“Unclutter Your Life in One Week” by Erin Rooney Doland, Reviewed by Emilie Tarrant

Erin Rooney Doland strikes an important balance with Unclutter Your Life in One Week. She is that maven of clean that (some of) us slovenly folk aspire to become. Rooney Doland is editor-in-chief of Unclutterer.com and a regular columnist for Real Simple online so you know she has her act together. Yet, like many of us, she had wayward beginnings. The impetus for her de-cluttering journey came about ten years ago when her husband insisted on a heart-to-heart about her stacks and piles, an extensive collection of mementos, and waist-high boxes. Rest assured she knows your struggle.

Rooney Doland’s keep-it-simple approach is organized by days of the week and with a nod to the seasons. Her candor is straight-shooting and light-hearted, with cultural references that span dance-club diva band Dee-Lite to that television favorite, Star Trek.

Rooney Doland’s primary motivational tool is the reminder that a life without clutter can maximize the time spent on the things you most enjoy. Key tips include scheduling chores so that you can free your weekends for play, and knowing where to find your goods. Giving your car keys a place — and keeping them there — helps with punctuality. Keeping the tools of your preferred hobby — the brushes for your oil painting, the soldering iron for your transistor radios — easily on hand means you can go full speed when inspiration strikes. And, essential to all of this, is the parting of ways with all that clutter. In other words, purge!

Do you own dozens of twin-size sheets that don’t fit your queen-size bed? It’s time to let them go. The author’s own Good-Bye Clutter history includes schlepping unusable bed sheets through five relocations totaling over 1000 miles before saying adiós. Yes, she’s been there. The best part is that ridding your life of partially-used shampoos and an over-abundance of towels need not mean a guilty bon voyage to the landfills. By Rooney Doland’s example, the process can be civic-minded, eco-friendly, and even social.

Most importantly, the book yields promising results. I have squeezed what my mom calls a “slovenly propensity” into a 500-square-foot apartment shared with my boyfriend. That is to say, I’m a good test subject. Since reading Unclutter Your Life in One Week I have increased my kitchen and bathroom storage by twenty-five percent. Wow! I will spare you a laundry list of details (pun intended), except to note that organized linens and extra floor space are included.

Dare I come off as melodramatic to say I opened to the cover of this book to the first day of the rest of my life? I do dare. I hope you will, too. It’s worth it.

When she’s not taking out the trash, Emilie Tarrant writes about her culinary mishaps at http://unrepas.blogspot.com.

Also, you can read about Lois’ adventures in cleaning here.