Tidy Up Your Life

November 1, 2024
Though he and his wife were aided and inspired by Marie Kondo's work when they started decluttering their small family home, Moore acknowledges that popular cleaning recommendations are not always realistic for people with kids. He set out to change that with @tidydad, his Instagram and website chronicling his tidying efforts and offering support to others trying to declutter. Moore's approach takes into account an emotional assessment of accumulation, with clearing and sorting activities informed by rhythms, routines, and "surthrival mode" (those intense times when you're just trying to survive and thrive too). All sorts of personal tales accompany Moore's how-to's--stories of squeezing five family members into a two-bedroom New York City apartment, introducing concepts of shared responsibility, and keeping that Monday dread at bay with "joy plotting." The second half of the book travels from room to room, offering top ten strategies for kids, the three types of clean, zones for organizing the kitchen, and a method for storing pantry items in clear containers. Original, whimsical, and altogether practical.

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December 2, 2024
In this amiable debut, “Tidy Dad” Instagrammer Moore details what he’s learned about maintaining a clean home from living in a 750-square-foot New York City apartment with his wife and three young daughters. Moving into the smaller of the apartment’s two bedrooms so his daughters could share the larger one taught him to get by with “just enough,” Moore writes, recounting how he downsized his wardrobe to fit in the room’s cramped closet by only keeping clothes in a few colors so most items matched. Though Moore contends that organizing solutions will depend on an individual’s priorities, he offers useful general rules of thumb. For example, he suggests setting a “physical boundary” to prevent excess accumulation, noting that he allows his daughters to keep only as many hair accessories as can fit in a designated container. Throughout, Moore emphasizes practicality over aesthetics, describing how he reconfigured the layout of his first child’s nursery so the crib no longer shared a wall with neighbors angered by the crying. The personal stories breathe life into the advice, and Moore brings a welcome recognition of how clutter often stems from stress, as when he urges readers to “get clear on the why behind the accumulation of all your stuff—physical, mental, and emotional.” This will help even the messiest readers bring order to their homes.

January 1, 2025

Moore's book--an extension of his popular Instagram account TidyDad--not only gives a personal touch to the self-help genre but does so with humor and realistic expectations. While his book is a close cousin to Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Moore approaches the topic mainly around keeping a tidy house while raising children and how he was able to bring tidying habits into his professional life for greater satisfaction. He stresses this is a continuous process and may take many forms, offering plenty of mindset tips to help get through mental blocks and achieve clarity in how to downsize or adjust one's expectations to make a happier home life. Moore also consistently demonstrates how he and his spouse are able to balance each other while keeping tidy and how readers can do the same with their own partners and families. VERDICT Though there are many cleaning and tidying books around, this one is particularly astute. It cuts to the chase with foundational advice that makes incremental changes achievable and is recommended for most collections.--Amanda Ray

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