Do you find yourself becoming overwhelmed by the state of your home, but you just don’t know where to start?

Is your home a minor shit-show and you are desperate for a change?

Whether you’re just getting started out on your Home Management journey or you’re looking for ways to improve in a certain area, there are resources that can help you get started on your path to a well-organized home.

Starting is literally the hardest part and it can be very overwhelming if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The truth is, there are so many amazing resources online now and you have the opportunity to choose what’s best for you.

I think the most important step in any journey is identifying what works for you and your family and sticking to it even if it doesn’t work for someone else.

Your journey is your own unique path and what works for you won’t work for your friend. You have control over your path and your journey.

Find Your Motivation

If you’ve been around here even for just a bit, you know I am always harping on the fact that if you don’t know why you’re doing something, you are more likely to never start or to fail.

Something brought you to this point. You probably searched for, “Best Books about Decluttering…” or something like that and you landed on this post. That tells me that you have made the conscious decision to make a change, to invest in your education and you have a spark of motivation.

Keep that spark along your journey and remember why you started in the first place. Something pushed you over the edge, pissed you off, or encouraged you enough to be here, right now. Don’t forget that and as one of my fav Disney characters says, “Just keep swimming.”

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Deciding on the Best Resource for You

Did you know that there are literally thousands of resources out there for learning how to declutter, organize and clean your home? Who would have thought!

There are even online courses you can take and get certifications for in each of these categories.

However, books are a great option as well!

Just as any source of education, the type of resource will depend on you and how you learn best. In any case, there is not a one size fits all approach and there isn’t any one book or course that will have it all.

So, do you like visual learning or audio learning? With audio, you can lean towards a course or an audiobook which is great!

Do you drive or commute a lot? If so, maybe an audiobook is your best option!

If you don’t mind spending a little more because you like the online learning world, then maybe a course is the way to go!

If you like reading and want something you can refer to quickly with your own notes, then keep on reading my friend because we’re about to cover all of the best books for decluttering, organizing, and cleaning your home!

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You Might Need a Course If…

If you hate reading books, you may want to consider a course.

If you want some one on one help because you literally feel paralyzed by the amount of work to do, find a course that offers one on one support or offers step-by-step actions.

If you work well with visual tools and it motivates you to “see” how to do something, go with a course.

Udemy offers some awesome courses on decluttering, organization and cleaning that are reasonably priced.

If you want to get a certification in one of these areas, definitely go the course route.

Another great reason to take a course instead of reading a book is if you need some accountability. Spending money on a course (which is sometimes a little more than a book) can motivate you to follow through since you invested money into it.

Courses also may offer some type of outside support like a Facebook group. Everyone in these communities have either been where you are or there right there with you. That kind of support can provide some amazing accountability that you may need.

• Udemy Courses on Decluttering
• Udemy Courses on Home Organization

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How to Get the Most Out of Decluttering Books

If you weigh your options and you decide a book is your best bet, there are a few tips to ensure you get the most out of your journey.

Take notes along the way, write in your book, earmark important pages, and possibly read the book with a friend.

You are starting your journey from a unqiue place. You know what works best for you, how you can stay motivated along the way, and what you need to follow through.

If something resonates with you while reading, write it down and post it somewhere visual so you can see it every day.

If you work well with accountability, ask someone you trust to do some weekly check-ins with you to see where you’re at with the book and to hold you accountable to tasks you need to get done.

Books are definitely a great option and can provide a ton of value if you hold yourself accountable.

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What is the Best Book for Decluttering, Organization, and Cleaning?

The real, honest truth…there is no perfect book for all of these topics especially in one book.

The best thing you can do is find out where you’re at in your journey and start there. If your home is not overly packed with things, you may just need help organizing those items.

If your home is organized, but literally just dirty, you may just need to focus on cleaning.

If you have things everywhere and you can’t even gain mental clarity when you walk through the front door, you will need to start with decluttering.

