Real Simple Solutions: Tricks, Wisdom, and Easy Ideas to Simplify Every Day

by Real Simple

Looking for a new way to set a table? Need to remove a grass stain? Fresh out of toothpaste? From imaginative ideas to in-a-pinch fixes, REAL SIMPLE SOLUTIONS is packed with hundreds of ways to help you live better. Here you'll find smart and affordable solutions for every part of your life-cooking, cleaning, decorating, entertaining, getting dressed, grooming, working, and more. Whether you're looking for step-by-step directions for hand washing delicates, a soup-to-nuts list of pantry essentials, or unexpected uses for newspaper, the ideas are both enlightening and timeless.

Page after page, REAL SIMPLE SOLUTIONS

- Quick, low-cost ways to refresh everything from your wardrobe to your living room

- Surprising new uses for everyday emery boards, baking soda, old beach towels, and beyond

- Supplies and strategies to make basic jobs (getting dinner ready, wrapping gifts) even easier

- Invaluable reference information, including stainremoval charts and holiday tip sheets

- Simple instructions for doing common-but often difficult-tasks, like painting a room or carving a turkey

In addition, the book includes a compendium of multitasking household products and their many talents; an extensive, easy-to-use index; and a convenient, information-filled booklet that you can remove now and consult anytime.

An encyclopedic, modern take on the traditional household-hint book, REAL SIMPLE SOLUTIONS does double duty as an indispensable resource and a stylish addition to the coffee table.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Home Economics, How To, Adult, Design

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2005

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical tips for everyday solutions. Simple and quick tips. No in depth reading to find what you are looking for. Probably can find the solutions on the internet but still good.

[Janalee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I plucked this off the free shelf at school. Read it in about an hour. It’s about 65% pictures ( nice photography!) and the rest is content that you mostly have already heard, isn’t great, and maybe 3% helpful.

Must helpful:

* hydrogen peroxide to clean your bathroom, ice trays to store jewelry and necklaces so they don’t tangle, and most valuable: run a wire hanger over your staticky dress and it will eliminate static. Can’t wait to try this.

[Colona Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is filled with helpful tips, I've read quite a few Nesting and How to Adult books and this book had a few things I've never seen before. It's also got my favorite type of layout that is spacious and clean feeling. ~Ashley

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this over the course of a few days while eating lunch. I can’t believe this thing has the nerve to be $25. It’s skimpy on content, like RS assembled a bunch of scraps that weren’t good enough for the magazine and called the unfocused, random collection of snippets a book. Furthermore, you’ll probably already know about most of the “solutions.”

[Karen JEC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of incredible ideas and time-savers. Worth looking through several times a year, too. Would recommend for a browse.

[Emma Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought at a secondhand shop, wouldn’t buy new! Cute, informative but a very leisurely read. Like Pinterest in a book with quick tips and ideas.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this as a child and it kinda became a fun obsession for me and my siblings. refound it now so keeping it on goodreads for reference.

[Rachel Breslin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is Real Simple in book form. If you like the mag, you should like this.

[LD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good tips.

[Sharlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep changing my rating between 3 and 4. This book feels very much like reading a magazine. It has a lot of illustrations and is divided into small consistent sections, so it is easy to read in bits and pieces (while you have time). Although it is clearly an organized book, it still feels a bit like a bunch of random suggestions. Like anybody's shared wisdom (including written or verbal advice), you may find some of the suggestions silly, obvious, or simply not-your-style. However, shared wisdom can also lead to little tidbits of learning, spark your own new ideas, or even promote a new way of thinking/doing in your life. I did find there were some cute ideas in this book---probably nothing life-changing (in the largest sense of the word), but certainly worth making an effort to incorporate into my life. The problem is that I read this book in bits and pieces and moments, and I did not have a pen and paper, and I could not dog-ear the pages or rip them out (like you can in a magazine). Now, I feel I need to go back through the entire book and see what those good ideas were (and then rewrite them in my own more usable format). It is a pretty book, and it feels a bit like your mother (or a friend) is visiting your house and telling you what you should do about lots of different things around the house (static, missing earring backings, saggy boots, book labels, cords, stains) and how you could better do certain tasks (load the dishwasher, paint rooms, efficiently work at your desk). I appreciate advice much more than I used to, and there is no obligation to follow it, so for this I give it a 4 (I think).

[Creolecat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really does have "real life" solutions that are fun and make perfect sense. My problem is that once I finish with an item, I get rid of it (depending on what it is), because I don't like clutter and I compartmentalize everything else (I'm OCD to the point where I even irritate myself), and so I don't always think of new ways to use old items. This book gave me some excellent pointers, and there's a grocery list (and this excites me) that I'm anxious to incorporate into my own because I LOVE making lists. I recommend this to everyone. The magazine is great, too.

[Charity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compilation of ideas on how to use the things you should already have to make life easier. I particularly liked all the ideas that it gave on using old items for multiple new uses. I very much like multitasking my stuff when I get the chance. It was definitely geared more for women than men. It would be interesting to see a version written for the garage and the workshop.

[Relyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this has been my favorite of the Real Simple books. I am probably going to have to buy this one. I even marked pages for Jeffrey and Sloane to read. It really is full of tips and tricks to make your life more simple and beautiful.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty pictures but I'm not really sure what to do with this book -- it's not like the subject matter makes it a good coffee table book, but it's not as good of a reference book as [Book: Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home] .

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good tips!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as I thought it would be, but not bad. Has a few useful tips in it.

[Jennifer Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am soo loving this . . got it at the container store. I love the magazine too. This is an awesome gift!

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic book from Cheryl! I am always using this as a helpful handbook.

[Jodee]

Great book with lots of helpful hint to use every day things. Like used dryer sheets to clean soap scum off glass shower doors. Will definetly try that one.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful. I like the photos and the typeface of this book. This is good to place on a coffee table for guests and visitors to read when friends are being invited over for dinner.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm weird. I love flipping through books like this. The pictures manage to make the most mundane things seem elegant. Fun little ideas for organizing, cleaning, decorating.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book, lots of good tidbit of info!

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Wonderful, useful tips.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

best to browse through, for the tips I need at the time.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

i inundate myself with all things from the "real simple" empire -- their collection of books are just as amazing as their magazine/s

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good reference book to keep available. Some fun and interesting ideas.

[Brittany K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute pictures. Some practical advice. This is a "flip-through-at-the-store" kind of book. Or a "look-pretty-on-your-coffee-table" kind of book.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's good, but also just a recap of many of the previous years of Real Simple magazine (which I've been reading for years).

[Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I thought this was just another book with lots of pretty pictures, but it had some really great tips (with pretty pictures).

[D Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and creative ways to put old things to good use. Waste not, want not.