Customer Reviews

The Organized Home: Design Solutions for Clutter-Free Living

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I enjoy functional yet eye-catching rooms with a feel of luxury to the space - comfortable and classy ....So when I came across the book "The Organized Home: Design Solutions for Clutter-Free Living" it immediately appealed to me.

The book is filled with lavish photographs of beautiful rooms that are pleasing to the eye. But the rooms go beyond the pretty/decorator look because each is designed with simple solutions to organize the space so the home becomes a refuge from our hectic lifes. It becomes a place of peace. Organized and restful.

Though I have read a number of organization books, this one introduced me to some lovely new ideas. How to use a tansu(or chest), how screens can be used to hide and divide, why you should always have a mirror in the hallway and much more.

The hardcover book 10" by 8" with its glossy cover is pretty to place on the coffee table and so packed with solutions you will refer to it constantly. It includes chapters on organizing by design, creating a first impression, adding life to the living room, creating a double duty dining room, taming childrens rooms and taking a fresh look at laundry and mud rooms among others.

Each chapter takes an indepth look to give you tips and techniques to make your home glow. One of my favorites is the kitchen section. In this section the authors teach you how to cut clutter, plan for get togethers, organize your kitchen gear and display collections. The nitty gritty is covered not just surface information. Not only are you given quick and easy ways to increase your storage for example you are also encouraged to label your spices with the date of purchase, rotate your dishes and take inventory of your cutlery. Little things that make your kitchen function at its best. And this is done room by room.

A super read, packed with information and very inspiring!

Lee Mellott

I am in love with this book. Instead of telling me what a slob I am or that I should just toss all clutter, the authors understand what its like to have collections of stuff and busy lives. There are so many "home organization" (and i use that term loosely) books out there and instead of focusing on how to organize your home and indirectly your life, they pound into you that one must always get rid of stuff. This is not the case with the wonderful Casey Ellis and Randall Koll! I can live clutter free and organized. Yes, junk mail gets thrown away as soon as it enters the house but I now have lovely baskets to organize the myriad of magazines that cross my threshold and I can actually get to the things I use most and sleep well knowing that my linen closet could be in photo shoot.

I received this book as a gift, and when you get a book about organizing as a gift, you tend to examine what it is that's, well, wrong with you. I hunkered down for what I expected would be the dreaded lecture on setting up a neat little corner for bill-paying. But no! I opened a beautiful book! Witty and smart. Great writing, not just about organizing options, but on useful design theory. Gorgeous inspiring photos! Things that seemed like I could actually do them, and not just mentally file them away as something my neurotic professional organizer aunt would do. Tips on keeping a functional kitchen have improved my good-but-lazy cook ass already! I love that this book does not require an instant remodel of everything you already have. It offers useful suggestions you can do one at a time, and some bigger ideas to mull over for when le grand remodel is actually possible. Thank you, Casey Ellis and Randall Koll! I must now buy five more copies to give as gifts! (Do you think people would take that the wrong way?)

When I learned that Casey Ellis and Randall Koll, both excellent writers
whom I read in the San Francisco Chronicle, had written a book about
organizing your home, I was thrilled. Seven years after I had moved into
my darling San Francisco apartment I would finally be organized!

I pre-ordered the book as soon as it was available and in a short time it
was at my door, waiting for me. I opened it and looked at the cover,
flipped through the pages a bit. The organized bookcases on page 69,
the pocket-sized office on page 116, and the mud room on page 134 -
soon this organized beauty would be mine (granted, I have no mud
room, but I'm ready to move to Vermont to have one).

Fast forward two weeks and I'm digging through piles of papers,
laundry, junk, trying to find the book. I finally found it and read through.
I need this book! The photos are lovely, the writing is clever and
amusing, the tips are great for anyone - small apartment or big house!
If you buy one book about decorating, buy this one!

I bought this book because I have an average sized home without very much storage space and wanted to maximize my space. What a waste! I don't know where these authors live, but clearly it is not on the same planet as me! For example, one of their brillant suggestions is to install a refridgerater in your laundry area for drinks and snacks so you won't need to leave your ironing to go to the kitchen and thus interupt your ironing. a) in today's world of wash-and-wear, who sits down and does a weeks worth of ironing? b) if I had room for a fridge in my laundry area, I wouldn't have bought this book! They also suggest keeping a household journal for various things such as noting where you stored your spring candles when you put them away to make room for you winter candles. You can also note which brands worked best, and which scents you prefer. Also, when you are at social engagements and friends happen to mention their food allergies and/or preferences, you can write them down on a little slip of paper and later transcribe into your journal to reference when you give dinner parties. Who are these people??? Don't buy a copy of this book--you can find mine for free in the trash heap.

