There are many valid approaches to creating neat and tidy spaces, but these approaches tend to fail over time because they suggest we choose what to dispose of or keep based on a feeling instead of a clear and concise criteria. Since most of us love our stuff you want to be certain about what to keep or toss! Marla Stone’s fresh and friendly approach, based on her work as both a professional organizer and a former psychotherapist, goes beyond tidying up to offer the Clutter Remedy strategy that will create spaces you love and keep you perpetually organized. Marla walks you through a process of getting to know yourself and your values and then visualizing your ideal lifestyle and optimal surroundings. From that perspective, you’ll learn step by step (and room by room) how to create your ideal lifestyle and organize your space to support it.
There are many valid approaches to creating neat and tidy spaces, but these approaches tend to fail over time because they suggest we choose what to dispose of or keep based on a feeling instead of a clear and concise criteria. Since most of us love our stuff you want to be certain about what to keep or toss! Marla Stone’s fresh and friendly approach, based on her work as both a professional organizer and a former psychotherapist, goes beyond tidying up to offer the Clutter Remedy strategy that will create spaces you love and keep you perpetually organized. Marla walks you through a process of getting to know yourself and your values and then visualizing your ideal lifestyle and optimal surroundings. From that perspective, you’ll learn step by step (and room by room) how to create your ideal lifestyle and organize your space to support it.
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The Clutter Remedy is a self help book for messy people and for those that live with messy people. Building on the popularity of Marie Kondo and the techniques for clearing away negativity by tidying your home, this book seeks to go one step further.
Rooted in traditional formats for self help books, The Clutter Remedy mixes advice and techniques – such as visualising how you want to see a space, and how to tackle living with a messy partner – with anecdotes from people who’ve had these issues and tried these methods.
I have to admit, as with all self help books, I skip through these anecdotes, seeking out the nuggets of advice to improve my tidying strategies. I have to confess I’m actually quite a tidy person, and pretty organised so my draw to this book was about improving my techniques and strategies and definitely for tackling living with someone who’s pretty messy and disorganised. I really like the details on how to deal with stuff that isn’t mine and how to tackle messy people.
“Outer space is a reflection of inner space” – a quote I totally agree with and why I’m one who resorts to tidying when I’m at my most stressed to find order and calm.
The Clutter Remedy is a well structured book so its possible to dip in and out of sections and tackles tidying with the assumption of one big tidy needed to get a house in order and then a strategy for keeping it organised. However, this isn’t a revolutionary book – much of what is in here mirrors the Kondo book – so if you’ve read this or caught it on TV you’ll have heard about the tips before – such as rolling garments to store in drawers.
I do love the section about smart shopping, which encourages readers to be green and consider buying used products where possible. I also like the chapter about how to deal with barriers and I also liked the section on strategies for managing negative thoughts – this are great tips for any kind of negativity not just that related to decluttering a home. The book ends with some great advice for managing mental health issues and how these impact on clutter in a home.