Country Living Simple Country Wisdom: 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life

by Susan Waggoner, Country Living

Has life become a bundle of stress and mess? Top-selling author Susan Waggoner has the solution. This ingenious, fun-to-read illustrated guide--newly in paperback--offers tried-and-true household hints and practical solutions to everyday problems, from the “A-to-Z Guide to Food” to “The Tao of Laundry.”  Whether it's a no-scrub trick to make bathroom faucets gleam or surefire advice on keeping your house harmonious with as little fuss as possible, Country Living Simple Country Wisdom is the key to creating a home that's cheerful, welcoming, and warm.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Cooking, Crafts, How To

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2009

Reviews

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Checked out mainly for the pretty pictures but made the mistake of reading the words. If you did all the stuff this book recommends, you'd have a perfect house and no time to do anything else. Just reading the laundry section was enough to make me tired.

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m already this level of old-fashioned. I was hoping for something older-fashioned.

I knew I was in the wrong place when the book suggested that your decluttering should BEGIN with your bookshelves, because who really needs to own that many books when there are libraries and the internet?

Also, way too many typos.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Country Wisdom is another offering from Country Living. It is indeed chock full of all sorts of tips,tricks and clever ideas. It's divided into sections like gardening,baking,laundry,clutter control and so forth. Pretty photos sprinkled throughout the text sweeten up the the look through of this little book.

[ChristineK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely and practical book. The laundry chapter is one I really liked, includes how to hang clothes on a clothesline, how to reduce wear on clothes, and how to fold a fitted sheet.
Room-specific cleaning and organizing ideas are useful. Interesting tips for cooking and baking, and a lot of advice for making bread. There is a comprehensive chapter on gardening. Nice photos and back-to-basics good advice.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes the old fashioned way is still the best way to do something. This will definitely be a reference book for me. I don't think every tip is for me, but enough are that I enjoyed the book. The pictures are great too.

[Relyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was readable, useful and pretty. What more could you want in a home-keeping book? This is one I'd like to own.

[Uhhmainduhmeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appealing pictures, calming and straightforward tone, and a few helpful tips tucked in here and there.

[Staci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book about how to get your house organized, declutter, and suggestions on how to fix certain problems that may crop up in your home. I wish that I could have the author come to my house and decorate for me!! I pick these books up for ideas on decor and for short cuts into the kitchen. I did write down some suggestions on how to clean your oven without Easy Off or using the self-cleaning button, but for the life of me I can't find them!! This is a book that I may check out again just to make a list of things that I wanted to try out- ways to show my personality in the objects that I display is one that comes to my mind immediately. If you're in the mood to browse through a "country style" book this one may be one for you.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. This has some good ideas, hints, and tips on things that should be common sense or something we should've (or used to) know as part of growing up. There are some good ones and some that are obvious (to me anyway). It's written well (only a few typos) and separated by sections. This was easy to read and short and sweet. It made it a lot more interesting and kept it from getting boring or making me feel like I was reading a text book. Good, clear pictures and captions and easily understood directions/instructions on some things. I'd call this a so-so book. I wasn't overly impressed but I was definitely not disappointed. Enjoy

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good tips that I'll try but nothing that really spoke to me.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pleasant, nice to have around the house type of book. Filled with both philosophical thoughts and practical tips, it urges readers to think about the lifestyle they want and then make it happen. Just may use the tip about freezing cookie dough in a paper-towel cylinder lined with plastic wrap, so I can slice off the number of cookies I want so I have fresh homemade cookies whenever desired. Now that's fast food.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a fan of Susan Waggoner but was disappointed in this one because it did not have the wonderful vintage illustrations her other works have had. The photographs are beautiful but it was just not what I was hoping for.

[Tif · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this book could have been written by my grandma. It's full of great tips that are sort of getting lost in today's society--like the best way to line dry clothes outside and the best time to plant bulbs. Great resource.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a interesting book to read, there are some great tips but to follow every idea on how to clean house one would have to be totally into giving up on possessions that maybe hard to let go of. Yet there are some wonderful chapters that should be read by many.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite what I expected. Although some of the advice was genuinely helpful, it was mostly more of a Martha Stewart-ey perfection type of thing. I took a few good tips from it, but for the most part it just wasn't very applicable to my life.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify Your Life. What makes a home welcoming and efficient for a family? There are ideas on how to stage a room, prepare a guest room, cleaning suggestions, baking suggestions, gardening, etc.
This book reminded me of how much I want an old-school iron skillet.

[mRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, as a homemaker almost a decade in, there's so much help I still need and this has many good ideas. Of course only do what you can, but there are some insights of you don't know where to start.

[Denice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun little book. Not what I expected. Mostly it’s full of little hints and tidbits. Probably good for someone newly married? Super quick read although it took me so long to get through it be cause I kept forgetting to read it.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the wisdom is common sense, and modern. I still found these reminders a positive direction for my goals.

[Elisa Garza]

All the helpful household tips are great, but what I really love this book (as with all Country Living publications) are the incredible pictures - clean, simple, vintage, stylish - so inspirational!

[Dede Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Would like to have it in my permanent collection.

[Go2therock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to pass along to my girls regarding all kinds of practical matters of homemaking and hospitality. Beautiful photographs, such an air of sweet graciousness.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed remembering the old memories of things my grandmother did and how I am so appreciative of
having also learned these simple ways of keeping a house a home.

[Adele Zavada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good tips in here!

[Keri Daskam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was full of useful tips and tricks for cleaning and organizing a home. It definitely demands to be a reference shelf book, and was fairly daunting to read straight through.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very usfull book! Will Definately keep this around to refer to.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some neat tips. I enjoyed it.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Love, Love this book! It's my go to for everything!

[Erin Hendrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical and applicable (more so than Martha Stewart, much as I love her books), and fun to read.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't call most of these tips "time saving." But there are some nifty tricks in this one.