Customer Reviews

The Organized Home: Design Solutions for Clutter-Free Living

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was given to me by a friend and I brought it with me to the Bahamas this winter along with lots of other reading material. Family had been visiting for a week (left) and I was ready to curl up with something really good...and this was it. I read it cover to cover without stopping. The great ideas, the snappy writing, the option that I didn't have to spend big bucks to make major improvements...there is something in it for everyone. I just got through going through a relative's house where she was a hoarder and had lived in the same house for 30 years. I think this book could have even made a difference there. So, I would think that anyone interested in less clutter, and how to go about making it happen would enjoy what Koll & Ellis have to say.

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!

The perfect solution for spring (cleaning) fever! I live in a great apartment but have recently felt the urge to move. Too many books, lots of old clothes and not enough room. Sound familiar? This book has inspired me to make some changes and given me creative alternatives to my current storage solutions. As someone who works from a home office, I especially appreciate the chapter on home office storage. (Come on, there are only so many files I can stick under the bed). All of that *and* advice on using pinon incense? What a book!

I have been digging out of piles of clutter my whole life. My college room was so messy that my parents thought a category five hurricane had passed through. Not much has improved through the years as I really could use a visit from the Fab Five. Finally, though, Ms. Ellis and Mr. Koll have published a concise compendeum of hints and ideas to help me gain control. The writing is clever and the pictures are terrific. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants(and most probably needs)some sage advice on domestic improvement. Next, would they please write a companion piece on weight control to fix my only remaining problem?

Loved the book. Wished I could make all my spaces look half as lovely. The catch? I'm newly married and trying to combine 2 furnished households into 1, on top of the wedding gifts.
I would have loved helpul hints on decluttering what we already have. Or how to sort through what to keep and reuse in the new space and what to toss out!
I'll use this book as inspiration!!!

Living in the big city certainly has its challenges, especially when it comes to getting and staying organized. Casey Ellis and Randall Koll have given me some great ideas to keep our city town home organized and free from clutter. This is a MUST read for anyone who is "space challenged".

Thank goodness spring starts off cold in Boston - I know what I will be doing over the next few weekends!

Thanks for all the ideas!

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!

There's really no reason to buy this book unless you want to
live like a human being for once in your life.

Oh wait. That's what you want? Then this is the last book you'll ever need on organizing. Frankly, I'm such a slob I was afraid to even crack the cover. It sat, rebuking me, on a pile of unopened mail for about 2 weeks. When I finally got up my courage and opened it, I was shocked to see how funny and simple and straightforward the advice was; how wonderfully written, too. I'm taking it slow; I'm trying not to panic when I see how much there is to do in my house. But it's showing me that there is, at least, the remote possibility that I won't live like a teenage boy forever.

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?)

This is such a fabulous book! I can't wait to read more by Randall Koll and Casey Ellis. Their writing is a joy and now I want to organize my home just so I'm ready if they ever decide to tour Southern California. I figure its only a matter of time until Organized Home: Design Solutions for Clutter-Free Living mania criss-crosses the nation!