Because there is no perfect book that tackles all of these items, I’ve broken these down into sections with the best recommendations for each.

Remember, what works for someone else won’t always work for you.

Read the synopsis of each book in the section you’d like to start with and choose the one that feels best to you. Find the book that seems to jive with your personality and speaks to you.

All of these books are great and are all highly rated so you can’t go wrong with any of them.

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You Need Help with Decluttering

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with decluttering and don’t know where to start, here are some great book options for you! There are so many benefits of decluttering that you may not even be aware of so if you’re even thinking of trying it, take a look at these books to get you started.

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo: The Book Collection: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy by Marie Kondo

Now you can get both books in one! The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is Kondo’s guide to decluttering your home using her famed KonMari Method, and Spark Joy is an illustrated manual with step-by-step instructions for folding clothes and tackling messy areas of the home. With these two books, you can capture the joy of Marie Kondo’s tidy lifestyle for yourself.

Making Space, Clutter Free: The Last Book on Decluttering You’ll Ever Need by Tracy McCubbin

Learn how to declutter your home with expert Tracy McCubbin, who gets to the root of the problem and offers revolutionary help to anyone who has repeatedly tried to break their clutter’s mysterious hold and achieve a clutter-free, minimalist home. Her powerful answer lies in the 7 Emotional Clutter Blocks, unconscious obstacles that stand between thousands of her clients and financial freedom, healthy relationships, and positive outlooks.

Once a Clutter Block is revealed―and healed―true transformation of home and life is possible. Her empowering techniques and strategies help you:

• Recognize and overcome your Clutter Block(s) to liberate your home.
• Learn the tricks of the trade for when the going gets tough.
• Lighten and purge without the rigidity of other methods.
• Use your home to attain life goals like health, wealth and love.
• Declutter after a big life change like a death or divorce.

The Minimalist Way: Minimalism Strategies to Declutter Your Life and Make Room for Joy by Erica Layne

Discover how to apply the minimalist mindset to every aspect of your life by changing the way you think about your home, career, relationships, family, and money. The Minimalist Way will help you take it one step at a time with simple exercises and activities. Ease into minimalism at your own pace and learn how to let go.

Filled with practical philosophy and easy-to-use strategies for removing unnecessary distractions and stress, this is the essential guidebook for anyone looking to clear out their physical, mental, and emotional clutter.

The Minimalist Way includes:

• MINIMALIST PHILOSOPHY―outlines the principles of minimalism and shows you how to define the practice to fit your life.
• THE MINIMALIST LIFESTYLE―teaches you how to apply minimalism to your spending, food, clothing, family, leisure time, work, and more.
• REAL SOLUTIONS―that help you spend time and energy wisely, including checklists, activities, and troubleshooting tips.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White

In Decluttering at the Speed of Life, decluttering expert and author Dana White identifies the mind-sets and emotional challenges that make it difficult to declutter. Then, in her signature humorous approach, she provides workable solutions to break through these struggles and get clutter out–for good!

But more than simply offering strategies, Dana dives deep into how to implement them, no matter the reader’s clutter level or emotional resistance to decluttering. She helps identify procrasticlutter–the stuff that will get done eventually so it doesn’t seem urgent–as well as how to make progress when there’s no time to declutter.

As long as we’re living and breathing, new clutter will appear. The good news is that decluttering can get easier, become more natural, and require significantly fewer hours, less emotional bandwidth, and little to no sweat to keep going.

Unstuffed: Decluttering Your Home, Mind & Soul by Ruth Soukup

Unstuffed was written for anyone who feels stressed out or weighed down by a life that feel chaotic, out-of-control, and completely overstuffed. It speaks to the mom who is overwhelmed by the clutter that comes pouring into every facet of her home and schedule, from trinkets and paperwork to endless obligations and activities. 

It is for the woman who craves not just a step-by-step guide to ridding our lives of STUFF, but a true understanding of why our lives become so stuffed in the first place–and what we can do to stop the madness, once and for all.

