The Clutter Fix by Shannon Acheson

 

After a bit of a summer break it somehow feels right to jump back into reading and reviews with a book on decluttering and simplifying the day to day. 

For those of you who have poked around my corner of the internet for awhile, you may recognize Acheson's name, as I had the opportunity to review her last book Home Made Lovely, a how-to guide on finding your style and building a space that is welcoming and beautiful to those that live there. Now, Acheson's back helping readers organize their styles into functional and peaceful space.

There was a lot to like in here. At it's heart, this is a very practical book. Acheson really takes the time to break down each stage/room for decluttering to make the job more accessible regardless of how much clutter one is facing. I appreciated the variety of lists she includes both for keeping yourself on track an das a guideline to modify for your own needs.

Which was another thing  I appreciated. Acheson spends a lot of her introduction explaining how not all points in her book will apply to everyone, something I greatly appreciated. So many how-to/fix it books are so focused on promoting their method it can feel inaccessible for those who don't meet the target audience. Acheson, though, seems much more aware, even in comparison to her first book about the reality of different familial and living arrangements fully  encouraging her readers to take what fits their lives and leave what doesn't. In essence the book's first area of decluttering is it's own advice.

I  also appreciated Acheson's inclusion of different organizing types and how that can affect both your decluttering phase and maintenance phases. Our home holds four people, we probably fit into 3 of the 4 organization models she outlines in chapter 5. As someone already familiar with decluttering this chapter really opened my eyes to some of the areas where our family struggles and has already helped up make some real progress.

Overall, I appreciated this book for it's honesty. Acheson presents tips and tricks that are modifiable for any organizational type or personality who wish to have some more tools for taming their space. 

4 out of 5 stars.

Book was provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. and Baker Publishing Group.