Kathryn Bechen

Kathryn Bechen is an American award-winning lifestyle writer, a veteran organizer, a DIY decorator, an educator, and an entrepreneur who has relocated many times around the U.S.A., setting up, organizing, and decorating 16 personal small-space residences with her longtime handy husband Steve. They have also stayed in 69 charming Bed & Breakfast Inns in 17 U.S. states, all real-life personal experiences that inspired Kathryn to write several tips eBooks to help people turn their own homes and home offices into pleasant and budget-friendly, (or what Kathryn prefers to call "dollarwise"), havens.  

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Kathryn has been interviewed for her home insights and tips by many media outlets such as Martha Stewart Living Radio, Woman's Day, Family Circle, Woman's World, All You, and The Washington Post.  Over the years, she has also been hired to write for U.S. home and garden magazines and for private clients in the home and garden niche. 

 

Kathryn's proudest writing achievement to date is her book/eBook/audioBook, Small Space Organizing/Maximizing Your Small Space, published by one of the largest and most influential Christian book publishers in the world.  Upon her book's release in 2012, it gained immediate media attention, was listed as a home category bestseller on Amazon, and has been purchased by people all around the world.  Some of them have written to Kathryn to tell her how much it helped them -- like the lady who said she read it in the hospital waiting room when her mother had a stroke and the daughter used the tips to help her keep on top of her own home's management during that stressful time.

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Another pivotal writing moment for Kathryn was when, just in her 20s, she was assigned by her local small town newspaper owner/editor to interview people about the new local library that had just been built, researching its history and interviewing one special donor: the now legendary investor Warren Buffett.  She also interviewed his lovely mother, Leila Stahl Buffett, who had ties to the community.  This was Kathryn's first published newspaper article for which she was paid, and her published writing journey had begun part-time as one freelance writing gig led to another. Meanwhile, the library director she had also interviewed for the library articles hired her to work in the library, they became good friends, and Kathryn was blessedly where she had always loved to be most: surrounded by books and words. Fast forward 33 years later and while cleaning out her writing files, Kathryn found the library article she had written, and on a whim, decided to send it to Mr. Buffett as she thought he might find it interesting about his Mom.  He never knew it existed, and he quickly wrote her this gracious letter back.  Lesson learned?  You never know where writing might take you!​

 

Now a senior lady nearing 70 who has lived with her husband in the Greater Phoenix, Arizona area since 2018, Kathryn continues to share her love of DIY home topics through writing eBooks. In her earlier years she consulted in-person and virtually about organizing and productivity for many people, from a fine home builder in Nebraska to a busy young Mom in Costa Rica.  Additionally, she developed several organizing seminars and speeches that she presented to institutions like Creighton University and UNO, but she jokes that her favorite "organizing students" were her 7th graders when she was a young English teacher and she insisted they learn to organize their papers better, so she added organizing skills to her lesson plans.  Other past jobs that have added to Kathryn's organizing repertoire were various office admin roles, being the right hand to disorganized lawyers, and working in several libraries in her 20s, where Dewey Decimal became her best friend. 

 

Not only her work, but her DNA has definitely contributed to Kathryn's zest for order, as she is descended from a long line of Germans who love order and systems for the greater good. (Kathryn believes she has found her 8th generation German grandmother online through ancestry research.)   Photo.

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Loving education and learning her entire life, Kathryn has always been a curious traveler and an insatiable reader. She holds a B.A. in English/Education and a C.I.D. decorating certificate. ​​​ 

 

Kathryn's final life mission and wish is that her home and office eBooks/books will go further around the world, inspiring anyone who has struggled with disorder to create an orderly and beautiful home and life.

 

Kathryn's own current home in Arizona. 

 

"Let everything be done decently and in order."  --1 Corninthians 14:40, The Bible

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