The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life Kindle Edition

fantastic book. he gives a great guide to minimizing room by room, which I love! he also goes deep into the why we should minimize and the mindset shift involved in that. highly recommend!!

For me, transforming my home from an overwhelmingly cluttered space to a minimalist home is a journey. When my husband and I moved into our home, we had only one child and not much stuff. The space was light and airy and cleaning up took no time at all. Now, several kids and almost 20 years later our clutter collection has taken a toll on the serenity of our home and I can use any help I can get. I have been paring down my own belongings for a while now, This book helps keeps me on track and I am finally seeing results. Even our kids have pitched in. Joshua Becker's statistics about the cost of our consumerism that can be found throughout the book are very sobering. He shows the reader how a minimalist mindset can set free money and time to be used in more meaningful ways than in unnecessary purchases or frantic searches for the car keys. He inspires me to use up or get rid of surplus in my home, Today I looked at my cleaning supplies. It turns out that I have enough laundry detergent and all purpose cleaner to last for more than a year (got it on sale) and I hope my vacuum will hold up long enough to use my collection of 24 vacuum bags (yes, got them on sale)! I am not proud that it has come to this but now I will make it a game to use it all up, As I said, it is a journey. This book gets me closer to my goal. Surprisingly, I am starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, There are areas in my home where I find lasting progress. My kitchen is much more efficient. Looking at Joshua Becker's list of essential kitchen items made me purge my kitchen drawers and cabinets once more and now I have plenty counter space to prepare my meals. My closet is getting to a point that I love all my clothes, There are no cosmetics strewn around in the bathroom and my bedroom is looking much better. The only side effect I have from reading this book is that aimless shopping or "bargain hunting" has become very boring and cleaning my home is is actually fun again. Most importantly, I am forced to ponder about what I really want from life and how I can spend more quality time with family and friends.

I came across Joshua Becker a couple of years ago, and have been following him ever since. I find him very inspirational, and also hilarious! To my surprise, I've been able to give my husband the "minimalist" bug as well! This is a work in progress, but we have let go of so much of what we used to value and collect at one time in our life. I thought it was very generous of Joshua to offer packets of free downloads to get a head start before his book actually shipped. I loved them! I still keep the print outs in a folder as I go about my minimizing! We have literally thrown away so much clutter and we love the clarity that it's replaced with. We are also inspired to think twice before we purchase, which for me, was one of the main things that attracted me to this lifestyle. Careful spending rather than careless. We only purchase things that we love, or things we will use. I think Joshua is helpful when describing the unproductive guilt that comes with "sentimental" items ... or (burdens in some cases) :). Those items are not where the memories reside... as per Joshua, and I couldn't agree more. This type of clutter brings a heaviness, a darkness, and never allows you to live in the moment, therefore stealing the gift of life that's given to us now. I often put a video of Joshua up and listen as I get busy clearing out another space. We really appreciate his work, and his ministry!

I went back and forth between three and four stars...When i preordered The Minimalist Home, i received an email with a free step-by-step guide so i could get started using the ideas before the book arrived. I did that, and found the free materials quite useful. I especially liked the tip to clear off flat surfaces, which worked well for me.But i was disappointed when the book arrived to find little content that wasn't already in the free materials. I had expected photos, for example, of the author's house, with before-and-after room photos, but there aren't any. I would like to see those, and maybe diagrams showing how to reconfigure rooms...More inspirational stuff.For a second edition, i would suggest:First, more recognition that not everyone is starting with a big house, a spouse, and children. For example, in my condo, it is a struggle to create enough storage for what i really need, and i have no basement or attic or extra closets. Also, since i live alone, i can make any room what i want it to be; realized recently that my dining room could become my craft-making room!Second, more emphasis on recycling, upcycling, and repurposing. Environmentally friendly solutions, throwing away as a last resort.

I have been on a declutter/minimalist journey for two years, and this book helped reinforce the reasoning for it, the practical steps and the maintenance of it. I appreciate that JB is a Christian. I, also, follow Jesus and want to please God in all areas of my life (including my stuff). With my experience of Christianity, you have the human and spiritual side of you in conflict often times. I have found that when I feel discontent or bored that buying stuff feels good, but I also acknowledge how fleeting that joy is in compariston true joy from Christ. That’s why I bought this book. I needed the reaffirmation of what I already knew: stuff doesn’t equal happiness. When I’m dead and gone, I want to “be thanked for” something eternally impacting on people to the glory of Him. Easy to say but not always easy to live out. Another great Christian minismalist is Erin Loechner (book is Chasing Slow) and she reminds us to not idolize minimalism because true joy will not be found in less stuff either. So in short, the Sunday school answer is “we need the word of God” daily to feel fulfilled. Sorry for the sermon as I’m mainly preaching to myself.

TL;DR: A method to suit those who only have 10 minutes a day. Not for those looking to overhaul their possessions in a weekend.I've considered myself a minimalist for a good few years but was attracted to Becker's 'room by room' approach to decluttering. Originally I thought there would be no need for a room by room view, surely all the chapters would say the same things? I've been pleasantly surprised by exactly how useful such an approach can be.I think Becker's approach is much more practical for working households. I've tried the Kondo approach of taking out all my clothes, but eventually someone needs something and I just end up with a pile of clothes on my bed that then gets pushed to the floor. I've tried packing things away in boxes but always end up making a mess looking for something that I've decided I still need. But by going room by room, section by section, I was able to do a little bit here and there without feeling like I'd stopped a project halfway through.This approach isn't for the singleton looking to do a big overhaul before moving to a new apartment, but if you're worried about making a bigger mess than you started with I'd recommend this method!

It's a worthwhile read if it's among your first forays into the subject. There are some really decent tips in here and it’s great that Becker has went to some length in collating it all in one place.All said, I was really hoping for something a bit more refreshing from Becker. I personally found Maria Kondo's two books to be a a bit more valuable on the topic.

Fab book for anyone wanting to downsize their belongings. A talk through book from room to room. Many of the rooms he mentioned, we dont have in the UK but either way it's a great onsite to how we have stuff and why week keep for the just in case moment's, that never happen

I brought the kindle version of this book. Found it to be a useful guide to minimising my home. Although American homes seem to have more rooms than UK ones, basements and garages etc.I loved the way the benefits of mimalisation are explained.

I like this guy, Joshua I like his book and his way of thinking. Makes so much sense. I found the hard back appealing, good price for what could be life changing for one.