This is a good read, but nothing new in terms of decluttering and downsizing. I've read Mari Kondo's book when it was released a few years ago. You could read either or.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC.

Short version: don’t do this to yourself, folks. Just don’t. There are better books about minimalism (and/or decluttering) out there. It's not a good book. It's not a kind book. A lot of what Becker says has already been said more simply and elegantly in many Internet articles. And there are a good few books on decluttering that give better, more specific tips than “get rid of what is not necessary” and are not so hollier-than-thou while doing so.

(I'm not including the full review, which got quite snarky, here. It is posted to my goodreads.)

The Minimalist Home is my new favorite book on the subject. This book takes you to step by step (with lists!) through each room in your home, guiding and advising you on how and why to de-clutter that area.

Joshua has such an easy-going tone that you’ll find yourself nodding along in agreement with him, even if at first you think you NEED all that stuff. You can go slow and start with one closet or one drawer and soon you may find that by making literal space in your home, you make “space” in your life for stuff other than stuff.

Being minimal with seven people under one roof is hard. However we have made great strides in ridding ourselves of excess clutter, and I credit a lot of that to reading what Joshua has to say in this and his other books on the subject.

My only complaint is the anecdote about someone getting “cured” of depression after going minimal. I’m not sure if that’s a great example. I do agree that having clutter certainly won’t help any mental health issues, but not having it won’t cure them either.

The rest of this book is gold. Even if you’ve read a lot on the subject, go pick this up, you’ll find something new.

In a crowded field of books about minimalism, simplicity, and self-help in the home Joshua Becker's book does little to stand out. It has the checklists and good advice that are helpful for all newcomers who perhaps want a place to start after watching Marie Kondo's Tidying Up, but it lacks originality and new perspective. I used to tease Konmarie fans that it was too extreme, but Marie shares such gentle encouragement on the show that stands in contrast to some of Becker's tone. He seems passionate about the process and even the end results but maybe out of touch. I don't find the visual distraction of my coffee maker on the counter to be so outrageous as to hide it in a cupboard when not in use. I also cannot discern his humor very well when he writes things like: I hear some people even play games on their computer. I think he may be joking or trying to establish some levity to a perhaps dry topic, but it misses the mark in my opinion.

While The More of Less inspired me to think about what my life could look like if I owned less stuff, The Minimalist Home gave me practical ideas for how and what to clean out my spaces. This book goes room by room with suggestions for things to throw away or donate.

Some of the advice might seem kind of basic, but it's nice to have a solid plan for identifying things you need or want, and don't need or want. And this book goes beyond the basic bedroom and kitchen. It even includes steps for clearing out the mudroom, laundry room and coat closet.

The end of each chapter has a checklist for what your goal should be for a specific space or room. Are items convenient to find? Do you feel comfortable being there? Is it a place you can relax? I love this whole-house approach to a minimal lifestyle, even though I think some of it might be too dramatic for me.

I don't think one person can really identify what someone else should get rid of. Joshua talks about getting rid of fancy lotions and makeup. That might be great if you're not into makeup, but if you are, you should be allowed to keep the amount you love. Personally, I have a very simple makeup routine that requires only a few items. But I have a lot of accessories that I really love and wear often. I wouldn't want to get rid of those just because someone said I should in order to have a minimalist lifestyle.

I did particularly enjoy the chapter about clearing out closets and finding our own iconic style. It made me realize that I allow current fashions to dictate my clothing too often. I plan to clean out my closet and drawers and start buying and wearing the styles I like the most.

Great book. I have been following the minimalist movement for a while and Joshua Becker is always a great resource. I enjoyed the practical knowledge but I did feel like there was a lot of extra stories throughout the book.

I read Becker's first book on minimalism and was very inspired! This was the perfect book to help recharge my batteries and begin the decluttering process again. I am using Becker's suggestions from start to finish. The first step is the living room, and I tackled both of those in one day, feeling a large sense of accomplishment. As suggested, I took before and after photos, which helped me see the true difference I'd made. I'm not done yet, as this will be a long process, but I appreciate Becker's method and writing.

