The Butler Book: How to Create the Owner’s Manual for Your Home

Due to the coincidence of two books that came into my life at the same time — Home Comfort: The Art and Science of Household Management by Cheryl Mendelson and Business by Aristotle — I’ve been thinking a lot about housekeeping this year.

Part of this reflection was philosophical in nature. I thought about the Greek idea of ​​household management, which they oikosand how the way you care for your home has a deeper meaning than is usually assumed and is the basis for Eudaimonia or flowering.

Part of that thinking was practical, too. In our 19 years of marriage, Kate and I have managed our household pretty well. For the most part, we keep our home clean, tidy, and well-maintained, our family organized, and our budget balanced. But there is always room for improvement, and I have been looking for ways to become a better household manager.

One such improvement came about when I interviewed Charles MacPherson, a former professional butler, for the podcast. MacPherson recommended developing a tool that should be part of every top-notch butler’s arsenal: the Butler’s Book.

The Butler Book: The Instruction Manual for Your Home

In the Victorian era, the butler kept all information about the household in the butler book: staff and maintenance schedules, inventory of china and silverware, food preferences, clothing measurements, etc.

Nowadays, butlers or household managers of wealthy households have something similar to a butler’s book. They simply call it a “household procedure manual.”

A modern butler uses a household manual to keep track of all the service providers contracted to maintain the home, utility information, inventories of possessions and supplies, and maintenance schedules for major appliances. Many of these books also include emergency preparedness protocols and instructions for planning and executing parties and dinners.

After learning about the Butler’s Book, I wanted to create my own.

One of the biggest problems with managing my household is that I always find myself on a scavenger hunt to find information on household topics:

• Where is the access to the main sewer line again?
• Who do I call to fix the Trane furnace? What about the Carrier furnace on the other side of the house?
• When did we replace these windows and who did it?
• Do we have any Sternos left from the last party that we can use at the next one?

A Butler’s Book will help you stay on top of these questions and everything else you need to know and do to run your household efficiently. Instead of racking your brain over where things are, spending money to repurchase things you didn’t know you already had, and wasting time trying to figure out who to call to fix a problem, you can simply refer to your Butler’s Book.

I looked online to see if there were any digital services that would allow you to create a butler’s book for your home. There are a number of home management apps out there, but I found them cumbersome and overwhelming to use. They all try to do way too much. You can keep track of your home appliances, manage maintenance schedules for the house, pay the kids’ allowance, manage the family’s schedule, and keep track of meal prep. Too much!

I also didn’t like having to type things on the platform using my smartphone’s keyboard. It’s so tedious.

MacPherson recommended creating a physical version of a Butler’s Book, and seeing how smart that suggestion was, I did just that. I like it because I can personalize it with the information I want. I also like how easy it is to access. I just take it out and turn to the page I need. Don’t underestimate the benefit of having tangible information that you can physically hold in your hand!

While many butler’s books/household manuals cover standard procedures for running a household (e.g. how to open the pool), I wanted my butler’s book to primarily contain information about all the major systems and appliances in my home. That’s all.

I have divided my Butler’s Book into the following sections:

• Water/Sanitation
• natural gas
• Electric
• Heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology
• Windows and doors
• Roof
• Gutters
• Security
• Home network
• Swimming pool
• domestic appliances
• Entertainment inventory (Kate and I host a few large parties each year and have accumulated a large number of folding chairs and tables and other party supplies that we need to keep track of.)

For each of these categories, I created pages in my Butler’s Book to record information such as the date a device was purchased, the last service date, and the contact information of maintenance personnel. I also have fields to record the last test date of a smoke detector, the color code of the paint used in different rooms, and more.

Create your own butler book with this FREE butler book template

I created a template for my Butler’s Book in Google Docs. You can download it and modify it however you like. It’s free. You don’t even have to subscribe to our newsletter or comment on BUTLERS BOOK on an Instagram reel to get it. The Art of Manliness is here to save you from wanting to stick a pencil in your eye. You can print it out and use it as is, or if you want to modify it, just click “File” and then “Make a Copy” to save a copy to your Google Drive. From there, you can modify the template in Google Docs however you like.

Lessons from creating a butler book

Some things I learned while creating my Butler’s Book:

Creating your butler book will help you become more familiar with your home. I know a lot more about my house now that I’ve filled out all the information about my home’s various services and appliances. Even if you don’t consult your Butler’s Book often, you’ll get a lot out of creating it.

A Butler’s Book is a living, breathing document. As I consulted my Butler’s Book, I added or removed information that I found more or less useful. I also looked around my home and thought, “Is there any information I could add to my Butler’s Book?” Fill in the pages of the book with a pencil. This makes it easier to update.

I originally kept my home maintenance schedule in my Butler’s Book, but then I realized I liked the guidance in Todoist better, so I deleted that section.

If you are looking for home maintenance plan ideas, check out this article.

I’ve also tried taking inventory of things like toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies in my Butler’s Book, but I found the process extremely tedious and didn’t have a high ROI. Instead, I just schedule a quick inventory of household goods every two weeks in my Todoist. When it looks like we’re running low, I order more from Amazon. I don’t need to know that I have exactly 13 rolls of toilet paper.

The only inventory that has come in handy is our entertainment items. When we have a party, it’s nice to know we have 20 folding chairs in the basement instead of having to go downstairs to count them because I forgot we have 20 folding chairs.

I expect that I will continue to modify my Butler’s Book over the years.

A Butler’s Book is a gift for the next homeowner. When I bought our house 13 years ago, the previous owner gave me an envelope with a stack of yellowed manuals for some of the major appliances. That was all the information I got about my house. I had to figure out where the main water shutoff valve was, who to call to fix the boiler, etc. I would have loved if the previous owner had given me a butler’s book with all the information about the house. That would have saved me a lot of time. I’m thinking of buying my butler’s book as a gift for the next person who lives in this house.

I highly recommend you create your own Butler’s Book. It’s well worth the time it takes to create it. It is a great advantage to become your own butler.

For more insights from butler Charles MacPherson on how to better manage your household, check out this episode of the AoM podcast: