Simply Spaced: Clear the Clutter and Style Your Life


Monica Leed - 2019
    Broken into projects by room, across a “year of clear,” the 3-step method inside will dispel the myth that you can’t learn to be organized. Simply Spaced will teach you to think like a professional organizer. Learn to Simplify like a pro by implementing the failsafe method to declutter any space, keeping only what you love, need and use. Streamline your home and take back control by optimizing space with strategic storage. And finally, Style your home to inspire creativity and connection. Monica Leed, CEO, and owner of Simply Spaced will reshape how you think about your home and belongings. Her practical tips make getting organized desirable, achievable and sustainable. She’s made this all possible through a belief that simplicity and order create the mental and physical space we all need to thrive. Complete with checklists and tear-out worksheets, Monica shares her best advice on how to create a home that “rises up to meet you.” Each chapter includes 5 clutter culprits, plus 5 pro tips to combat clutter, 15 things to let go of now, and style tips for every room. From kitchens and closets to kids’ spaces and storage, Monica will inspire you to conquer one room at a time, overcoming overwhelm and organizing it all.The Simply Spaced method, born from the LA-based professional organizing service and lifestyle company Simply Spaced, has helped countless clients tap into their creativity for profound change. Get ready to be inspired as you clear the physical and mental clutter that’s been holding you back from living your best life. It all starts at home.

Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness: One-Minute Tips for Decluttering and Refreshing Your Home and Your Life


Donna Smallin - 2014
    Smallin’s simple and manageable approach helps you focus on the things that will make the biggest difference in the least amount of time. Clear away the clutter once and for all, and discover the peace of mind that has been hiding underneath.

The New Plant Parent: Develop Your Green Thumb and Care for Your House-Plant Family


Darryl Cheng - 2019
    He teaches the art of understanding a plant’s needs and giving it a home with the right balance of light, water, and nutrients. After reading Cheng, the indoor gardener will be far less the passive follower of rules for the care of each species and much more the confident, active grower, relying on observation and insight. And in the process, the plant owner becomes a plant lover, bonded to these beautiful living things by a simple love and appreciation of nature. The New Plant Parent covers all of the basics of growing house plants, from finding the right light, to everyday care like watering and fertilizing, to containers, to recommended species. Cheng’s friendly tone, personal stories, and accessible photographs fill his book with the same generous spirit that has made @houseplantjournal, his Instagram account, a popular source of advice and inspiration for thousands of indoor gardeners.

Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life


Dani Shapiro - 2013
    At once a memoir, meditation on the artistic process, and advice on craft, Still Writing is an intimate and eloquent companion to living a creative life.Through a blend of deeply personal stories about what formed her as a writer, tales from other authors, and a searching look at her own creative process, Shapiro offers her gift to writers everywhere: an elegant guide of hard-won wisdom and advice for staying the course. "The writer's life requires courage, patience, empathy, openness. It requires the ability to be alone with oneself. Gentle with oneself. To be disciplined, and at the same time, take risks." Writers--and anyone with an artistic temperament--will find inspiration and comfort in these pages. Offering lessons learned over twenty years of teaching and writing, Shapiro brings her own revealing insights to weave an indispensable almanac for modern writers.Like Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, Virginia Woolf's A Writer's Diary, and Stephen King's On Writing, Dani Shapiro's Still Writing is a lodestar for aspiring scribes and an eloquent memoir of the writing life.

Freakin' Fabulous on a Budget


Clinton Kelly - 2013
    Now Clinton Kelly—America’s favorite expert on, well, everything—applies his brilliant sense of style and humor to all aspects of life, from dining and entertaining to decorating and etiquette. And he does it all without spending a fortune!In this ingenious new collection of must haves, whatnots, and need-to-knows, Clinton Kelly proves that it doesn’t take a lot of money to look like a million bucks. In fact, you can dress, entertain, and decorate in a way that makes everyone think you’re filthy rich!Clinton shows you how to:LOOK YOUR BEST—FOR LESS Put together beautiful designer looks at a fraction of the cost!EAT LIKE A KING (OR QUEEN) Stuffed Artichokes! Beef Bourguignon! Chocolate Soufflé!LIVE IT UP & PARTY DOWN Throw fabulous dinner parties that won’t break the bank!DIY YOUR HOME, CHIC HOME Make your own “mercury glass” lamps, haute-couture napkins, high-end centerpieces, and MoMA-worthy artwork! Packed with full-color photos, bargain-hunting tips, posh party ideas, easy-but impressive recipes, dazzling home projects, and everyday indulgences that don’t cost a dime, Clinton’s book is the perfect fit for any size bank account. Now that’s freakin’ fabulous!