Very well written and clearly organized book about how to get the "stuff" that clutters your life out. I really liked how it clearly explained step by step on what to do to make this happen in your own homes. Would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to simplify their lives.

Do you have too much crap?
Feeling overwhelmed with it?

Backpacking teaches you how to be a minimalist because you have to carry everything on your back.

Another way to learn minimalism is to read "The Minimalist Home."

It's a bit too wordy. Joshua Becker has a tendency to ramble. You'd think that a book on minimalism would be succinct.

Still, in the Age of Abundance, it's helpful for our spirit and mind to declutter our physical world.

Most stuff you can read about minimalism is really… extreme.

It’s either extreme in the sense of “get rid of everything and breathe at least 50% less than you did before!” (okay, slightly exaggerating) or it’s supposed to show really extreme and therefore unbelievable results.
I don’t know if this book ends up showing both extremes because I had to dnf it when the author featured a response he got from a woman. Because said woman had to deal with postnatal depression but during that depression and with (at least) one baby she went minimalistic and guess what? She was cured!
If one could cure depression with decluttering stuff… why are we paying so much for therapists and medication? Why do some people have to live with depression their whole life?

So now I know that some people are like “that totally cured me! Do yoga at sunrise and you*re healed!” but should that be written in a book? It’s not like one is forced to write every little testimonial one gets. But the chosen quotes you do use for your book show what you think. And therefore I stopped reading because I have better things to read than that.

Last Words: I know it can help if you’ve got the energy for it to have a clean environment. But how about writing it that way?

“Think less about who you were. Focus more on who you are becoming”.


I am so glad that I am reviewing THE MINIMALIST HOME in January because it is the perfect book for the New Year and a fresh start!

It is written by the very popular minimalist blogger and author of “The More of Less” and it is a thorough room-by-room, step-by-step guide on how to declutter your home. The philosophy of the author is that minimalism is “the intentional promotion of things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from them” which means that uncluttered homes makes you more INTENTIONAL in living your life and make you FOCUS to what matters most to you.

Some of the points in the book that I particularly enjoyed were:

The easy-to-follow, room by room format of the book for removing clutter from the home a.k.a “The Becker Method”. It is structured in eight chapters: living room and family room, bedrooms, clothes closets, bathrooms and laundry room, kitchen and dining areas, home office, storage areas (toy room etc.), garage and yard. At the end of each chapter, there is a minimising list, a series of questions that will help you know if your decluttering process has been totally completed.

At the end of your decluttering process, you can use the Minimalism Maintenance Guide to make sure you stay a minimalist. There are daily/weekly/yearly and life season Maintenance Guidelines.

The whole book makes you really think how you want to live your life by questioning what is really important to you.

The useful and clever questions that you can use in order for your children to declutter their toy room.
I wholeheartedly believe that: “There may be few better things you can do for your kids than teach them minimalism”. Minimalism will really and truly teach them to always look for the essentials in their life, how to live their lives with intentionality, follow a budget and not follow the mainstream of consumerism. Think about it: “Can you imagine going back and living life over NOT BUYING all the stuff you’re getting rid of today? You may not be able to go back and start again, but your kids can start out right!”

The point that the process of confronting our stuff is a process that, ultimately, forces us to confront ourselves.

All in all, a thorough and well-written book perfect for a fresh start!

The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker is a guide to getting rid of the clutter. The author attempts to take on your house, one room at a time, and help you sort out what is important and what is not. This book seems very much like other books out there. There really is not anything that makes it stand out from the others. I think it may be helpful to some but not to others. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

Great book to pick up if you want a new year, fresh start on minimizing the possessions in your home. Joshua Becker breaks the book up into sections of the home to minimize and how to start. This made it easy to follow.

What I didn’t like as well- it’s really repetitive. He tends to repeat a lot of what he says or to tell you what’s “coming later” in the book. I find this a lot in any self-improvement book I’ve read. Also, my husband had been saying the same things Joshua Becker does in the book for years so I probably could’ve just listened to him, but I’ll never admit that.

