Customer Reviews

Good Things for Organizing (Good Things with Martha Stewart Living)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If I had never used even one of the suggestions/ideas in this book, it is beautiful to look at and wonderfully organized.

Even the unrealistic (for me) ideas let me fantasize....not a bad thing!

Martha Stewart's staff has compiled organizational ideas for every room of the house (and even rooms that most of us do not have). Many of the ideas are just common sense, but things I would not have thought of on my own. I had quite a few "ah-ha" moments while reading this book.

I have used several of the ideas: for the broom closet, the office, the garage, and for folding those darn fitted sheets that always end up in a ball, it seems.

I loved the picture wall, the fold-out windowsill, the armoire converted into an office, the herb "pantry", and the spice drawers.

Now if Martha would just send someone over to make all these things for me!

Ingenious ways to organize just about every part of your house and inspiring photos of that oh-so-Martha style make this book a must have for any Martha fan or compulsive neat-nick. However, for those looking for a all-out guide to organizing, this book is more fluff than stuff. While you do get to see a lot of the ideas, the pictures limit the amount of space for instructions and tips. Most, if not all, of the ideas come from her magazine, so for those of us stock-piling issues and issues of it, this book provides a to-the-point compilation. Mostly useful for inspiration and as a visual guide, look elsewhere for much more. Not as lengthy as I might have liked--- I hope Martha comes out with a more comprehensive guide in the future. I'd recommend this to fans of the Martha style only.

This is a wonderful book. Before this book, my life at home was out of order and everything was a mess. After reading this book, I had a host of ideas to help me organize my food pantry and bathroom, etc, etc. My life is now more orderly and much simpler at home. My home has become a more pleasant place to spend time. Keeping my home in order after all these changes requires virtually no maintenance. Martha's ideas were of VERY little cost if it cost me anything at all.I discovered that I could use things that I already had around my house. I found new and more practical uses for literally 100's of objects in my home. I recommend this book to anyone who needs a little organizing in their lives.WAY TO GO MARTHA!!!!!!!!!!

This book is a good resource/ inspiration for people who want to get organized with their living space. Each chapter shows examples of how to deal with a specific organizing problem. The solutions are effective as well as the charming looks. This book is truly helpful and again, inspire those who are either just begin to get organized or obsessed with tidiness (like me). I'm pleased with this book and look forward to seeing many 'before/ after' spaces influenced by this book.

For anyone who subscribes to or buys Martha Stewart Living, save your money on this book. It is basically a compilation of past issues on homekeeping and organizing techniques. There are a couple of new ideas(or maybe I don't recall seeing them in the magazine) but otherwise I found this book repetitive of old ideas.

I'm not usually one to buy books about generic subjects like organizing. But this book intrigued me because it brings a dash of glamour and pinache to an otherwise dull subject and one that I needed to study!

All of the ideas are fresh and original.

The book goes room by room through the house: Living spaces, Working spaces, Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Basements, etc.

Martha and her team make the task of organizing seem do-able and also offer some very stylish ways of keeping clutter out of site, like the hidden book shelves on the sides of a headboard, starting a key corral by the front door or keeping your computer, fax machine and printer in a converted armoire - a 'secret office' you can put anywhere in the house.

There are lots of tips for storage, keeping clutter off desks, organizng a pantry, a linen closet, a medicine cabinet, a spice rack, a clothes closet, a laundry room, your kitchen drawers, etc.

It's a bit of a vanity project, like most of Martha's books, with photos of Martha's homes and rooms, but that's kind of fun too.

This book is loaded with tons of beautiful photographs of projects, however there are barely any instructions. Very disappointed, as I would like to implement some of her ideas in my own home but do not have the time to "write my own instructions" for any of these projects.

I love the pictures, and they are a wonderful inspiration to get you started on organizing your space. There are also a few specific ideas that may prove helpful. But unless you are willing to spend a lot of money on containers, shop at endless flea markets, and most importantly, are already organized, this won't be a big help.

If you want to see pretty pictures of nice looking organizing doodads, leaf through this book...but if you want practical tips on how to organize your space, pick up Julie Morgenstern's Organizing from the Inside Out.

If you are organizing a place similar to her farmhouse, this book might be for you. I was very disappointed to see how few of her ideas would translate elsewhere--usually this is not the case with her books. Good Things was a much better book.

I found only one or two ideas that really stood out from the rest--not worth the price of the book, especially if you get her magazine or mail order catalogue. Buy used if at all.