Review: Apartment Therapy

Read: Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
Stars: Four

Drinking: Green Tea & Lemon, Bigelow

I decided to read Apartment Therapy in anticipation of my upcoming move between apartments to get ideas for how to set up and organize the new one.  I love the blog, so I figured the book would be a great resource.

Gillingham-Ryan considers himself a therapist, but not in the traditional "talk in an office" sense.  Instead, he helps people realize that cluttered, poorly organized homes make them more stressed and helps them change that by rearranging furniture, decluttering, and changing decor.  The book takes the reader step-by-step for a two-month radical change in the home to make it more welcoming and, well, homey.

While the book is primarily geared towards wealthy New Yorkers who own their apartments or condos, it has many good tips for the average low-budget renter as well.  His thoughts on "flow" through rooms is particularly helpful for arranging furniture to make a room more inviting.  I will be implementing some suggestions in the new apartment!