Confessions Of An Organized Homemaker BOOK REVIEW
“What is management? For some people it’s when they manage to get through the day. Actually, efficient management is achieving maximum output with a minimum amount of time and energy. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? With good … management skills, though, it is easily possible.” (p. 116)
“Confessions Of An Organized Homemaker: The secrets of decluttering your home and taking control of your life” promises to help you do more in less time producing less stress in every room of the house, and from your wardrobe to your purse to your car. Oh yes, and that junk drawer? Time to face it head on.
Who Is Deneice Schofield?
Deniece Schofield is a mother of five, author, and speaker. Her website tells that she was once drowning in clutter and messes but she had finally had enough and decided to do something about it. From there she honed her craft and shared her wisdom in four succinct books. Since raising her children she is also engaged in speaking at events and spent some time blogging into the 2010’s. This book review focuses on her 1982 book Confessions of An Organized Homemaker (I have the revised and expanded 1994 version.)
How Did I Find Confessions On An Organized Homemaker?
I believe I came across this book title in the back of another book that totally escapes me, or perhaps it was online hopping through links. I got a used copy on ebay, and it can also be found on Amazon and Deniece’s website.
But, why would a book on organization even catch my eye? Part of how I express “doing all things as unto the Lord” (Col 3:23) is to actively work on growing in certain areas in life (I aim for most/all) . Home management is certainly a complex one that I can always get better at! Because I don’t have any in-person mentors, I often turn to books. One of the things I love most about books is that it is far more content (and better thought-out) than the same number of words in online articles. A book thoroughly takes you from A to Z, from square 1 to 100.
Additionally, as seasons change, and as we move from house to house and grow our family, my home needs tweaking. Systems need to morph with the family. What worked for a while in one home with one child may no longer work in another home or with three children afoot. I often have to face the music that I am way out of my league already raising twice as many children than I grew up with (and, Lord willing, more to come along). So, naturally, any book written to homemakers to help alleviate the stress and clutter of a busy, lived-in home is fair game in my eyes.
Confessions Of An Organized Homemaker Review
Summary
Confessions takes the reader through their home and helps them take control. In doing so, you feel lighter and more freed up to enjoy the people in your home and your actual life. Major sections dive into family scheduling, decluttering the whole house, meal management, and how to actually get it done. Far from glossy pipe dreams in a magazine, the book practically spells out multiple techniques that just about anyone can shape to fit their needs – honestly, who doesn’t need to declutter and organize their home and/or life a bit? The advice is presented in such a way that if their home or life doesn’t exactly suit a certain idea that a principle can still be implemented in a different way.
Other topics include: calendar keeping, storage, shopping, meal planning, toys and all the other things children add to the house, and cleaning. To really bring it full circle, the last major section helps you put the pedal to the metal by deciding where to start and actually doing it! What’s the use in spending time reading a book of practical advice if it doesn’t help you actually do it? Ideas are not worth much until you put them into action.
Best Insight from Deneice
Deneice really writes from the perspective that just about anyone can improve their life and that at least one little bit is better than nothing. She has the utmost confidence that at least once of the systems in the book will make something run smoother and take some stress off your plate. I appreciate that the author is writing with an upbeat attitude, instead of making you feel beat down! Having experienced life under a mountain of clutter, Deniece seeks to help the reader enjoy what she found possible in her own life.
I also live with this mindset – I truly believe anyone can learn even just one more home management skill, no matter how simple, that will give back to them more than they have to put into it. Even after over a decade of homemaking, I was inspired with new ways to improve how a few things run in my home and have been enjoying the benefits since.
Pros
- Highly practical & NO fluff!
- Efficient – if you have only 5 minutes to read, you will learn something
- Entertaining and funny anecdotes: “All my literate life I wondered whether I would get a chance before I died to use the word hugger-mugger. I wonder no more. The state of our house years ago made it obligatory.”
- Not only goes through the house, but other areas of life like scheduling tips
- The advice is able to be shaped to each reader’s life
- Sample lists, menus, plans, schedules, etc.
- Inexpensive and easy to find a used copy
- Inspiring and uplifting, doesn’t feel heavy or overwhelming
- Quaint nostalgia from the 80’s/90’s, yet timeless wisdom
- Not just ideas, but help getting the ball rolling
- For such a dense book, I found myself flying through it in no time at all
- Stays on topic. For example, under meal management it explains tips for making good meals and says they should be “healthy” but doesn’t go off on a tangent about defining what is healthy. I love a good book on nutrition, but this is not what this book sets out to do and I appreciate it not trying to give advice about everything at once. I find a common theme in modern writing is to not only discuss the topic but every side topic and exception as well. Generally, I find this tiresome.
Cons
- No scripture. I do not know if the author is a woman of faith, though. If I were writing a book on this topic, even though the Bible really doesn’t tell us very precisely how to manage a home, I’d try to fit scripture in. It’s important to keep in mind WHY we keep a home and seek to do it well – God’s glory! The comfort of a well running home is just a side benefit. It seems less common nowadays, but it is possible to turn homemaking and organization into an idol which weighs us down instead of freeing us up. We don’t want to become a slave to something that God designed to serve us. Just as it can feel silly to “do dishes and wipe faces for God’s glory”, the same can be said for organizing a junk drawer, but God would have us do ALL things with this mindset.
Concluding Confessions Of An Organized Homemaker Review
So, let’s take a look at a few scriptures that may come to the mind when reading Confessions Of An Organized Homemaker. We see that the Bible describes the home as the wife’s domain (Titus 2:5; 1 Tim 5:14; Psalm 128:3; Prov 31), but what scriptures encourage us to do it well? This book really is about improving the skill of homemaking, not a treatise on women being the homemaker in the first place.
The Bible really does encourage all believers to give their best effort at doing all things to their best ability so that it may glorify God (Matt 5:16). You never know when someone will ask you why you put effort toward something (usually something mundane, trivial, boring, or gross when it comes to homemaking), or see that your efforts are an extension of your faith. We are seeking to “shine our light before men” (Matt 5:16) so that one day we can give them an answer “for the hope that is within us.” (1 Pet 3:15)
Ecclesiastes says, “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Ecc 9:10a) and Paul wrote in Colossians, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col 3:23)
Specifically as a woman making a home, I also like to dwell on these Proverbs:
“Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” Prov 24:3-4
“Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.” Prov 14:1
”House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the Lord.” Prov 19:14
In conclusion, I very much enjoyed this book. Confessions Of An Organized Homemaker is great to pick up for a minute while waiting in the car for something, holding on the phone, while on the couch nursing a baby, relaxing in the tub, and not too heavy to read before going to bed.
I was left inspired with new ideas and encouraged to get them into practice. The ones I did implement so far have made life a bit simpler so that I am managing less stuff and enjoying my family and life more. I’m sure this book will help any homemaker feel more proficient and professional at this skill, which is also an art and a ministry.
“What you need to do is to put housework in its proper perspective. View it as a tool to help you get what you want. Don’t visualize yourself as a dismal failure. Instead, visualize yourself lying down every night with a peaceful feeling, knowing your work has been done well. You awaken to a house that is in order…”
נערות ליווי בבאר שבע
I was very pleased to find this site. I wanted to thank you for your time for this particularly wonderful read!! I definitely savored every little bit of it and i also have you book-marked to see new stuff in your site.