20 best housekeeping books
I have read so many, and I still can't keep my floors clean
I go through phases of wanting to read a lot of books about homes and homemaking, and these are the best ones I’ve read over the years.
Theorizing
To start with the smarty-smart stuff, these are my favorite books on the theory of space, of having a home and living inside of it. (Nell and Irène recently sent me some great recommendations to go a little further in this vein, and I am looking forward to reading them! I am not sure I will be smart enough to understand them! See previous email.)
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard. I am re-reading this now, and it really is just a dream. Beautiful and strange; just the right speed of philosophy for me to handle in my deranged state. I am reading it very slowly—savoring it—and trying to think about what he is saying, about the plane of daydreams in the home and what it has to say about how we receive images.
The Architecture of Happiness, Alain de Botton. Charming and light, as de Botton always is, and a wonderful, readable summary of the ways that buildings shape us and change our minds (and hearts).
Having and Being Had, Eula Biss. I really like Eula Biss’s writing, and here she honestly wrestles with the paradoxes of homeownership in the American empire.
The Great Indoors, Emily Anthes. A readable survey of research on the ways that buildings affect our mood and health, from homes to hospitals.
How to Keep House While Drowning, KC Davis. A scannable, accessible book written for those who struggle with housekeeping, for a variety of reasons (depression, trauma, differently abled, and so forth). Davis distills her TikTok advice into this easily skimmed book, and I found it refreshing and reorienting, even as I don’t necessarily identify with the target audience. Regardless of whether you do or not, I recommend it as a mental reset for anyone who keeps house.
Cleaning
The Complete Book of Clean, Toni Hammersley. Great photographs with a layout that is easily referenced, I use all of her homemade cleaning solution recipes. The most attractive and useful of all these books in this section. This is one that I took extra pains to actually buy and keep, as well, as it’s one that I return to often.
Clean My Space, Melissa Maker. I generally trust anything Melissa Maker says about cleaning and watch her YouTube videos faithfully. She’s also a Dyson devotee, so you know you’re in good company with this no-nonsense Canadian. This book is a simple distillation of all of her cleaning advice, for those who may prefer reading to watching videos.
Laundry Love, Patric Richardson and Karin Miller. I’ve already mentioned this book before, but it revolutionized my laundry game. It leaves something to be desired, by way of practical, easy-to-apply tips, but as a philosophy of laundry, I think it’s marvelous. Never dry clean anything again!
My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag… and Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha, Jolie Kerr. While this isn’t the most comprehensive guide to cleaning, it certainly is the funniest.
Simply Clean, Becky Rapinchuk. Becky is a little intense, and her rigorous schedules only seem possible for stay-at-home moms who also… don’t have any children at home?? But her advice is still sound.
Tidying
Minimalista, Shira Gill. Don’t judge this book by its dumb title; I loved it. Shira Gill provides such excellent advice about how to achieve a tidier home, and I found this book to be immensely inspiring, especially right on the cusp of moving back in to our renovated home. Her advice reoriented me and helped me make better decisions about the stuff we own and how we choose to keep it.
Remodelista: The Organized Home, Julie Carlson. I’m guessing this book is from the same family as the aforementioned title, because it also has a dumb name, but it is very beautiful and offers fantastic visual inspiration (along with practical advice) for storage all over the home.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo. Love her or hate her, I think the Kondo method really works, and it transformed my closets and wardrobes especially. I stand by Marie.
Simple Matters: Living with Less and Ending Up with More, Erin Boyle. Boyle used to be one of my favorite mommy bloggers (Reading My Tea Leaves), but she’s become really self-righteous and exhausting lately. That said, she wrote this book when she was a little more bearable, and it’s a nice summary of simple homemaking and choosing to own less and repair and reuse more.
Decorating
This is all very personal, of course. The designers I like you may find noxious. Having perused stacks and stacks of these heavy books and pored over their glossy pages, the following emerge as my all-time favorites.
The Interior Design Handbook, Frida Ramstedt. A very practical book that reduces the art of interior design to a science, as much as possible. There are no photographs; just helpful diagrams and rules of thumb to pursue.
Beata Heuman: Every Room Should Sing. Beata Heuman is absolutely wild, and I wouldn’t make many of her bold choices, but I find her deeply inspiring, and her decorating advice here is spot on.
Domino: The Book of Decorating, Deborah Needleman. A large, accessible book that accommodates for a wide range of styles and tastes. A great entry-level book to the art of interior decorating.
The Perfectly Imperfect Home, Deborah Needleman. Another good book with sound advice from Deborah Needleman, who was the founding editor-in-chief of Domino.
Bibliostyle: How We Live at Home With Books, Nina Freudenberger. A gorgeous book that takes you inside the glorious libraries of fabulous people all over the world. Deeply inspiring to me, even as I fully expect to never live in homes that look like this. I just loved reading about how other people love their books and seeing how they choose to display and interact with their personal libraries.
British Designers at Home, Jenny Rose-Innes. A delightful look inside the homes of some of the best British interior designers. Gorgeous photos, quippy interviews, and a range of tastes and styles represented here.
Any recommendations for me to further my interests?