Customer Reviews

Scaling Down : Living Large in a Smaller Space

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This is a great book, that is helping me make tough choices. I get overpowered cleaning out my storage room, garage or library. They present ideas that help me be more decisive. I am laughing as I read it and was jettisoning the "stuff" that I don't need (or really want) anymore. This is a practical, funny and resourceful help for a task we ALL need to face, but are unwilling to do so often. I recommend it!

To me, these gals have written a winner. They offer guidance for exactly what it takes to analyze, organize, process, and pare down-and feel great about it. Their writing style seems concise, personable, positive, and spontaneous. It is almost as there is a 10 ton dumpster in my front yard and they are in my living room helping me happily get rid of half the contents of my house.

The book cites numerous interesting case examples covering almost every situation including one's own home, olderfamily members' homes, and friends' homes. It also addresses the hows and whys of having and holding on to so much stuff in the first place and various psychological thought processes involved in letting go of particular items yet keeping others.

For me, an added bonus to reading the book is that I now have half of my Christmas list figured out. I will be giving this book to several relatives and friends as nice gift yet subtle hint.

I found it to be an extremely helpful and energizing book and am definitely looking forward to reading their next book.

Moving to a smaller place forces you to view what you thought was important in the context of "What does it do to improve my life?". Is this important? How many clothes are hanging in the closet or packed in boxes? I had collector's board games (notice how I said collector's!). I got on E-Bay and Amazon and sold them. I have about 100,000 baseball cards. 99,950 of them are worthless. I have a stamp collection...books and books on stamp values. I only read the latest one so I had to be real and toss the historical ones. No one wanted them. I am also a book collector. This book, told me what to do with them. Amazon is going to make a fortune off my sales but so am I.

Be kind to yourself and don't fall in love with things that can't love you back. Spouses, children, puppies, kittens can stay. The other stuff, make room in your life for those things that love you back. One man's junk is another man's treasure. Find that other man and give him your junk. You'll be happy and so will the recipient, even if it's a charitable organization.

Go to Goodwill or the Salvation Army and look at what they have for sale. You know your stuff is better than that. Improve Goodwill and Salvation Army's image, give them something that's good and new instead of junk.

Buy this book and help yourself work through letting go of the stuff that hold's you captive. Freedom is just a few chapters away!

I stayed up all night reading this book as if it were a suspense novel, then I set to work getting rid of things I didn't need. It's amazing what I found, duplicates of things I never used any more, triplicates even, and once in a while something I thought I needed to buy.

Great book used to help my clients prepare to move into smaller living space. It's humor helps guide the reader thru the very real emotion of parting with lifelong treasures. It helps challenge the "Bigger (more) is better" notion, focusing on decluttering and streamlining our lives. It's also a great book for the real estate professional that works with mature clients to read and utilize in their business.

Few people will dispute the widespread American tendency to accumulate. This tendency is known as the "rodent propensity." In my neighborhood of 3-car garages most of them provide at least a third of the space for the storage of stuff that will never be used again. The book, Scaling Down, by two authors who travel the country conducting seminars on our natioinal tendency to compete with packrats, offer valuable suggestions in scaling down and helpful criteria in confronting the tyranny of the over-abundance of "things." Not least, the auhors provide a realistic assessment of how to deal with the delicate question of "who gets what?" in the final distribution of our worldly possessions. An excellent review of an issue we will all face, now or later.

I bought this book (used) when I was in the middle of the packing process to move into a studio apartment. I wish I had this book at the beginning because it gave me the urge to purge things that I had just packed. I don't know why I was saving them when I hadn't looked at them in 5+ years, and I wasn't really interested in them anymore. I highly recommend this book. It covers an array of moving situations and excuses for hanging on to stuff. The authors come across as knowledgable and experienced. It's a great reference tool to keep on hand.