I’ve discovered that The Quiltmaker’s Gift is followed by pattern books.
When I wrote an initial post about the children’s story book, The Quiltmaker’s Gift, I didn’t realize the interest it eventually would evoke.  One reader of Quilting and Patchwork asked where she might find fabric with related designs on it, so I sent out her request in a post, Fabric to Represent Story Books, Particularly The Quiltmaker’s Gift.

Then I discovered there were books with quilt patterns to accompany the picture book and wrote about them in Follow-up Books for the Quiltmaker’s Gift.

The Quiltmaker’s Gift

Quilts From the Quiltmaker’s Gift

More Quilts From the Quiltmaker’s Gift

(Amazon image)

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Quilters’ Books Evolve into a Series

If you’re new to Declutter It, you may have missed me talking about this amazing book. If so, read, Organize Now! Possibly the Only Organizing Book You Need…

Trust me, I’ve read scads of organizing books, and many are good, even great, but this book you will love. If your goal is to get neat and tidy this year, check out my review of this book.

Next up, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled bathroom make-over.

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An Organized Reminder

First of all, yes, the book really is this cute. I love the style and bright color. Face it, if you need to get organized, the last thing you need is to lose your darn guidebook. You won’t lose this one.

Basic facts about Organize Now!: 

• Organize Now! Is pratical without being dull. Not simply a how-to, there are loads of action steps included.
• The action steps and advice given are for short projects. This is cool, because when you’re first trying to get organized, a HUGE project seems, well, huge. Small steps are best for organizing newbies and that’s what this book dishes up.
• Besides smaller action steps there are also some great long-term goals included, but they totally won’t overwhelm you.
• I was actually kind of impressed that Jennifer found so many things to organize. This book covers the basics, such as bill paying systems, kids toys, and home spaces, but then went on to cover some completely non-typical organizing topics, like organizing your holiday, pregnancy, and how to organize after a loss. Many of these topics you don’t see in other books.

How the book is set up:

Hardback but spiral bound so it opens flat – perfect because it allows you to follow the tips, check them off, and take notes.

The book is broken into 7 major headings. Under each heading are smaller projects that go with the major heading. Example:

Then each smaller heading, for example, Organize Your Home Office, is broken down into four pages – an intro to the project, the weeks goals in a checkoff list format, helpful tips, and a very cool stay organized page that offers ideas for keeping your office organized at various intervals (once a month, every 3-6 months, once a year). There’s also a spot for personal notes.

Here are some image examples, so you can see the format (PS yeah they’re a little fuzzy, but I’m a blogger, not a photographer – sadly):

Visually – this is hands down the prettiest organizing book I’ve ever seen. Each section has it’s own special colors and design. This is part of the intro – look at the flowers!

And each chapter has a different fun paper design:

Overall book review score: 

PLUS

I’m giving this book six out of five stars. Why…

• Mainly because it actually kept me interested and I read a lot of organizing books, so keeping me interested in a new one, well, tough job. I think the visual appeal had a lot to do with that.
• This is the perfect book for folks new to organizing. I’d probably go so far to say, that this might be the only book you’d need.
• There were no surprises; each chapter was organized just like the last.
• There was no annoying hook. So many decluttering and organizing books have some oddball hook, motto, or slang that peppers the entire text (which is SO annoying). This was no nonsense, simple, get it done organizing advice.
• Lastly, it’s a great deal – (under $11 at Amazon) you can’t beat it.

Get the book, get organized, and stay organized – you can thank me later. Get the book, Organize Now!

Visit Jennifer’s site and blog

[images via my little old camera and Jennifer's site]

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Holiday Gift Guide: Organize Now! Possibly the Only Organizing Book You Need…

Minimalist Interiors by Quim Rossel.

I like minimalist design a lot, not necessarily because my goal is to live this way, or because I think I’ll design my own house in a minimalist style, but because it shows what’s possible, what’s livable, and uncluttered at the same time.