Overall, pretty good if you’re curious about living a more minimalist lifestyle. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

I love minimalism and have been very into decluttering my possessions for the past year. I have read a lot of books on this topic but there is something really great about this one. I love the facts and statistics that Becker includes and the step by step guide to each room. This book doesn't seem too extreme but also not too easy.

Joshua Becker's #TheMinimalistHome couldn't be a more appropriate way to start the new year! Becker not only takes you through each area of your home but also makes you reflect as you do it.

Why am I holding on to my grown-up child's "memories"? Will I ever take up calligraphy again? That style stunk the first time it came around, I probably don't need to keep it!

Each chapter I read (usually at the end of the day in bed) motivated me to start the next day by adding to my donation box/bag at the front door. It is remarkable how Becker's kind words encouraged me to share items with those who might need it and appreciate it more.

The book reminds us to keep space available not only in our homes but in our lives. Our true selves, our dreams, and goals can be hidden in the excess we hide under. Let's not do that. Instead, let's clear away the unnecessary to truly discover who we are underneath.

Minimalism might suggest not bringing "more" into our homes (without due consideration). However, after reading #TheMinimalistHome, I can recommend that the addition of this book to your shelf will bring you "more" of what you want while helping you release what no longer serves you.

The Minimalist Home is a good starter book for someone beginning the decluttering or minimalist process. Becker gives instructions on how to declutter each room in your house and keep things from coming back in - if you have read previous books or articles by Becker, you may recognize the story of how he began the process.

Before reviewing The Minimalist Home, I must admit that I have already made up my mind to minimalize my life. I'd lived in 6 different places in the last 5 years and each move was absolutely painful in terms of trying to get my stuff to fit into suitcases. I often left kitchenware, linens and other such things behind because I couldn't take it all. A few months ago, I decided it was time to get rid of all non-essential goods prior to my next move.
****
I saw in another review that The Minimalist Home is poorly organized, despite being a book about home organization. Either the publisher saw the feedback and rearranged the book before I received the ARC, or the other person was personally having an issue following the logic (it happens to the best of us). I found The Minimalist home easily to follow and relatively well-written. It's not a literary masterpiece, but the "what", "why" and "how" come through clearly.
****
According to this book, you don't necessarily need to become an extreme minimalist. Although the thread certainly is "less is more," Becker acknowledges that there are a variety of reasons why someone may end up with "more." He knows that people with families may not be able to simply dump everything they don't find value in, because those things are valuable to other family members. We can, however, attempt to guide our families. In short, I recommend The Minimalist Home not only for people who want the simplest life possible, but also for people who simply feel they have far too much stuff and would like to part with some of it.
****
Thank you, NetGalley and Waterbrook & Multnoman (publishing) for this advanced reader copy.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Waterbrook and Multnomah, and Joshua Becker for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advanced copy.

Joshua Becker has been in the “minimal” business for about 10 years. He has a website where you can get lots of tips and advice, including a newsletter sent to your inbox every so often. He has written other books but this one is sort of the culmination of his life’s work. He has been on TV, speaks all over and I have been following him for the past couple of years. In today’s world of massive consumerism, we can all use a dose of paring down and keeping things simple. We all have too much stuff. We are promoted, advertised, propagandized into thinking that it’s all stuff we need, what we have isn’t the right stuff and that the more stuff we have the happier we will be. This has been going on for years, I mean George Carlin had a bit about “Stuff” in the early 80’s. So I was excited to read what Becker had to say on what he promotes as a step by step, comprehensive room-by-room guide to decluttering your home and your life.