Most of all, it is for the person who is tired of feeling guilty for not being able to do it all, the woman who can’t ever quite seem to keep up with other people’s obligations of what her home is supposed to be, the mom who is exhausted by always trying to get it right.

The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify by Francine Jay

Having less stuff is the key to happiness: Do you ever feel overwhelmed, instead of overjoyed, by all your possessions? Do you secretly wish a gale force wind would blow the clutter from your home? If so, it’s time to simplify your life! The Joy of Less is a fun, lighthearted guide to minimalist living:

• Part One provides an inspirational pep talk on the joys and rewards of paring down.
• Part Two presents the STREAMLINE method: ten easy steps to rid your house of clutter.
• Part Three goes room by room, outlining specific ways to tackle each one.
• Part Four helps you get your family on board and live more lightly and gracefully on the earth.

You Need Help because You Inherited Stuff

Inheriting Clutter: How to Calm the Chaos Your Parents Leave Behind by Julie Hall

You’ve heard the horror stories: arguments over stuff, an inheritance lost forever when easily deceived parents are scammed, siblings estranged, an adult heir taken from daily responsibilities for months because of the enormous task of clearing out a childhood home. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The Estate Lady, professional estate liquidator Julie Hall, knows what to do. Whether your parents are still living or you’re caught in the middle of a crisis, Inheriting Clutter: How to Calm the Chaos Your Parents Leave Behind has solutions. Hall provides trustworthy counsel on how to:

• Divide your parents’ estate with peace of mind
• Minimize fighting with siblings during the estate settlement process
• Clear out the family home in thirty days or less
• Identify potential items of value in the home
• Have “that conversation” with your parents
• Prepare your own children for the future

Let it Go: Downsizing Your Way to a Richer, Happier Life by Peter Walsh

Whether you are selling your family home, blending households into a new home, or cleaning out your aging parents’ home, sorting through a lifetime’s worth of accumulated possessions can be a daunting and stressful experience.

Decluttering guru Peter Walsh recently went through the process of downsizing his childhood home and dividing his late parents’ possessions among his family.

He realized that making these decisions about mementos and heirlooms creates strong emotions and can be an overwhelming chore.

Downsizing The Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go (Downsizing the Home) by Marni Jameson

It’s a rite of passage almost no one will escape: the difficult, emotional journey of downsizing your or your aging parents’ home. Here, nationally syndicated home columnist Marni Jameson sensitively guides readers through the process, from opening that first closet, to sorting through a lifetime’s worth of possessions, to selling the homestead itself.

Using her own personal journey as a basis, she helps you figure out a strategy and create a mindset to accomplish the task quickly, respectfully, rewardingly—and, in the best of situations, even memorably.

Throughout, she combines her been-there experience with insights from national experts—antiques appraisers, garage-sale gurus, professional organizers, and psychologists—to offer practical wisdom and heartwarming advice so you know with certainty what to keep, toss or sell.

Decluttering Challenges & Workbooks

The Declutter Challenge: A Guided Journal for Getting your Home Organized in 30 Quick Steps Cassandra Aarssen

A guided decluttering journal. Life happens to the best of us, whether we were born with messy tendencies or not. Messes find their way into our homes and lives and we can’t seem to find the strength or time to tackle them. That’s where this motivational guided journal by decluttering guru Cassandra Aarssen comes in.

Tested methods that work. In this self-help journal, Cas guides you through favorite tips and tricks that she used to declutter her home and find her way to a more organized and peaceful life.

Pages and pages of decluttering and organizational tools. This interactive journal is designed to help you declutter your home and life through mindfulness and self-motivation. Learn how to navigate the chaos of clutter by taking the time to understand yourself and the underlying meaning behind your clutter. Filled with inspiration and open-ended questions, The Declutter Challenge journal guides you onto the path to a clean and clutter-free home.

Make downsizing a reality. The Declutter Challenge helps you to work through both the emotional and the physical clutter in your life. Explore your thoughts and feelings about your belongings and discover the knowledge and strength to let go of excess.