The Big-Ass Book of Home Décor: More than 100 Inventive Projects for Cool Homes Like Yours


Mark Montano - 2010
    Your current home “décor” is ugly, shabby, and boring, but you can’t afford lots of new stuff. Or maybe your house is filled with tired old junk that you just can’t bear to throw away. Or maybe you bought all your furniture at a big box store, but it irritates you that it all looks like you bought it there. You have a solution—or, rather, a whole houseful of solutions. In this newest Big-Ass Book, do-it-yourself guru Mark Montano presents 105 practical, simple, and decidedly unboring projects for every space in your home. Montano’s wizardry—accomplished with masking tape, spray paint, and glue—transforms everything from accessories, to walls and windows, to lighting, to major pieces like headboards, tables, dressers, and chairs. (And there’s even a chapter on turning the anonymous items you got at IKEA into one-of-a-kind treasures.)

The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness


Emily Anthes - 2020
    We spend 90 percent of our time inside, shuttling between homes and offices, schools and stores, restaurants and gyms. And yet, in many ways, the indoor world remains unexplored territory. For all the time we spend inside buildings, we rarely stop to consider: How do these spaces affect our mental and physical well-being? Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors? Our productivity, performance, and relationships?In this wide-ranging, character-driven book, science journalist Emily Anthes takes us on an adventure into the buildings in which we spend our days, exploring the profound, and sometimes unexpected, ways that they shape our lives. Drawing on cutting-edge research, she probes the pain-killing power of a well-placed window and examines how the right office layout can expand our social networks. She investigates how room temperature regulates our cognitive performance, how the microbes hiding in our homes influence our immune systems, and how cafeteria design affects what—and how much—we eat.Along the way, Anthes takes readers into an operating room designed to minimize medical errors, a school designed to boost students’ physical fitness, and a prison designed to support inmates’ psychological needs. And she previews the homes of the future, from the high-tech houses that could monitor our health to the 3D-printed structures that might allow us to live on the Moon.The Great Indoors provides a fresh perspective on our most familiar surroundings and a new understanding of the power of architecture and design. It's an argument for thoughtful interventions into the built environment and a story about how to build a better world—one room at a time.

Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with Simplicity


Diane Boden - 2021
    What does this mean? In thinking more about what we incorporate into our life (whether that’s in our home, schedule, or mind) we are able to live with less clutter, chaos and stress. Do a quick Amazon search and you’ll find hundreds of books on simplifying, decluttering, or something that may promise ‘life-changing magic’. Minimalist Moms aim is to provide a book that is more of a quick, daily reminder of the impact of minimalism. It's composed of phrases, or ‘areas of focus’ that the reader can dwell on daily. Minimalism is more of a way of life than a place one can arrive. We need little reminders to help keep perspective and focus on what’s important to us.

A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder - How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-The-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place


Eric Abrahamson - 2006
    But most people still shun disorder-or suffer guilt over the mess they can't avoid. No longer!With a spectacular array of true stories and case studies of the hidden benefits of mess,A Perfect Mess overturns the accepted wisdom that tight schedules, organization, neatness, and consistency are the keys to success. Drawing on examples from business, parenting, cooking, the war on terrorism, retail, and even the meteoric career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, coauthors Abrahmson and Freedman demonstrate that moderately messy systems use resources more efficiently, yield better solutions, and are harder to break than neat ones.Applying this idea on scales both large (government, society) and small (desktops, garages), A Perfect Mess uncovers all the ways messiness can trump neatness, and will help you assess the right amount of disorder for any system. Whether it's your company's management plan or your hallway closet that bedevils you, this book will show you why to say yes to mess.