Ugh - what an awful read. First I felt like his tone was so condescending. I couldn’t take it. Obviously I have a lot of stuff - that’s why I’m reading this book. He would repeat himself, ad nauseam, throughout the whole book. There wasn’t any comprehensive guide - again, he would repeat the same thing over and over for each room, literally the same steps - for each room! Why bother going through each room, listing all of the possible things you might have accumulated, telling me “get rid of what you don’t use or don’t need”. Obviously I knew that much! I don’t need a book for that. I was hoping for some insight, maybe some ideas that I hadn’t thought of to help declutter, some instructions. There was no real guidance other than “don’t do it” for lasting change. Then, don’t tell me how my life is going to change, I will become richer, have a fabulous job, help the poor, have more time, blah blah blah, just because you told me to get rid of some stuff. I didn’t buy any of it. I have decluttered before and none of those things have happened to me. The “real life” examples were ridiculous, laughable. Look, I believe in keeping a home without a lot of junk. Nobody needs piles of clothes, lots of knick knacks, and yes, you should keep those things that mean something to you. You shouldn’t get sucked into marketing ideas of having the latest, greatest and best thing out there, which will go out of date and then you need something new. I also happen to live with a (mild case) hoarder, who believes every rock, piece of junk, paper, etc. is extremely important and sentimental and will not throw out anything. So according to Becker, those are the things to keep. Not helpful. But without something new or real to add to the discussion, don’t fill up a book with one idea. My advice is don’t add one more book to your bookshelf with this one.

I first heard about Joshua Becker while reading Cozy Minimalist Home. In it, Myquillin Smith talks about Becker’s first (very popular) book, The More of Less, and how it inspired her to look at her house and her possessions in a new, more minimalist, light. I’ve never read The More of Less, but when I saw that Becker was coming out with a new book, I jumped on the chance to read it.

The Minimalist Home is a helpful and motivational read, though it’s not perfect. The book is divided into twelve sections. The first two sections give an overview of minimalism, as well as advice on how to eliminate items from your house (have goals for your home’s spaces, start cleaning out the easy spaces first, involve the whole family, have fun with the process, etc.).

The next eight sections go room-by-room through a typical house, covering common problems and solutions in the living room, family room, master and other bedrooms, closets, bathrooms, the laundry area, kitchen, dining room, office, storage spaces, and the garage. Becker lists questions to ask yourself as you’re deciding what to keep, what to donate, and what to toss. He also gives helpful benchmarks for knowing when you’ve decluttered enough (e.g., Is my living room now a calming space? Are my kids sleeping better in their bedrooms? Do my clothes hang freely in the closet?) The last two sections give a plan for keeping the house clean and minimized (e.g., recognize triggers for over-buying, manage gift-giving, etc.)

For the most part, I enjoyed reading Becker’s advice. Some positive aspects of this book:

*** He is insightful and even made some points about minimalism that I hadn’t thought of before. (I love when someone can tell me something I don’t already know, especially on a subject I am very familiar with.)
*** I don’t have a craft room, but I like how he encourages hobby-enthusiasts to get rid of their “fantasy selves.” Donate the extra fishing poles, gym equipment, craft supplies, etc., to someone who will actually use them. “Be who you are, not who you wished to be.”
*** I also appreciate that he talks about living a minimalist digital life, giving tips for tidying up the computer desktop, digital files, phone apps, etc. Not everyone talks about this, but it’s important.

I do have a couple small gripes with this book, though. Becker can be long-winded and repetitive, taking way too long to make a point that’s already understood. The book is also a little heavy on the self-promotion. I get that Becker wants to make his book tweetable and build a brand, but I grew tired of the #hashtagthis! suggestions and the repeated mention of his accomplishments (I REPEAT, I HAVE INTERNATIONAL CLIENTS!).

The biggest drawback for me, though, is how serious the book can be. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a quick read and I appreciate with the overall message. But Becker tends to use intense change as the motivation to minimize. He repeatedly gives examples of how people’s lives are transformed from minimizing. Look at this lady: she cleaned out her house! Then became a missionary to poor countries!! Then adopted an orphan from Guatemala!!! Now she’s fulfilled and happy!!!! I agree that minimalism has the power to transform, but I also think it’s okay to go into the process with lower expectations and smaller, more realistic goals. I’m not looking to adopt a refugee from Syria. I just need to be able to find my keys, you know?

Still, I enjoyed this book. It gives clear step-by-step advice that makes minimizing feel doable. I didn’t always love the seriousness of Becker’s anecdotes, but I did appreciate his message. This is an important and helpful guide to eliminating the excess in our lives so we can live more fully.

This was a good book about decluttering and minimalizing. While it didn't necessarily offer any new information to me (since I've read various books about this subject and practice it as well) I think that it would be a great book for those who are looking to reclaim their lives from their stuff.