisley Storage Cabinet seems like a convenient and well-designed storage container to look into - can be used for many purposes.
Bad things
They suggest hanging pots for display, which I think looks cluttered and unappealing
They tell you not to do laundry while "watching Netflix" or doing another activity for fear of losing laundry items. This is extremely unpractical and kind of stupid; families today are busier than ever and if you can multitask on something where both tasks don't suffer, you should do it. Also if you keep everything in a fitting basket, there's not a huge risk stuff will get lost. Also, a lot of families don't have huge laundry rooms with a spot to sit and fold laundry anyway.
Page 226 Image: The desk looks SO cluttered and it has a weird contrast with the spotless floor. Did not like this image
They expect your house to be big - the craft storing section is always directed at the stereotypical stay-at-home wife privileged enough to have a craft room.
Big flaw: some of the time the text suggestions did not line up with the pictures, which was really stupid. It would have been nice to have them matching each other instead.
The other organizing book from Real Simple was older and more disappointing, but this one was definitely much better. It was awesome to get a copy preordered from the library - when the book is so new!
In conclusion
I would definitely recommend this book to people who want to learn about/enjoy reading about organizing! It was a very well designed, well laid out, good-suggestion filled book. An enjoyable read. (And I don't round up/give 5 stars easily for organizing books). I had a positive experience reading this book, and I think you would too! (If you care about organizing and pretty, orderly pictures).
Organize Every Room: The Real Simple Method for a Well-Ordered Home is a new (at the time of writing this) organizing book that covers the whole house. The author chose good photographs, included good & helpful tips, showed good examples of storage and offered a few smart hacks.
I was very impressed with the clean & organized layout of the book - ironically a lot of organizing books can be bogged down with 35 pages of text and no pictures, or just are designed badly in general. This book was divided into rooms of the house (e.g. kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, etc.), and then offered curated tips and every room showed a "tools" page with storage/furniture you might need/want.
Thanks to the visual appeal and good choice of images, this book was a breeze to read! I'm not sure if I would go as far as buying it (unless it was used and at a good price - I don't buy many books) but there are a lot of good ideas I would want to refer back to. This book was successful at being inspiring and subtly motivating to want to go organize so your house can reflect the kind of clean, calm rooms in this book!
This book was heavy on the pictures though, which when complimented by a few tips can be fine - when the picture is doing the work of demonstrating organizing concepts. For an improvement, there could have been a bit more text (with the current amount of pictures).
I know I just finished reading it, but I would already consider reading it again in a few years for another round of inspiration!
Good things
Page 13 "Step 3: Are you actually going to use it? Instead of peering into the past with the old "Have you used it in the past six months?" question, think about the future."
Page 27: Assign each family member their own colour of hangers to organize coats. (Such a great idea!)
Page 39 Image: It's on the cover, it looks gorgeous and organized - love it! Also love the interior design - white cupboards with a pop of deep vibrant colour to contrast.
Page 171 Image: the desk & board are nothing special, but the cupboard on the right looks awesome with its device station, cute paper file and storage boxes.
Page 215 Image: I like the kid-sized sofa! Cute idea for a kid's bedroom
Page 227: Turn an old, smallish coffee table into a kid's "play table" with some paint & upgrades. Good idea to reuse instead of throwing away.
Page 245: Shows basketballs/sports balls stored in a cylindrical metal things hanging/mounted from the wall. The picture on the bottom left shows a great way to store soccer/basketballs, tennis rackets, and footballs/other oddly sized balls.
Page 251: Bisley Storage Cabinet seems like a convenient and well-designed storage container to look into - can be used for many purposes.
Bad things
They suggest hanging pots for display, which I think looks cluttered and unappealing
They tell you not to do laundry while "watching Netflix" or doing another activity for fear of losing laundry items. This is extremely unpractical and kind of stupid; families today are busier than ever and if you can multitask on something where both tasks don't suffer, you should do it. Also if you keep everything in a fitting basket, there's not a huge risk stuff will get lost. Also, a lot of families don't have huge laundry rooms with a spot to sit and fold laundry anyway.
Page 226 Image: The desk looks SO cluttered and it has a weird contrast with the spotless floor. Did not like this image
They expect your house to be big - the craft storing section is always directed at the stereotypical stay-at-home wife privileged enough to have a craft room.
Big flaw: some of the time the text suggestions did not line up with the pictures, which was really stupid. It would have been nice to have them matching each other instead.
The other organizing book from Real Simple was older and more disappointing, but this one was definitely much better. It was awesome to get a copy preordered from the library - when the book is so new!
In conclusion
I would definitely recommend this book to people who want to learn about/enjoy reading about organizing! It was a very well designed, well laid out, good-suggestion filled book. An enjoyable read. (And I don't round up/give 5 stars easily for organizing books). I had a positive experience reading this book, and I think you would too! (If you care about organizing and pretty, orderly pictures).
December 17, 2018
Lots of helpful tips for keeping an organized home. The ideas require a big time commitment up front, but as I just learned while going through my closet, (which includes boxes I had packed up from my apartment in DC!) it feels really good to purge. An organized home feels better, to me, and this book inspired me to overhaul my apartment storage/organization. Some things aren’t practical for me now so I skipped the chapters on kids’ rooms and the garage. I checked this out from the library, but may purchase later for reference.
September 12, 2018
Disappointing. Really nothing new
December 31, 2022
A decent idea board book - not great for all situations
I think there are a lot of really good ideas in this book, but it is definitely geared towards a specific lifestyle and may not work for all. I think focusing on it as a point for inspiration is helpful rather than solid rules.
