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Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home by Martha Stewart
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Martha Stewart Brand: Martha Stewart Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2006-10-31 ISBN: 0517577003 Number of pages: 752 Publisher: Clarkson Potter Product features:
Book Reviews of Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your HomeBook Review: Not for Flylady's Summary: 5 StarsThis book is only for two kinds of people: those who care about the materials in their home and/or those who missed this part of the parent/child experience. If bleach, any all-purpose cleaner or just baking soda/vinegar are your steadfast weapons of choice for housework, this will be a waste of time. For everyone else this is a comprehensive manual about which products and methods to use to best clean, maintain and care for your home inside and out. There's also advice about organization, decorating/room layout, pet care, preparing for a baby and even a thorough moving checklist. The level of detail could be considered overwhelming; it's better to think of this book as an encyclopedia rather than a "10 steps" self-help kind. Though completely accessible, it's really a home reference source -- from the varied types of cloth used for washing and drying glasses and bed linen thread counts to the best way to mop wood, vinyl and stone and repairing a torn screen.
Near the beginning she says, a clean house doesn't smell like cleaning products but fresh flowers, what's for dinner or simply the absence of any odor. I realize Martha Stewart is an aspirational teacher but instead of just telling you how to clean a stainless steel sink, for example, she also explains why bleach is the worst choice. A home is one of the most significant financial investments we make and where we spend a good deal of time. It might as well look and feel the best it can for as long as it can.
When I renovated my home a few years back, I searched everywhere for information about how to maintain the flooring, appliances, windows, etc. Most sources centered on the quickest, the least expensive or the easiest. This book centers on pride first while still offering efficient, cost-effective choices.
I may not always wash a dish from the center outward like Martha and my mother, but I'll never struggle with a fitted sheet again.
Summary of Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your HomeWhether your home is small or large, an apartment in the city or a country cottage, it is a space that should be at once beautiful and livable. The key to that is managing the upkeep without feeling flustered. Until now, there has never been a comprehensive resource that not only tells how to care for your home and everything in it, but that also simplifies the process by explaining just when. With secrets from Martha Stewart for accomplishing the most challenging homekeeping tasks with ease, this detailed and comprehensive book is the only one you will need to help you keep your home looking its best, floor to ceiling, room by room.
In Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook, Martha shares her unparalleled expertise in home maintenance and care. Readable and practical-and graced with charts, sidebars, illustrated techniques, and personal anecdotes from Martha's decades of experience caring for her homes-this is far more than just a compendium of ways to keep your house clean. It covers everything from properly executing a living room floor plan to setting a formal table; from choosing HEPA filters to sealing soapstone countertops; from organizing your home office to polishing your silver and caring for family heirlooms.
Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook is organized for clarity and maximum practicality:
Room by Room covers the upkeep of the appliances, tools, furnishings, and surfaces found in each room, from the entryway to the kitchen, from the attic to the laundry room.
Throughout the House instructs the reader on the proper ways to routinely clean and periodically maintain everything in the home, including dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, polishing, scrubbing, waxing and much more.
Comfort and Safety focuses on techniques to ensure your home is running properly and safely, such as recognizing when to clean vents, fixing a leaky faucet, and eradicating pests.
A-to-Z Materials Guide provides an invaluable resource that explains the unusual materials that many favorite objects are made of-from abalone to zinc- and how to care for them so they last.
Encyclopedic yet friendly, Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook is a seminal work-a must-have for everyone who wants a well-cared-for home that will endure for generations. Martha Stewart's new home reference book is a must-have for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it's gorgeous. Printed on thick, glossy pages covered with subtle sepia photos and that perfect Martha-blue as an accent color, Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook is a pretty and practical package for everyone: "all mothers and daughters, fathers and sons who have a room, an apartment, or a home to care for." Stewart's exhaustive handbook features a handy "how to use this book" introduction; a room by room guide with weekly, monthly, and seasonal checklists; tips for cleaning, creating a comfortable and safe home, and moving; and a guide for identifying and caring for materials in your home. Curious? Take a look at some excerpts below. You'll be sweeping and shelving your way to a happier home in no time. --Daphne Durham How to Use This Book: An Excerpt
When the first issue of Martha Stewart Living was published in 1990, I could not have begun to anticipate how wide-ranging our readers' homekeeping concerns would be. Since then, we have discovered new solutions to age-old problems, brought in experts to advise us on very specific questions about very specific?c concerns, and experimented with all the new (and not so new) home-care products. Over the years, I've brought these lessons home with me, too, which has made me more organized and made my homes better cared for and maintained.
Households are busy places, works in progress where there is always something needing immediate attention and always something more that can be done. With that in mind, I have organized this book to address the tasks at hand and also to address the "more that can be done" for when you have the time and the inclination go beyond the essentials.
It starts with the big picture--an examination of every room and everything you will find within each. The eleven chapters in the "Room by Room" section take you on a tour through the house, focusing on the surfaces and furnishings you might find in any room, and offering strategies for their care and maintenance. Starting with the kitchen, the central staging area in any home, these chapters open with practical space-planning advice, followed by the golden rules of organizing. This information is intended to help contain your belongings and make each room clutter-free and functional. Relevant homekeeping concerns particular to each room are explored in depth--so stain-removal basics appear in "Laundry Room," the best way to clean grout in "Bathroom," and easy sewing repairs in "Utility Spaces." The equipment essential to each room is also addressed, so if you are considering what kind of bathtub to install during a bathroom renovation or whether a gas or electric range would best suit your style of cooking, you will have the information necessary to make such an investment with confidence.
Organize Your Kitchen: Martha's Golden Rules
Martha Stewart Books
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