The home edit life The no-guilt guide to owning what you want and organizing everything

Shearer and Teplin (The Home Edit) present being well-organized as a "lifestyle and mindset that anyone can adopt" in their excellent guide. Cannily making their advice as achievable as possible, Shearer and Teplin counsel starting with small spaces then building up to bigger ones. As long as everything is sorted and placed in intuitive and reachable locations, they write, it won't be necessary to more aggressively purge and declutter one's possessions. Shearer and Teplin advise always placing like with like, and in clearly dedicated areas, while never using the space available in one's home to the maximum capacity ("reserve at least 20 percent for breathing room"). They also warn against conflating organization (their focus) with minimalism, and present a partial list of those knickknacks present in most homes which can always be safely tossed, including souvenirs from one's travels ("that's what photos are for--your old soda cup is not a memory"). Plenty of the pair's celebrity clients are name-checked (fashionistas will drool over Mandy Moore's "handbag heaven" of a closet), but the authors leaven any sense of bragging with good-humored self-deprecation, as when they express incredulity that some people took their first book on vacation. Big photos of gorgeously organized spaces provide plenty of eye candy. This irresistible primer will delight and inspire the neat and messy alike. (Sept.)

Introduction This book is for both those who love to organize in their free time and those who want to get organized but feel they just can't make the time. It's for the moms who are sick of looking at sippy cups in their cabinets and wish there was more room for champagne glasses. It's for those of us who go to work, sit at our desks, and continue to wonder how we always end up with so many pens that rarely have ink. It's for the craft lovers, the beauty product enthusiasts, and the jet-set travelers. Basically, this book is for everyone. We wanted to create a book that shows you how to live the life you love without feeling bad about the things you own. We wanted to show you that being organized isn't limited to pantries, closets, and other rooms in your house. It also extends to your hobbies, your travel, and even your phone. Organizing is a lifestyle and mindset that anyone can adopt. Consider this book our 360-degree approach to help you contain the chaos of your life and all the contents that come with it--whatever that may be. Alright, now that we have that covered, it's time to step inside and leave any guilt you might have about owning things at the door . . . except can you maybe take your shoes off first? Thanks! Excerpted from The Home Edit Life: The No-Guilt Guide to Owning What You Want and Organizing Everything by Clea Shearer, Joanna Teplin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.