Elizabeth Enright Phillips

Minimalism Room by Room by Elizabeth Enright Phillips breaks down decluttering into small chunks, which makes it more doable, rather than overwhelming. The author discusses the minimalistic lifestyle and the benefits associated with decluttering your life. One line touched me and reminded me as to why decluttering is important. She states, “In the process of choosing less, we find more: more hope, more authenticity, more freedom, more opportunities to serve, and more connection to those we love and to our larger communities” (p. xi).

Chapter one focuses on real benefits, such as “a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle...moving beyond self-centered living to serving others” (p.4). The benefits are so encouraging and important to our lives in our current world. Throughout the following chapters, room by room tips are offered for decluttering. I like the idea of taking it slowly room by room, so as to alleviate any overwhelming feelings.

Style and design ideas are also offered, with accompanying photos. Pinterest board suggestions are also options for suggestions. Children’s room suggestions are incorporated into their own chapter and will bring my teens into the process.

I have started small, but hope to work on rooms throughout the spring and summer. Emotionally connected items, such as my dad’s books, my children’s art work and special blankies and clothes will remain, but as the book reminds the reader, it is a process.

The publisher gave me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.… (mehr)

This is a visually pleasant book. Its pages are nicely formatted with the text broken up by section headings and lists, and accented with color-shaded boxes for sidebars etc. There are about a dozen full-page color photos of very calming, high-design minimalistic rooms, generally one at the beginning of each chapter.

It opens and closes with sections about minimalism -- both the hands-on aspect of decluttering and the mental aspect of mindfulness, simplicity and sustainability. In between, it organizes the areas of the house into chapters that each stand alone and so can be tackled in any order. That stand-alone nature results in a lot of repetition between (and even within) the chapters. The voice is friendly and supportive but overall there are a lot of words and less content/information than I expected. For me, the book is more suited to armchair-tidying and thoughtful reflection, than being inspired up out of the chair to do the work.

(Review based on a copy of the book provided by the publisher.)… (mehr)