Scaling Down : Living Large in a Smaller Space [Paperback]

Marj Decker (Author), Judi Culbertson (Author), George Booth (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2005

How to make more of less-the book that shows how to simplify your life, control clutter, and pare down your possessions for a move into smaller living quarters.

There are plenty of anti-clutter experts around ready to exhort us to sort, store, and trash our belongings, but this is the first book to address the specific needs of people moving from a larger to a smaller space, or merging two (or more) people's possessions into a single abode.
If you and your mate are about to swap your large, single-family house for a condo, or move your parents out of the family home of 40 years into an assisted-living center, where do you start? How do you decide what to take, what to leave behind, and what to do with your discards? What can you do to keep the move from seeming tinged with loss?

Scaling Down not only offers terrific nuts-and-bolts strategies for paring down one's belongings to only the best and most meaningful items, but it also addresses the emotional aspects of streamlining-the complicated relationship we have with our "stuff." Countering the pervasive American prejudice that having less is a step down, the authors advance their concept of "living large wherever you are!"

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JUDI CULBERTSON is a New York-based organizing/ decluttering expert who gives clutter-control seminars coast to coast. She is also the author of a decluttering newsletter, Traveling Light.

MARJ DECKER is the CEO of the Denver-based company Time Is Priceless, which specializes in helping people downsize.

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books (February 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594860939
• ISBN-13: 978-1594860935
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Less really is more...., January 31, 2006

By 

MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scaling Down : Living Large in a Smaller Space (Paperback)

Being active in a simply living community I am always interested in buying books that discuss downsizing, decluttering, simple living. This book Scaling Down : Living Large in a Smaller Space by Judi Culbertson is helpful because unlike other books it gets inside the mind of the reader who wants to do something about all the stuff they have, but worry they will give away something they may need later, something that was a gift from someone, something that reminds them of something good, long ago, or a variety of other mind games 'stuff' evokes.

Thus the author walks the reader thru a variety of situations and gets the reader to think outside the box, as well as think about whether they own the item or the item owns them. Along with the real, often long-term costs of holding on to things one never uses, likes or needs. There is a reason that businesses that are storage facilities for people who have to much stuff are amongst the fastest growing businesses in the United States.

The author shows the reader how to get rid of things either by donating to a thrift store, yard sale, or Freecycle.com which is a national organization on the Internet. I loved her suggestion that old furs be donated to groups like PETA who can use them for educational purposes.

The author also goes beyond getting rid of things and brings meaning to the saying that Less is More, she also tackles the prevention issue so that the reader doesn't get back into the mess they just got out of. The author does all this without making the reader feel like a loser or stupid for becoming a pack rat, hoarder, or procrastinator.

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of its kind, April 28, 2005

By 

Erica Wells (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scaling Down : Living Large in a Smaller Space (Paperback)

I have read every book I could find on home organization and "clutter-busting". This book is the first one that contained practical, truly helpful information. We are preparing for our second child and just finished a remodel so I really needed some workable tactics to get our home in order. I carried this book around the house with me, consulting it as I went from room to room trying to figure out what to do with an overwhelming accumulation of "stuff". It has taken a couple of months, but the recommendations I implemented from this book are now paying off. I know where everything is, I have made a lot fewer "necessary" purchases and the house is a lot easier to clean up on short notice!
This book also has the gentle guidance you need when trying to cope with your emotional attachments to your possessions. This book isn't full of intimidating, glossy photos of perfectly organized rooms. Instead, it is full of information you will use on a daily basis to both clean up your space and keep it that way.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scaling Down : Living Large in a Smaller Space, April 5, 2005

By 

Pat S (Rapid City, SD) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scaling Down : Living Large in a Smaller Space (Paperback)

Wow a most excellent and helpful book. As you read it the authors seem to be in the same room with you speaking about their own and others experiences on how to eliminate much of lifes unnecesary accumulations. Their suggestions and hints are choice. Whether you are making a big move, buying a new home, moving into an apartment/condo, or just going through everything once your children have left home and are on their own, this book is for you. I highly recomend it. Thank you authors.