I like that you can work with the minimalist design and tweak it upwards if you like. By upwards, I suppose I mean add more stuff. Some minimalist homes are a little too bare for me. I like the non-mess, but with a 7 year old, I’m not really going to live like this, not even if I wanted to. I mean could you see a bin of Legos spread out in this room:

Um no. But if you’d like to clear some space I do suggest a good minimalist book or two. I liked this book a lot. My favorite part was that there were plenty of exterior shots to go along with the interior photos. Also some of the rooms were closer to typical livable than other minimalist home rooms I’ve seen. I.E more than one vase in a room. The book has 20 plus nice home examples. Take a look at your local library for this book. Another nice minimalist book is Inside MNM: Minimalist Interiors.

You don’t have to go whole hog, but seeing these uncluttered spaces can inspire you to at least clean out the junk drawer.

[photos via Amazon]

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Minimalist Interiors: Maybe not perfect for you – but still inspiring

I like the folder she used that you can just grab and go when you have an appointment. How many times have you been sitting at the dentist office reading this great article in a magazine and then they call your name next? You never get to finish reading the article!! This way, you will have your own collection of magazine articles that you want to read with you. I think I will definitely try this technique.

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Video: Sorting Magazines

The other magazine that I bought is the “Southern Living Storage & Organizing” issue. My daughter and I were at the grocery store and I swear that magazine called out my name to buy it. I hate it when that happens.

This magazine is full of great organizing ideas. It gives you ideas for organizing a small bathroom, kitchen cabinets, and has a great section on home offices. I was doing a lot of drooling, but you really didn’t need to know that.

I am very good at not holding on to magazines, but these are two that I will hold on to for awhile. And there will be NO ripping out pages in these babies!

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Two Great Organizing Magazines

So, without looking at the original post, can you tell what sort of organizing structure this is? Julie – would know, (so Julie no guessing)
It’s ultra cool and the entire set-up can be seen at Apartment Therapy (a killer blog by the way).

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Pop Quiz: Name This Organizing Structure

The whole basic concept of the book is “Let’s Organize Just Enough”. Instead of trying to achieve perfection like you see in the magazines, why not organize just enough to where it works for you?

Here’s an excerpt from the back of the book:

“Can you really “cheat” at organizing? Of course! How to Cheat at Organizing is about creating enough order for you to be happy in your life – by taking shortcuts every chance you get. With his trademark wit and straightforward advice, Jeff Brendenberg explains exactly how you can de-clutter everything, from closets to finances to cooking, based upon five core concepts:

• Keep it simple.
• Embrace technology.
• Manage the inns and outs.
• Declutter with the S4 technique
• Get help.”

Striving for perfection is something I have always struggled with. I’ll admit it, I do wish my house could look like a magazine picture, but the reality of it all is that I live in a family of five. We are very busy and are constantly coming and going. If I wanted perfection, I would be doing a lot of yelling and nagging. And that’s no fun and no way to live.

There is a way to have a house that is organized “just enough” to where you can be satisfied with it. I am learning this slowly but surely.

If you would like to learn some short cuts on organizing, I highly recommend this book. It is chock full of some great organizing ideas for today’s busy people. Thanks to Jeff, I am learning how to let go of some of my ideas on what an organized space looks and feels like. It’s a great read!

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Book Review: How to Cheat at Organizing

Maybe my kids would learn to put their shoes away if we had a cooler place to put them, like….in the stairs. Check out this picture of stair storage.

Click here to see the picture.

Now this is what I call being smart with your space! From the picture it looks like the bottom two stairs are for storage. I love storage that is hidden. No one would even know this was here unless you told them.

There are so many things you could use this space for – shoes, linens, hats, mittens, books.

What a brilliant idea this is and if I ever have a house built, you can bet I’ll be showing the builder this post and this picture. This is an organizing freak’s dream.

Technorati Tags: stairs and storage,stair storage,storage under the stairs,shor storage,organizing ideas

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Make Your Stairs Work for You – Stair Storage

A few months ago we finally weeded through all of our books from school and got rid of a lot of them that we knew we would never need again.

If you have a lot of books, you probably easily forget what you have and what you don’t have. By putting together a simple organizational system for your books, you can always know what’s there.

Here’s a great video that gives you some tips on organizing your book collection.

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Video – How to Organize Your Book Collection