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Lightly Preorder Offer: A Lovely Print

Thank you all for your wonderful comments about my upcoming book, Lightly! Your support and encouragement mean everything to me, and I can hardly wait until Feb. 26 to share it with you.

As I mentioned in my last post, one of the loveliest things about this book is the design. I had the honor of working with the very talented Ryn Frank (check out her Instagram), whose illustrations and hand-lettered quotes appear throughout the text.

So I’m very excited that my publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, has put together a gorgeous preorder offer for Lightly: a 5″ x 7″ print of one of the quotes from the book!… {Read more}

Lightly: How to Live a Simple, Serene, and Stress-free Life

I’m just over the moon to share some big news with you today: I have a new book coming out next month! It’s called Lightly: How to Live a Simple, Serene, and Stress-free Life, and will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on February 26.

If you ever feel like life is weighing you down—like the stuff in your home, the to-dos in your schedule, the worries in your heart are too much—this book is for you.

Over the last few years, our hyper-connected, image-obsessed culture has added new pressure to our lives. Social media has put us all in the spotlight, with the expectation to buy more, do more, know more, and show more than ever.… {Read more}

The Joy of Less Journal: Clear Your Inner Clutter

I often hear from readers who have decluttered and decluttered and decluttered some more. They’ve streamlined their surfaces, ditched their duplicates, and pared down to the essentials. They’re thrilled with their newfound space, but they want to know…. What’s next?

And that’s really the question, isn’t it? What’s the point of clearing out all the physical clutter?

I’ll tell you: it’s to give us the time and space and focus to clear out our INNER clutter.

Once we’ve cleaned out our closets and cabinets, it’s time to clean out our hearts and minds. It’s time to get rid of those negative emotions, unwarranted anxieties, and other hangups that drag us down and make us feel heavy.… {Read more}

My First In-Person Decluttering Session!

I’ve been writing about decluttering for seven years now, and people often ask me if I do in-home sessions (like Marie Kondo). I never have—because even though I think it’d be great fun, sticking to writing helps me maintain a good work/life balance while raising a little one.

However, when an Amazon editor needed help with her messy desk, I couldn’t resist. I packed up the family for a trip to Seattle—and while Mr. Minimalist and Plumblossom hit the Space Needle and Pike Place Market, I went to spread The Joy of Less to the Amazon office.

As it was my first in-person decluttering session, I wasn’t sure what to expect.… {Read more}

Peak Stuff

Earlier this year, Ikea’s Chief Sustainability Officer made headlines for suggesting that the West has hit “peak stuff”—in other words, many of us in developed nations have all the consumer goods we need and are losing our appetite for more.

Well, hallelujah! I hope he’s right. How amazing would it be for society as a whole to realize we have enough—make that more than enough—and are better served by dialing down the consumption and pursuing other paths to happiness?

In fact, I think hitting peak stuff in our own lives is what motivates many of us on our minimalist journeys. One day we look in our cabinets, or in our closets, or around our homes, and suddenly feel somewhere from disenchanted to disgusted with the excess.… {Read more}

Giveaways and More

What a fun and busy book launch week! Thanks for all your sweet words and congratulations on my previous post; it’s been such a pleasure sharing this experience with you.

I’d just like to do a quick roundup of The Joy of Less giveaways that are going on. They’re all ending in the next day or two, so surf on over for a chance to win!

theminimalistmom.com lifeedited.com cohesivehome.com instagram.com/bemorewithless

In other news, my little book has its very own YouTube video:

 

And I’d also like to announce the publication of The Joy of Less in Dutch and Polish:

    

It’s so exciting to see all the different international covers.… {Read more}

The Joy of Less Book Release Day!

Today, the new edition of The Joy of Less is being released into the world!

I originally wrote this book because so many of you asked me for a how-to guide on decluttering and minimalist living. I thought it’d be great if a few hundred people read it; never did I dream that you would tell your friends about it, and they would tell theirs, and it would grow to touch the lives of so many people.

And thanks to you—and all your pre-orders—The Joy of Less is now available in bookstores worldwide! Thanks to you, I got to experience a moment I’ll treasure forever: I took my daughter to our beloved Powell’s Books, where she spotted The Joy of Less on the New Arrivals shelf and shouted excitedly, “There’s mommy’s book!… {Read more}

The Joy of Less Book Update

In less than two weeks, the new edition of The Joy of Less will be released! (Will it really be in bookstores? Fingers crossed, and lots of love to those who have pre-ordered to make it happen…)

Anyway, I’m so excited and wanted to share some of the latest news surrounding the book. I’m putting it all in one update post—so if you’re interested, it’s all here, and if not, you won’t be inundated with multiple posts on the subject. Sound good?

Okay, here we go:

*  The Joy of Less was in The New York Times Book Review on Sunday, March 27 (!!!).… {Read more}

The Joy of One: Bath and Beauty

For the latest installment in my Joy of One series, I’d like to talk about cosmetics, bath items, personal care products, and the like. Though disposable in nature, we often don’t dispose of them—opting to buy a new color or scent or formulation before we’ve used up our old ones. Oftentimes we get them for free from cosmetic counters and hotels (those tiny toiletries are super-cute and hard to resist). They accumulate in our drawers and cabinets, and on our countertops and shelves, and can lead to a real clutter problem. So even though we may not consider them “possessions,” they’re certainly worth discussion.… {Read more}

A Bouquet of Decluttering Inspiration

As you may know, the new edition of my book, The Joy of Less, will be released on April 26 (three weeks from today!). I originally self-published it, and I’m just over the moon that Chronicle Books is helping me reach a larger audience. I know I’m going to cry the first time I see it in an actual bookstore…

In the last few months, I’ve learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes publishing world. And one of the most surprising things I’ve learned is the importance of pre-orders—that is, the number of copies ordered before the release date. Apparently, bookstores use this pre-order information to decide whether or not to stock the book on their shelves.… {Read more}