This book is truly a gem. I live in Ann Arbor, and am one of those people who leaves a "trail of clutter" behind wherever I go. My house (yikes!) shows it, and though I've read a lot of books on managing clutter, staying organized, and the like, they just really haven't worked for me. I guess I'm not altogther embarassed to be me, but this book is really great and really different It looks at all this from a *design* perspective, and makes it both fun and engaging to begin designing one's home (or apartment) in ways that make it look *much* *much* better *while* managing the clutter in some really easy and helpful ways. This book has helped me find a me that *can* be more clutter-free without stressing out about it. Now I'm beginning to invite people over to my place much more, and this design book is--strange as it sounds--actually opening up new avenues for me socially and in all kinds of other ways. What a great idea! Randall Koll and Casey Ellis: my hat is off to you. Thank you. I mean it: thank you.

This little treasure of a book turned out to be much more than I expected. Scattered amid the practical and the stylish is a sense of humor that keeps the tone peppy and fun. Advice like "not putting a mirror in the dining room at a level where you catch yourself in "mid-chew" had me both howling and nodding my head in agreement. In the middle of kitchen organizing ideas, Koll & Ellis admonish us that "ancient powdered oregano" will do little to enhance our cuisine! (How old are YOUR spices?)

Immediately, they helped us solve a problem we have had for years. Not being blessed with an entryway or foyer of any sort, I disliked having guests walk right into the living room. We had installed a hardwood entry section cut into the carpet, but it still lacked definition. After reading this book, we changed the way the furniture was arranged, added a few items and "created" organization and a "space" where there was none. We turned our sofa with the back perpendicular to the doorway. This created a long barrier to walking right into the room. On the wall opposite the sofa back, we put a console table with three woven storage baskets with lids on the bottom shelf, adding tons of DVD storage. This gave us a "zone" that ushered guests into the room in a structured and organized manner.

You will especially like the Cool Weather/Warm weather tips. There are sidebar notes on most pages, and excellent photographs which show real, liveable rooms, not show houses. Examples of new fresh ideas of storage abound.

This book got us thinking...Being organized is the result of being mindful. When you think about it, it doesn't take that much longer. The authors suggest to us that neatness creates order,calmness and a positive energy. Keeping the kitchen counters free of unnecessary items and clutter has made ours more fun to use. This can apply to your refrigerator, medicine cabinet and junk drawers!

You will love this book, and it will spur you on to think of your own ideas for organizing your home and creating a home. This book would make an excellent gift for friends and loved ones. It should be "Standard Issue" for Newlyweds and new homeowners!

Seriously, I don't know who is leaving these great reviews of this book. It seems like every photo shows a giant, spacious home with lots of open space, and each suggestion involves buying something new to either arrange or accent what I have.

Hey, authors? If I had an 8 x 12 entryway I wouldn't need tips on how to organize my going-out things! If I had a huge, spacious hallway, I could figure out on my own how to put bookshelves in there or display collections. And if I had a guest bedroom AND bathroom, then maybe taking tips on how I ought to tuck the shower curtain inside the shower for guests would be helpful - but from where I am at now? NOT what I bought the book for, thank you.

And I can tell you that when I think about how to organize collections and clutter, the last thing I think about is buying more stuff to display it on or with. Why in the world is a book on design solutions to clutter advising we buy umbrella stands for our (they imagine) giant entryways, and antique ladders to display our antique books on. Do they think I have not only that kind of space to waste but extra cash lying around waiting to be wasted on dumb stuff like that?

This book actively made me mad. I got it from the library thinking I'd get some tips for my 1200 sq ft home and for living with my clutterbug partner harmoniously. Every single picture and tip I got was a serious joke. This book should be labeled: The Organized Home - Design Solutions for the Wealthy and Large-of-Home.

Don't waste your money. The Not So Big House has pics of big homes, too, but that book at least showed some real design solutions for making the most of one's space, and it isn't even geared towards people with too much stuff.

Like the other reviewers, I love this book! If you love your stuff, want to keep it, but need great ideas on how to "contain the clutter" and beautifully display your rooms, this book is for you. Each chapter contains several ideas for organizing the different areas of the home. It covers many decorating styles and tastes. It's all about functional yet beautiful furnishings that work for your lifestyle. I can't say enough--buy the book and you will see what I mean.

I am already a very organized person, but I found this book to be really helpful! It's full of cool & classy ideas. It's a must have for anyone who needs ideas for Spring cleaning and decorating/organizing. The "Queer Eye" guys would definitely agree! The only reason why I gave it 4 stars, rather than 5+ is because I would've like to see 'before and after' pictures. Buy it, love it, live it and get organized!