The Creative's Curse


Todd Brison - 2016
    No, it's the subtle kind of curse. It's the kind you might not notice until you're 46 years old at a desk job wondering why you let the best years of your life slip away. It's the kind that keeps you paralyzed at 18 when you know you have something special to offer the world but everyone says you are too young.This book is not about overcoming that curse.It's not about outgrowing the curse.It's about learning to live with it. What if loneliness is not something to be defeated, but an incredible source of power and inspiration? What if that vision you have nobody else can see is the very thing which will set you apart from the rest of the world? What if what makes you weird also makes you unique?The Creative's Curse is real, it's here to stay, and it shows up in all 3 phases of the creative journey:- Discovery -When the voices in your head are telling you nothing you create will ever be good enough.- Discipline -When you start to taste success, but freeze with the challenge of replicating that success.- Destiny -When you feel you've reached your artistic potential... and now have to figure out what on earth to do with your life. Because the Creative is afraid of success and failure and obscurity and fame all at the same time. She is beautiful and bold and timid and courageous. He is unique to the core, so will never be understood by anyone. This is the Creative's Curse.

The Flower Chef: A Modern Guide to Do-It-Yourself Floral Arrangements


Carly Cylinder - 2015
    Even professionals will find ways to update their techniques! This book teaches you everything you need to know about flower arranging including tips on how to buy and care for flowers, how to cut and prepare them, and how to use floral foam, vases, and various other decorative elements in your arrangements. Filled with beautiful photographs and easy-to-follow instructions on how to create over 80 different arrangements, this is the go-to guide to floral design that every flower lover will want to add to their collection.

Cabin Porn: Inspiration for Your Quiet Place Somewhere


Zach Klein - 2015
    As the collection grew, the site attracted a following, which is now a huge and obsessive audience.The site features photos of the most remarkable handmade homes in the backcountry of America and all over the world. It has had over 10 million unique visitors, with 350,000 followers on Tumblr. Now Zach Klein, the creator of the site (and a co-founder of Vimeo) goes further into the most alluring images from the site and new getaways, including more interior photography and how-to advice for setting up a quiet place somewhere. With their idyllic settings, unique architecture and cozy interiors, the Cabin Porn photographs, are an invitation to slow down, take a deep breath, and feel the beauty and serenity that nature and simple construction can create.

Beyond Bullets: Creative Journaling Ideas to Customize Your Personal Productivity System


Megan Rutell - 2017
    FUN, COLORFUL, AND CREATIVE SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEWEST PRODUCTIVITY PHENOMENON.Going beyond basic tools, this book offers tips, tricks and creative ways to transform your notebook into a treasured life companion, including:Ornamental letteringPersonalized habit trackersColorful calendarsDecorative headersCustomized productivity listsInspiring artworkCreative future logsUnique planning pages

The Complete Book of Home Organization


Toni Hammersley - 2016
    The Total Home Organization Manual spells out everything you need to de-clutter your house, store your belongings, and keep your home—and life—in tip-top shape.Organize the 30 main spaces of your home, including the living and dining spaces, bedrooms and bathrooms, guest areas, baby and kids’ rooms, utility spaces and garages, entryways and offices, patios and decks, closets and pet areas! Keep track of your pantry, holiday and craft supplies, weekly menu planning, keepsakes, and schedules. From the basement to the attic, this book covers every nook and cranny.With step-by-step instructions, detailed illustrations, and handy checklists, say goodbye to a messy home and wasted storage space!

100 Essentials: Simple Kitchen + Capsule Wardrobe + Minimalist Home


Francine Jay - 2017
    It’s like packing a suitcase with just your favorite things. She takes the idea of a capsule wardrobe, and expands it to a capsule household—a small collection of versatile items perfectly in sync with your needs. To illustrate, Jay shows you her 100 possessions (in 100 full-color photographs), with detailed explanations of her 35-Item Kitchen, 35-Item Wardrobe, and more. She invites you to join in the fun, and use her list as a springboard in making your own. 100 Essentials helps you travel more lightly through life—whether you’re relocating, downsizing, or just starting out. It’s an ideal resource for small space dwellers, and anyone who wants to live more efficiently and gracefully.