Some things I liked: (1) there were lot of pictures, which made it easier to take visual inspiration. (2) The rules are generally helpful when read through your own lens. I do not have a staged house, and I will not be making the bed. But like no mail past the entryway is a good rule.
Some things I found a little frustrating: (1) that this book really works in two extremes on the one side huge suburban home and on the other super small apartments. I think most people live somewhere in the middle. We live in a city townhouse so a lot of ideas assumed our house was either too big or too small. (2) The book is a little outdated in the world of COVID or post COVID. The office ideas seem to assume that no one is actually working in that office. I think a whole book could be written about offices these days, now that many still work from home, but I as disappointed in the office section (a section I was looking forward to). (3) Some of the ideas seem to envision a specific space. For example, that you have a certain bathroom set up, which are likely not usable for most people without that set up.
I think there are a lot of really good ideas in this book, but it is definitely geared towards a specific lifestyle and may not work for all. I think focusing on it as a point for inspiration is helpful rather than solid rules.
Some things I liked: (1) there were lot of pictures, which made it easier to take visual inspiration. (2) The rules are generally helpful when read through your own lens. I do not have a staged house, and I will not be making the bed. But like no mail past the entryway is a good rule.
Some things I found a little frustrating: (1) that this book really works in two extremes on the one side huge suburban home and on the other super small apartments. I think most people live somewhere in the middle. We live in a city townhouse so a lot of ideas assumed our house was either too big or too small. (2) The book is a little outdated in the world of COVID or post COVID. The office ideas seem to assume that no one is actually working in that office. I think a whole book could be written about offices these days, now that many still work from home, but I as disappointed in the office section (a section I was looking forward to). (3) Some of the ideas seem to envision a specific space. For example, that you have a certain bathroom set up, which are likely not usable for most people without that set up.
April 10, 2020
Looking for inspiration to start spring cleaning? The RealSimple method goes room by room to evaluate what to get rid of, and what you need to create functional and beautiful living spaces, including outdoor spaces, and pet areas.
Creative solutions to common space problems and suggestions for ongoing upkeep including what can be accomplished in 15 minutes, 1 hour, or in a weekend help in time planning. Beautiful pictures and tips from design and organizing experts make this book visually interesting and very helpful.
Check this book out from the Villa Park Public Library!
Creative solutions to common space problems and suggestions for ongoing upkeep including what can be accomplished in 15 minutes, 1 hour, or in a weekend help in time planning. Beautiful pictures and tips from design and organizing experts make this book visually interesting and very helpful.
Check this book out from the Villa Park Public Library!
November 25, 2018
Good Tips
Unfortunately the Kindle version of this book created confusion, primarily with mismatched captions to images. That said, I love Real Simple's straightforward approach and am applying their method to my current organization bonanza.
Unfortunately the Kindle version of this book created confusion, primarily with mismatched captions to images. That said, I love Real Simple's straightforward approach and am applying their method to my current organization bonanza.
January 23, 2019
What a helpful resource! Organized by room, with great tips on doing a full overhaul, or just tidying a bit. The photos are (unsurprisingly) beautiful and inspiring. And an easy reference. I'm so glad I picked up this book and can't wait to organize my home with these techniques in mind!
March 7, 2020
Good, not great.
This is definitely geared to people who have space, such as a home or large apartment.
I found the layout of the book to be cluttered and busy.
This didn't offer me any new ideas, but I can see it being helpful for someone who doesn't know where to start.
This is definitely geared to people who have space, such as a home or large apartment.
I found the layout of the book to be cluttered and busy.
This didn't offer me any new ideas, but I can see it being helpful for someone who doesn't know where to start.
April 9, 2023
Nothing real new
There is nothing wrong with this book, I just found the suggestions to be rather obvious or found in any magazine article on organization. An example: put a shelf over your washer and dryer for laundry detergent, etc.
There is nothing wrong with this book, I just found the suggestions to be rather obvious or found in any magazine article on organization. An example: put a shelf over your washer and dryer for laundry detergent, etc.
March 28, 2024
I liked reading it for inspiration but the ideas weren't all that novel. The pictures are great. I do think if you are looking to tackle a specific room, checking this out from your library and reading about that specific area could stir up some motivation.
December 3, 2018
Lots of simple and practical tips
December 10, 2018
I loved this book so much. I hung on every word. They are very thorough in going through rooms and areas in one's home, so everyone may not have every room or area they discuss.
December 24, 2018
Always fun.
March 24, 2019
So much more realistic than Marie Kondo’s crazy book. Includes beautiful pictures for inspiration, helpful tips and tools and practical advice.
April 29, 2019
This is about organizing.
May 2, 2019
Don't tell me that items are must-have and then not tell me where you got them. sheesh
Read
July 1, 2019Some good ideas and nice photos, it maybe a bit too ambitious for me.
November 12, 2019
Good read (hey now), but not a word in the whole book about how to fix up my coffin room. There's too many god damn coffins in there! I'm so lonely
November 29, 2019
This was a good flip-through from the library. I especially liked their playroom ideas.
May 9, 2020
Room by room guide to organizing each room. Tips, tricks, and even the top things you need for each room. The pictures are great ways to get ideas.
August 21, 2020
3.5 Stars
January 8, 2021
So ready to organize my whole house! Loved this book and the ideas.
April 15, 2021
I read the actual book, not the kindle edition. The photos are worth reading the real book! Decent inspiration, although some things were pretty basic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews