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It doesn’t take a genius to organize a house. But it can be frustrating when you’re looking at a mess everywhere with no place to turn.

Sometimes it helps to clear your head and get a game plan before cleaning and organizing.

In this post you’ll find the 20 best organization books to help you plan, schedule, and follow through with cleaning up your house. No matter how much stuff you have or how much storage space is available these books can help you pin down a system that works and keeps your home spotless.

The Complete Book of Home Organization

Everyone wants their home to look like the beautiful photos on Pinterest. But that kind of design talent doesn’t just come from dirty laundry!

The Complete Book of Home Organization offers the best tips for homeowners who just want to get their messes under control. From storage container solutions to detailed clean-up procedures you’ll learn a ton of tricks that’ll save space in your home.

Even if you’re living in a tiny apartment this book can still help. It’s not about how much space you have, but rather how you use it. You’ll find guides for everything from your bedroom to your pantry.

And the whole book is organized into a 9 week challenge where you’ll tackle certain rooms during certain weeks over the course of two months. By following this challenge to the end you’ll not only have a well-organized home, but you’ll also have the mindset needed to replicate this in the future.

The Mindset of Organization

It should be obvious that psychology plays a big part in home decor. The Mindset of Organization takes a look at this psychology as a staple of home organization.

Productivity expert Lisa Woodruff gives up her trade secrets in this book well worth it’s weight in gold. In early chapters she talks about four main stages in life and how these stages mold your concepts of organization.

Many of these psychological points are valuable for parents who want to instill good organizational habits into their children. It takes time to build a habit, but once it’s in there it’s tough to lose.

Overall this book takes a unique look at organization from a mental place first. I think it’s a unique read and while it may not have all the answers it’ll certainly make you think.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a must-read for absolutely everyone. It looks into the style of Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo as she talks about the common “problem areas” in every home.

Instead of going room to room you’ll follow Marie’s novel style of The KonMari Method. This looks at organization as an approach based on categories and hierarchies where you focus on certain topics first and move through those before moving onto the next.

Every piece of advice in this book is practical and it can apply to any home situation from apartments to mansions. The book is a #1 best seller worldwide and it’s no surprise the KonMari method has garnered so much attention.

If you’d like a unique way to dive into home organization then this book offers plenty to start with.

Unf*ck Your Habitat

There’s one big problem with most home organization books: they assume you have unlimited time. And full time parents or working adults who push 10+ hours a day certainly know this just isn’t the case.

Unf*ck Your Habitat was written with busy people in mind. Everyone’s schedule fills up as you get older and it seems like time just flies by. That’s why this book teaches you to start cleaning on your schedule one step at a time.

Every chapter touches upon a different section of the house and you’ll move through these areas with no set schedule. The author Rachel Hoffman advises her own system called the 20/10 system. This is 20 minutes of cleaning followed by 10 minutes of break time.

The book reads like a conversation with an inspirational guru who’s here to help you clean up your pad. It’s not too formal but it’s still packed with formal advice that anyone can take to heart.

Clean My Space

Melissa Maker is a well-known entrepreneur with her own tidying website Clean My Space. After this blew up Melissa decided to write a book of the same name teaching all her tips in one solid resource.

She looks at cleaning from a whole new perspective and re-engineers the process from the ground up. Melissa is a true authority on the topic of cleaning and organization. This book is her gift to homeowners who need a guiding hand knowing how to clean up their homes, and how to make sure they stay that way.

You’ll learn many different approaches to cleaning but Melissa recommends her own three-step process.

Identify problem areas

Decide which tools you need to solve those areas

Get busy and gauge the results

Through this process you’ll learn what works, what doesn’t, and you can make changes on-the-fly if you have better ideas. This is all about trial and error because what works for you may not work for your neighbor.

Melissa’s book can guide you all the way and I absolutely recommend this as a guide to help you push through the clutter.

Home Organization Tear-Outs for the Whole Family

Calendars, grocery lists, to-dos, errands, these things just seem to pile up constantly. Home Organization Tear-Outs for the Whole Family offers a genuine solution.

Author Kristi Dominguez shares her advice after years of writing about cleaning and home decor on many popular blogs. Some of the more detailed chapters cover those stubborn areas like your bathroom or the dreaded garage.

You can find dozens of tips for organizing along with tear-outs that really kick up your cleaning to another level. You can either photocopy the tear-outs or use them right from the book.

These little slips can help you organize your finances, your to-dos, calendars, and meetings. Plus you can devote spaces for this information to keep the whole family in the loop and synced up.

If you like Kristi’s approach and if you know her past work then you’ll appreciate the advice in this book. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution but it can work well for hectic households that seem to run on autopilot.

Organization: The Art of Clean

Organization: The Art of Clean forces you to look at both your living space and your lifestyle for solutions to your clutter problem.

Your goal with organization should be to improve the living space. Since most people have busy schedules you also don’t want something that’ll take forever to work through. This guide covers chores that you can accomplish with ease to give you those early boosts of motivation.

As you work through this book you’ll take a deeper look into each room in your living space. Do you have room for more storage containers? How could you better organize each room? These questions are just some of the things you’ll learn to answer yourself.

But author Victoria Higgins also teaches you how to develop schedules that encourage tidiness over the long haul. You don’t just want a clean home this week—you want one for life.

And if there’s one book that can help you develop the organizational lifestyle it’s The Art of Clean.

Organize Your Home

Most home organization routines have two parts: the psychological part and the physical put-stuff-in-bins part.

Organize Your Home offers tips for both sides by helping you clean out every room in your house, make sure everything gets organized properly, and to make sure your house stays that way.

Part of the difficulty is finding a space for everything you own. Finding the right bins, baskets, and buckets can be a challenge.

But then you’ll need to know how to put everything away in a manner that makes sense and is easy to find later.

This book shares plenty of tips for organizing every room and finding the perfect storage solutions for your things. You’ll also learn some cleaning techniques that’ll ensure your home stays tidy throughout the year ,so long as you set a cleaning schedule and stick to it.

Good Things for Organizing

Advice pulled and curated from Martha Stewart’s “Good Things” column has been compiled into one huge book with extra tidbits on organization and housekeeping. Good Things for Organizing is the result with 144 pages full of practical tips and advice for keeping a clean home.

Organization goes beyond just vacuuming and putting things away. You also want to create systems where you know everything goes in its location. This way you don’t need to worry about where something goes when you buy a new pen or laptop or pair of sneakers.

Martha shares advice on cleaning every inch of your home. From kitchen countertops to bathroom cabinets and everywhere else you could imagine, this book has you covered.

Each chapter has tons of photographs to inspire you on your journey and give you ideas along the way. It’s a classic Martha Stewart book with plenty of practical advice for fixing messy abodes.

Spark Joy

This book is a follow-up to Marie Kondo’s original book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. After that one sold out worldwide it became clear that Marie’s organizational techniques could be expounded further.

Spark Joy offers an illustrated view of her progress and her method in action. You can study from real rooms and see how her organization techniques work on a typical household.

The chapters aren’t easy to skim because they don’t have obvious names. Unfortunately this means you’ll need to work your way through the book to find the advice you want. But Marie is careful to not simply repeat points from her last book.

Instead she adds a lot of Q&A throughout the pages and encourages readers to try new methods in their organizational routines. If you liked the KonMari method then you’ll definitely like the tips in this book as well.

Clutter Free

How often are you just moving piles of unsorted stuff around the house? This may “clean up” your space for the time being, but this method is far from a real solution.

In Clutter Free you’ll delve into the concepts of clutter and what this really means. Nothing ends up in your house by accident; but it can be left around without a home by accident. This can lead to larger piles of stuff that ultimately never get resolved.

By recognizing clutter and working to rid yourself of it you’ll go through many stages of relief. This ultimately leads to a freeing feeling where you know how to organize and can actually move about your space. But more importantly you learn to love the space you’re in.

In this book Kathi Lipp focuses on the root of problems: buying and hoarding for no reason. If something has a purpose then it deserves a spot. If not then you have to decide what to do with it.

As you work through this book you’ll probably learn a lot about your psyche and what you want in a home. The best part is that by the end you’ll be able to sustain this organized lifestyle on your own and use it every time you move.

Home Organization

A cluttered home can lead to a cluttered mind which often leads to a stressful lifestyle. Home Organization by Donald Hill is a very short 30-page guide to the basics of organizing your life.

Some people want a lengthy book covering all their rooms with detailed steps to follow. Others just want to dive into their mess and start making progress. And that’s exactly what this short guide was made for.

Don’t overthink organization too much. It’s just like any other task: start somewhere and make small wins. Over time you’ll grow and build your own systems that work well. This book is just a guide to help you find those systems and move them in the right direction.

I think this book really only works for people with smaller homes or smaller messes. It’s a very short guide and definitely not as comprehensive as any other book in this list.

365 Days of Decluttering and Organizing Your Home

Schedules and systems always help you make progress faster. In the book 365 Days of Decluttering and Organizing Your Home you’ll go through a series of steps to clean out your home and get it looking spotless.

There’s a huge difference between clutter and extra things. It’s possible to have a lot of things, yet still have them all organized with their own little homes.

Your house shouldn’t feel like a bomb went off as you’re climbing through the wreckage.

This guide takes you through a proprietary process with over a year’s worth of detailed cleaning. You can work your way from basement to attic with every other room inbetween and find storage solutions for everything.

I should add the title here is a bit misleading. It’s not literally a once-per-day cleaning regimen(although it can be). Rather it’s about 365 different organizational styles and how to find the ones that work best for your house.

Storage with Style

Great storage is both functional and beautiful. This can be said for all storage from dressers to closets and office desks.

Storage with Style offers a 200-page look into different storage solutions and how you can work them into your home. Everyone has different storage needs whether they’re excess shoes, art supplies, or boxes of video games.

