Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook

A Very Good Thing – A Review of The Essential Guide to Home Care

Aug 18, 2009

Another of Martha Stewart's high-end domestic bibles, The Homekeeping Handbook is a must for everyone's home library.

Fans of Martha Stewart’s books have grown accustomed to her beautifully photographed, logically laid-out, and unfailingly reliable guides to cooking, baking, event planning, and crafting. Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook is no exception. Including tasteful photographs and clear, sensible step-by-step instructions to answer just about any home-related “how do I…” question, the book is stunning to look at and easy to use.

Clear, Functional Layout

The book is organized into eight chapters, beginning with an introduction that includes a discussion of effective, and in many cases, environmentally friendly cleaning products. Chapter 2 examines the home room by room, and for the domestically-challenged, even includes daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal checklists for each room. Chapter 3 broadens outward to advice for the rest of the house, including how-to sections about routine cleaning and periodic maintenance. General household systems, such as air, electrical, heating and cooling, and security are the focus of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 is a detailed advice guide to moving, while chapters 6 and 7 are reference chapters covering materials and further reading.

The abundance of information found in each chapter is helpfully summarized in charts and checklists, and is complemented by elegant graphics and photographs. Everything anyone ever needed to know about homekeeping is in this book. Some highlights include:

Its clear and well-defined organization keep the book from becoming overwhelming, though: it’s clearly laid out chapters are complemented by a thorough index, making information easy to find.

A Reliable and Useful How-to Manual for Everyone

Filled with the tested and trusted advice and instruction that students of Martha Stewart have come to expect, this instalment in the Martha Stewart library of domestic primers is intended to be “useful and practical and clearly presented, covering a very broad number of topics.” Indeed, the book is successful on all counts, and this reference guide will prove to be indispensable to “all mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, who have a room, an apartment or a home to care for.” For students heading off to their dorms and apartments in a few short weeks, this book would make an especially practical gift.

The copyright of the article Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook in Home Management is owned by Carrie Prefontaine. Permission to republish Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.