Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home and Life

by Laura Leist, Adam L. Weintraub (Photographer)

Let go of clutter and organize every room of your house, including the kitchen and pantry, closet, garage, home office, and childrens' rooms. The author’s ten-step system is presented in an easy-to-use, workbook-style layout with full-color photos demonstrating the various stages of the organizing process, illustrating not just "before and after," but the realistic, messy, all-important steps in between. Leist’s method is based on the underlying principle that "it’s not about the stuff." She touches on the psychological reasons behind clutter and not letting go — such as procrastination, denial, thrift, and family history — but her underlying premise is that being organized is an ongoing process, not a one-day event. By learning to sort, prioritize, and make fast, rational decisions about their household goods, readers become more efficient and functional not just at home, but in other areas of life as well.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Family, Interior Design

212 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2006

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers that this book was only okay. The author's particular system is a useful one, with clear steps that really do outline the keys parts of organizing successfully, but the way she covers it in the book is repetitive and lacking in depth. Each chapter, which focuses on a particular room/project, walks through each of her steps, but really it's just the same thing over and over again.

I do think that if you follow her system to organize your spaces, you'd be ultimately successful (and it was a good reminder to me, perpetual organizer that I am, to remember things like being sure to have bins and boxes ready for my discards, rather than leaving them in piles in another room, making another room worse) but the presentation of the material wasn't great...and her depiction of shopping for organization supplies as the ultimate glorious reward for doing all the previous steps was a bit much.

[Cory · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed . . . awfully common-sense to have a whole book written about it. And while I'm sure that her ten steps seemed like a framework for a book, I don't need to be told in each chapter that one needs to set aside time to organize. That's step one. I get it. I understand that it will be the first step of each project. You really don't need to tell me, and the write an explanatory paragraph each time. I'm on it.

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay. I liked other organizing books better. I think one reason it wasn't my favorite is because she gave specific examples and showed before and afters. I wasn't to thrilled with the afters. Of course she gave valuable info, just not my favorite.

[Deyara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting tips, but a lot of the solutions were way out of my price range. I liked the idea of using turntables inside the cupboards so you can see everything easily, not sure why I never thought of that before it seems so simple now :)

[Brixton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is for RICH PEOPLE with HUGE HOUSES, i.e., not the most of us.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this book. I'm big into organizing, or at least, creating plans and this book sets up organizing your home in that way.

As I began my venture to sell my "junk" in 30 days, I needed a little push here and there to keep me going and to help me identify things that I really didn't need. By tackling some of the big problem areas in my house - garage, office, kids rooms - I was able to focus my energy to eliminate a lot of the clutter that was also getting in the way of our family's day to day life.

Leist's 10-Step process is easy to follow and very descriptive. The first step being, of course, to set aside time to organize the space. Then, it's off to gathering supplies. These are not the ordinary closet organizers that we think of during a organization process. Instead, it's boxes, pens, trash cans, etc. that we're going to use to help sort through the stuff in our space.

But, on with the process. The third step is to identify a staging area where you can complete the sorting stage. Then, it's time to purge. I personally set up box after box to fill with yard sale items...and to simplify my life, I simply labeled the box with the contents and what I wanted for them (i.e. CDs 25 cents each). On yard sale day, it was just a matter of pulling those boxes out of the garage and into the driveway.

With what is being kept, it's necessary to group items together so you can assess how much space is required to hold everything. (At this point, you may have to consider a secondary purge.) Then, you finally get to shop for the organizers that we love, that hold the promise of a clean, sane life. Step 9 is to install the products and put your items away. And step 10 is to maintain what we've done.

This was a great book in that it was very methodical. It walked through the steps for the most problematic areas in most homes. Yet, it never made you feel that you were slacking off if an idea or suggestion simply didn't apply to you. And to make it even better...each room chapter included a time estimate and a cost estimate for what Leist spent on each of the examples. A good guide for those of us trying to budget our money and our time.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing earthshaking, but a good solid and straightforward breakdown of the inbetween steps of actually organizing and sorting your stuff out. Great for people like me who can't always line up the way from A to Z without the stuff in the middle.

[Carter Hemphill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author provides a play-by-play of how she organizes homes. The book is rather dated (published in 2006), but the photos are really helpful. It will help get you motivated to declutter and organize. A quick read -- helpful for newbies who haven't read much on the subject.

[Britta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down the best downsizing and organizing book I've read.

[Madi · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first bit was kind of helpful, but after that it was just repeat, repeat, repeat. The photos of before/after/in-progress were interesting, but as a whole the book is very dated.

[Rebecca Noran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good tips and questions to ask yourself, but skimmed much of it bc it was redundant and didn’t meet my needs.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 skimmed

I’ve stopped reading the chapters on how to do specific areas.

Her approach to organizing seems to be almost exactly the way I work!

[Jeanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I got some good takeaways, but mostly it just motivated me to do the work I’ve been avoiding. Some content is outdated but easy enough to skip over.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me this book is above average because it leaves the realm of theory and moves on to demonstrate real situations. Specific people who owned particular rooms, what their goal was, how they approached the work, problems encountered, and photos before, during, and after. I'm not at all bothered that Laura Leist taps into the same general consciousness as other organizers. That shows that the generally held ideas are a consensus based on logic, common experience, and what has been shown to work. The book stands out by getting down to brass tacks--which is a more thorough way of teaching the ideas.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a few other books about organizing, but this one seems to be the simplest and most realistic. It's a fast read, and it includes full-color before and after photos of each project. Each chapter tackles a different area of the home, so you can skip around if you need to. I'm really hoping it will motivate me to organize our bedroom closet, and maybe even some of my craft supplies! Wish me luck!

I guess I should explain that I didn't read all of the book (for example, I don't have a garage, so I skipped that part), but I didn't want it to stay on my "read" list. :)

[Sarah Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is so great! I've already cleaned out my storage room, my closet (YIKES!) my desk, and I have plans for the garage. The ideas in this book are simple, easy and they make so much sense!

Go get it!

[Cam]

I have a goal to get organized, so I checked several books/magazines out from the library to get some ideas. I thought this book had some good ideas, but she definitely repeated herself a lot. Actually, any organization book I've read is quite repetative.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone like me who has a very clutter home, this book had alot of great suggestions to help elimate extra stuff. Most of it is probably common sense but she has a 10 step process which makes sense to me and is actually helping.

[dyanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Putting the process into steps is a good start. I think she repeated herself because it is a book you can skip around to the room that applies to where you want to organize. This book has many helpful hints and is really helpful in getting you ready to begin. i.e there is hope!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A merging of ideas similar to Get Your Act Together by Pamela Young and Peggy Jones (more humor found here) and organizational tools from IKEA (a favorite store) surely there is hope with this plan!

[Ursula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am in process with this one. I've a long way to go, but it feels good to have started.

[angelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author's premise is that being organized is an on-going process, not a one-day event. This is an ok book, short, and has some good ideas. Nothing really new.

[Abby]

I always need new ideas for organizing. If I'm reading an organizing book, I usually get a lot more done than when I'm reading, oh I don't know, the Harry Potter books.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, concise and well presented. Great pictures of each step of organization.

[Roxane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent advice for organizing.

[Johanna Haas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought it would have helpful ideas - but it contains nothing new. If you've never read anything on organization, then this book would be ok.

[Kdiard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it very motivating. I actually cleaned out my closet, several junk drawers and stopped myself for purchasing several items. Progress! Now how do I get the rest of my family to read it?

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best and most useful organizing books I have read - and I've read quite a few.