You won’t find strict organizational schedules in this book. Instead you’ll find tools & ideas you can apply to your preferred cleaning schedule.

This book is not a miracle worker but it will help you find organizational systems that work for your home.

The goal is to find storage that looks great, offers enough space, and doesn’t cost you half a year’s salary to get it all setup. The practical storage ideas in this guide can certainly help you get there.

The Family Handyman’s Best Organizing Solutions

If you’d rather build your own cubbies and shelves and bins then this is the only book you’ll need. The Family Handyman’s Best Organizing Solutions offers some creative advice on picking out extra storage and organizing your home from the ground-up.

It’s a short read with only 144 pages. But the solutions are phenomenal and surprisingly refreshing. The goal here is to use your imagination and your two hands to create storage solutions that fit your needs.

Storing a bunch of books on the wall may not work if you have hundreds of books. However a few wall racks in the garage or basement could do the trick. Or maybe you could even build a large bookshelf for your study or home office.

There’s no shortage of great ideas if you’re willing to put in some time & energy. The happiest homes are those built with love and this book shows that a little love(and elbow grease) can go a long way.

Easy Closets

It’s easy to forget that closet space is the go-to solution for organizing most homes. This space was made for getting stuff out of sight and giving it a place to rest.

Easy Closets: Affordable Storage Solutions for Everyone offers some very creative wall-mounted shelves and cool stackable bins all made for closets. Most closets only come with so much shelf space, but that shouldn’t be a limiting factor!

In this detailed guide Joseph Provey shares tips on adding space into your closets all over the house. Kitchen pantries, mudrooms, and master bedrooms all have closet space just waiting to be used. And with this book you’ll find a way to make use of that space to get your house nice & spiffy.

Every single thing in your home deserves its own home. And with this book you can find that space in any closet, no questions asked.

365 Daily Do Its

365 Daily Do Its offers some challenging tasks and organizational tips for anyone willing to undergo the challenge. This book only has 66 pages but a lot of suggestions to work through.

These little tasks called “do its” are daily things you can work into your schedule to keep your home tidy year-round. It’s easy to let clutter pile up and as the days, weeks, months pass by… and I think you know the rest.

But the practical ideas in this book help you put a stop to these messy pile-ups. Each challenge is described as an “optional chore” so you can pick & choose the ones that’ll help your home the most.

This way you can try out one method for a week, see what you think, then move onto something else.

Since this is so light it’s a real easy read and it’s actually a lot of fun. I recommend this book for busy homeowners who want to add little clean-up routines into their daily schedules.

Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness

This home organization book is unique in that it looks towards organizing as the solution to a happy home life. Expert organizer Donna Smallin shares her best kept secrets in her book Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness.

It’s all about finding ways to approach projects and keep them manageable. If you’re only one person then there’s only so much you can clean. But if you keep focus on one task at a time you’ll see more progress and build more motivation to keep going.

In this 288-page guide to cleaning you’ll find some great advice on how you should go about cleaning and what your goals should be. Tips are scattered throughout projects that you can follow and complete on your own time.

Working through all these exercises can take a while so this book will keep you busy. But it’s also a reliable resource with a friendly writing tone and easy-to-read paragraphs.

Just know that the Kindle version has some wonky formatting with text that can actually be tough to read. If you nab a copy of this book try to get print over digital.

Organizing Plain and Simple

Learning to organize your home isn’t as stressful as you might think. It’s really about cleaning as you go while purposefully knowing where items belong.

Organizing Plain and Simple is a fairly dated book with some timeless tips. The book is a fun read and it breaks down into sections covering different rooms in your house.

But other chapters get into greater detail on other areas of your life. You’ll learn how to organize your finances, your home life, and most importantly your time. Every time you start a new project make sure you bring it to completion. And knowing how to complete a project is really half the battle!

Even though this book may look outdated you’ll be surprised how practical these tips really are.

Decluttering Your Home

Geralin Thomas offers expert advice for anyone looking to clean up their home or home office with the longest-lasting storage techniques. In her book Decluttering Your Home: Tips, Techniques and Trade Secrets Geralin shares all her secrets with anyone willing to listen(er, read!)

She starts by talking about psychology and how this plays a big role in your cleaning routine.

She then expands to show how your psychology can affect your mood and mentality when it comes to organizing. You need a thick skin and some common sense to move through with tenacity.

Each chapter delves into a different subject including clothes, pantry goods, digital devices and calendars for keeping your schedule on point. These techniques apply to every room in the house and even semi-related tasks like organizing your filing cabinet.

Every suggestion in this book comes from Geralin’s experience and her drive to help others improve their lifestyle. It seems best-suited for larger homes but these techniques really do apply everywhere.

Now with so many books in this list it can be tough to choose. But I always say trust your gut and go with your instinct. Sometimes a book title or author just stands out for whatever reason, and that’s probably the best way to go.

I do truly recommend all of these books and that’s why they made it into this list. No matter how tight your schedule is or how much space you have, these organizational books are sure to help you find a routine to get your home life in proper order.