Minimalism Room By Room:
a Customized Plan to Declutter
Your Home & Simplify Your Life,
by Elizabeth Enright Phillips,
Rockridge Press
1/14/2020
Nonfiction/House & Home/Organizing
210 pages
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So many books have already been written on minimalism, but there are also lots of wrong ideas about it circulating. I think the author of Minimalism Room By Room: a Customized Plan to Declutter Your Home & Simplify Your Life is trying to refocus the conversation on what’s really at the center of minimalism, and is giving us practical ways to do it.

So in the introduction and the first chapter, she really highlights “the beauty of less” and the main goals of minimalism. Like her, I have heard some people say that only the rich can practice minimalism. Actually, she lists “saving money (by eliminating unnecessary expenses)” as the first benefit of this lifestyle.

In keeping with the topic of the book, the pictures are gorgeous in their simplicity. I also liked the short quotation opening each chapter, “Letting go of physical clutter also declutters mind and soul”, for instance for chapter One.

Now, Elizabeth Enright Phillips is not the first author to propose a room by room plan (7 types of rooms in 7 chapters) to make your minimalism enterprise manageable. But more than all the other authors I have read on this, she presents lots of concrete tips, like: getting a journal specifically for this, setting up reminders in your calendar (to be sure you find time to do it); then in each room, asking yourself questions, focusing on the right place for the each thing. Then how to sort (in two major steps), what to do with the result of your sorting (deliver, sell, or donate), and finally tracking and celebrating (a necessary element, because of the grieving involved in getting rid of things).

Another unique input from this author is this psychological aspect. She features many lists of affirmation statements, and ideas for Feelings Checklists.

And what I thought was really good and not often mentioned in that type of books, she then invites you to start the more positive move, Reimagining your space.

Lots of other tips are included in highlighted boxes, such as money-saving tips, design tips, sustainability tips, or obstacle warnings.
There are even smart spreadsheets offered at the end of the book, and lots of sites listed to help you as you declutter each room.

VERDICT: Definitely the most complete and helpful book I have seen on minimalism.

In full compliance with FTC Guidelines, I received this book free of charge from the publisher through The Callisto Publisher’s Club. I was in no way compensated for this post as a reviewer, and the thoughts are my own.