Cluttered Mess to Organized Success Workbook: Declutter & Organize Your Home and Life with over 100 Checklists and Worksheets by Cassandra  Aarssen

Do you dream of getting organized, but have no idea where to start? 

Cluttered Mess to Organized Success: Declutter and Organize your Home and Life with over 100 Checklists and Worksheets offers you everything you need to organize your home, family and your time.

This book not only provides helpful tips and advice, but it is jam packed with over 100 worksheets, forms, labels, schedules and everything else you need to organize your life.

You Need Help with Organization

The Complete Book of Home Organization by Toni Hammersley

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!

Real Life Organizing: Clean and Clutter-Free in 15 Minute a Day by Cassandra Aarssen

In Real Life Organizing learn how to:

• Create a Household Management Binder
• Make a “Kids Cupboard” in your kitchen
• Create an IN/OUT system
• Organize paperwork based on your unique style
• Create a Kitchen Command Center
• Organize your holidays with a gift closet
• Build a great toy organizing system

The Home Edit: A guide to Organizing and Realizing Your House Goals by Clea Shearer

From the home organizers who made their orderly eye candy the method that everyone swears by comes Joanna and Clea’s signature approach to decluttering. 

The Home Edit walks you through paring down your belongings in every room, arranging them in a stunning and easy-to-find way (hello, labels!), and maintaining the system so you don’t need another do-over in six months. When you’re done, you’ll not only know exactly where to find things, but you’ll also love the way it looks.

Beautifully Organized: A Guide to Function and Style in Your Home by Nikki Boyd

In Beautifully Organized: A Guide to Function and Style in Your Home, Nikki Boyd shares her best advice for how to create an organized, beautiful, and welcoming home. Nikki developed and honed her five essential steps to an organized home through her experience working as a professional organizer. In Beautifully Organized, Nikki teaches you to:

• Assess your home to transform the spaces within to enhance your lifestyle
• Declutter and curate your possessions to keep what is useful and meaningful
• Clean with efficiency, adding an element of pleasure to everyday tasks
• Organize so you can find what you need, when you need it
• Beautify and decorate to create a welcoming atmosphere for family and friends

Tidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your Sh*t by Messie Condo

Tidy the F*ck Up is a funny, down-to-earth parody of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, where you’ll be handed the most useful tools for keeping your crap clean and organized without all the pressure. 

You Need Help with Cleaning

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The Complete Book of Clean: Tips and Techniques for Your Home by Toni Hammersley 

The follow-up to the bestselling Complete Book of Home Organization, the Complete Book of Clean is a foolproof, eco-friendly guide to cleaning your home. From establishing routines, making schedules, and DIYing green cleaning solutions to help keep every area of your home neat, safe and spotless—find it all here. 

Cleaning Sucks: An Unf*ck Your Habitat Guided Journal for Less Mess, Less Stress, and a Home You Don’t Hate by Rachel Hoffman

Cleaning Sucks provides the tips, tricks, quotes, and gentle kicks in the pants you need to get off your butt and get cleaning up.

• Answer prompts and complete challenges and checklists to make big changes from small habits
• Find motivation through hilarious and kickass quotes to inspire the hell out of you
• Banish your inner critic, and bask in the glow of every accomplishment, no matter how small

Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes a Day by Becky Rapinchulk

From the cleaning and homekeeping expert and creator of the wildly popular Clean Mama blog comes a simple and accessible cleaning guide with a proven step-by-step schedule for tidying a home in just ten minutes a day.

The Best Books about Decluttering, Organization & Cleaning

I hope you were able to decide on a book that will help you in your journey of whole home management. We are all on a different path, but these books about decluttering, organization and cleaning should help steer you in the right direction for what will work for you and your family.

Just remember, always remember why you started your journey and take one step towards your goal every day. We don’t need perfection, we need progress. And small progress still means you’re moving forward.

You got this mama! Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have or if you need help getting started!

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