The House That Cleans Itself: Creative Solutions for a Clean and Orderly House in Less Time Than You Can Imagine

Is your kitchen table buried under a pile of magazines? Does your closet door groan every time you try to close it? Go from messed to blessed with Clark's housekeeping tips! Sharing Scripture verses about cleanliness and order, she offers workable solutions to help you organize your home so efficiently it seems to clean itself.

The House That Cleans Itself is a true housekeeping guide for the housekeeping–impaired! It boldly takes on the reasons behind chronic messiness and why ordinary home–organization books won’t work. Using the methods of “horizontal thinking,” this book teaches readers how to set up a home so efficiently and logically that it seems to clean itself.

More than a how–to book, The House That Cleans Itself also looks at what God has to say about cleanliness and order, and how He can inspire order in every reader’s life in a fresh and unique way. For added fun, some of the tips Mindy uses come from research for her popular novels, The Trouble with Tulip, Blind Dates Can Be Murder, and Elementary, My Dear Watkins.

love to read anything new on the market about aspects of time management. As such, with no qualms about gender roles, I eagerly grabbed up Mindy Starns Clark's book, The House That Cleans Itself. Reading it was time well spent, for the book has great game plans for household organization, use of the computer to keep better records, engaging the whole family in the cleaning process, and sustaining a clutter-free environment.

In a closing chapter titled "My Journey to Clean," Clark confesses that her mother, although a wonderful person, was not the world's greatest housekeeper. And, consequently, she didn't teach Clark much in regard to housekeeping, which resulted in a messy, dirty, disorganized home by the time Clark's kids were teens. To overcome this disaster, Clark started to study the ways professional housekeepers cleaned house. However, she also studied the way families lived and used a home. Additionally, she re-evaluated her biblical role as helpmeet and parent. Combining all of this information helped her develop a system of household organization that provided good health, safety, aesthetically pleasing decors, and functionality. These are the methods she explains in her book.

There are some specific aspects of this book that will particularly appeal to female readers. For one thing, there are sidebars filled with funny, true-life incidents told by women (and a few men) who admit they have not always been the best housekeepers. My favorite is a vignette about a woman who helped her husband run their dairy farm and, thus, cleaning the house ranked second to other chores. One day the county health inspectors showed up at her door, and she was immediately convinced they were there to condemn her home. Fortunately, they were only there to check the quality of the well water.

Another good aspect of this book is its emphasis on "spiritual" house cleaning (Proverbs 24:3-4). One chapter explains the value of having a place in the home just for prayer, meditation and devotions, and how to create such an area. Each chapter in the book begins with a quote from the Bible, and there are references to biblical principles throughout the text. This is not one of those books that is written and then "a bit of Bible" is tacked on at the end. This is written by a woman who knows her work and her Scripture. Even reading one chapter as time permits will do wonders to put people on the right track for creating a more wholesome living environment. – Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, Christian Book Previews.com

Average Rating:

6 of 6 Reviews Showing:

Reviewed by Jessica (Tama, IA), November 20, 2009

This book has been a lifesaver ... and I've only started! Mindy shows you how to set up your own routine (unlike FlyLady where I felt that I needed to make her routine work for me) and Mindy also shows you creative ways to make your house work for YOU instead of you changing to accomodate your house! And I love how you simply just bring God into the process and ask for His guidance and blessing ... duh - why hadn't I thought of that before?!? Of course He can help me to keep a more welcoming home! I totally recommend this book if you are like me and haven't seen your kitchen counter or desk in years! It won't get fixed overnight, but then again, it probably didn't get this way overnight either!

Reviewed by Teresa C Gaskins (Mershon, GA), May 06, 2009

I was taught I had to clean house, but not HOW to clean house. Finally a book helps with an attack plan! This is THE book I've been looking for! GREAT ideas & workable solutions! It took me a little time to get it set up, but worth the effort. I still hate cleaning but now I know what I'm doing.

Reviewed by Carrie Turansky (New Jersey), February 22, 2009

This is a great book that will help you find new and creative ways to get organized and simplify your life at home. Mindy Starns Clark presents some great strategies to tackle a messy house and get things in order. I especially appreciated her ideas on how to organize storage areas and closets. My house looked good on the surface, but those areas behind closed doors were a mess! Using ideas from this book I worked my way around my house and got most of my storage areas organized. I am grateful for this encouraging book!

Reviewed by Lisa Sutton (Mcdonough, GA), February 21, 2009

I originally checked The House That Cleans Itself out from the library. After reading it, I knew I had to have my own copy, so, of course, I went straight to CBD. Mindy Starns Clark wrote this book with me and any other housekeeping impaired person in mind. I began implementing some of her techniques right from the beginning without even setting up the entire system and have seen some really great improvements in my home. I can't wait to try the full system and really watch my house clean itself. Clark really understands me and my home's challenges.

Reviewed by Donna Jackson (Newton, IA), February 18, 2009

She's got some ok ideas, but she admits she has a housekeeper (towards the end of the book). I could write a book on housekeeping and all the extra time I would have too, if I had a housekeeper!!!

Reviewed by JC (Forest Ranch, CA), August 29, 2007

This book was so great I let a friend borrow it before I finished so I would have someone to discuss it with! I have been house cleaning impaired but this book really helped! The funny stories at the end of every chapter make it a light read.

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