House & Home & Repair

Home Comforts - The Art and Science of Keeping House

5 stars (Domestic Goddess of Domestic Tranquility) - Thoroughly up-to-date, this handbook of household management addresses all the issues of keeping the modern house, including the "why" of keeping house. We keep house because there is a basic need to be clean and well-ordered in our homes. Our health and safety depend on knowing how to keep the foodstuffs safe, how to clean our living areas, and how to help keep our homes safe from outsiders. There is also great mental comfort in doing these tasks. The role of Goddess of Domestic Tranquility is a worthy one, and one might as well be a well-informed GDT. The topics are well-researched and the advice on how to keep one's goods in good condition is superior. Besides the material condition of the house, the paperwork condition is also addressed, with thorough explanations of the hows and whys of various insurances, contracts, and employing others to assist in household maintenance. I keep this book where I can reach it easily as it gets as much use as my Yellow Pages and favorite cook book. 5 stars (From 'cleaning' to 'housekeeping'.) - I'm a messy person. My mother would tell you this. My mother is, like her mother, an obsessive-compulsive cleaner, but not especially organized. I rebelled against the cleaning, which left me with nothing. No, this book isn't a miracle worker. It didn't magically turn me into Martha Stewart. However, I'm not atypical. I was born in 1981. My mother never taught me how to make hospital corners and make up the bed so that I was comfortable, fold clothing so that it actually fit well in the drawers, how to do laundry other than 'wash light stuff and dark stuff separate' and her idea of the hardiness of leftover food is still very optimistic. Home Comforts can't replace learning from a loved family member. For the many of us who didn't have that option, it's invaluable. It's not just the how, but the why; not just about being immaculate but about being comfortable at home....
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