Hello, friends! Welcome to Day 7 of Organizing Your Entire Home in 20 Days!
We are going to keep moving forward with the different areas in your house and today we are going to focus on your dining room!
This space is not often present in newer homes. The need for a formal dining area isn't what it used to be. If you don't have a dining room, you may have some of the elements we discuss in this blog in other areas of the home.
Make sure to check out the hutch in your kitchen or the table everyone sits at near the living room. You can check out our posts from earlier in the series!
The dining room is a place to gather and relax with your family, if you don't feel that way when in your dining room, this one is for you. Let’s get started!
The first step in the organizing process is to gather all of the items that are in the dining room and place them on the table.
Bring out all of the items that are in dining room server or hutch, from within drawers, and leave anything that was on the table at the beginning. This includes any papers, dishes, decorations, seasonal items and any other miscellaneous items.
Gathering all of the items together will help you see what items truly belong there and what items need to find a spot elsewhere in your house.
After you have gathered together all of the items in the dining room, its time to categorize everything into groups.
Place all of the similar items together; plates with plates, mugs with mugs, decorations with decorations, and so on. Keep going until all of the items that you brought out are in a group with other like items.
By categorizing all of the items together, you will easily be able to see what items you no longer want, items that you have too many of, or items that you no longer use.
As you're putting everything into groups, throw away any trash that you see as you.
Once everything is categorized into groups and trash is thrown away, its time to make the decision on whether you're going to keep, donate, or trash the items.
Items that you want to keep should be things that serve your family a purpose and you definitely will be using in the future.
These are going to be things like everyday dishes, memorabilia dishes, current decorations and seasonal items that you still enjoy using during their respective seasons.
Items that need to be donated are things that are still in good condition but no longer serve a purpose for your family.
These are things like old decorations, dishes that your family no longer uses and any items that there is an excess of.
Items that are trash are things that don’t serve your family any further purpose and wouldn’t serve anyone else purpose either.
These are going to be items like broken dishes or decorations, paperwork that has no use or any other item that you were holding onto but don’t have a use for.
If you are having difficulty deciding on what items should be kept or donated, ask yourself questions such as, when was the last time someone in my family used/wore this item? Does this item still serve its original purpose for me? How many of this one item do I have and is more than one really necessary? Would someone else better benefit from having this item than I would?
By asking yourself these questions about items you aren’t sure of, you are opening your mind and being honest with yourself about the needs of your family. Any items that you keep but you don’t need will continue to add to the clutter around your house for no reason.
By giving away these items, you are not only clearing the mess from your house, you are also allowing someone else to use these items that may need them more than you.
With nothing occupying the space, now is the best time to clean it!
Dust all of the high flat surfaces, wipe inside (and out!) of any drawers or cabinets and sweep/vacuum the floor. Take a moment and wipe clean any fine dish sets that are usually just gathering dust in the dining room hutch.
Finish up the cleaning by wiping down the legs of the table and chairs.
Once the dining room is clean, it's time to start putting everything back. When organizing your dining room, you want your goal to be to have the dining room table clear besides decorations.
Look how pretty this one is! So nice and clear!
To make that possible, you want to utilize any furniture (dining room server, hutch, console table) to store away items that would normally, and unnecessarily, just take up space on your table.
When putting the items back into their spaces, make sure you keep them grouped together in the categories that you previously sorted them in and contain with bins whenever possible.
This will keep your dining room from looking like a cluttered mess again.
Use a dining room hutch (or any furniture that you use in your dining room) to display your finer dishes and seasonal dishes that aren’t used as often.
You can also use a dining room hutch for storing small items like decorations, candles, and kitchen utensils that are only used for special occasions.
Bins and baskets are perfect for holding these small items so they stay organized while inside the hutch.
Finish up putting the items away by labeling any bins you use!
Labeling bins helps you create "homes" for everything. By creating a designated spot for all of the different items, it will be easier to keep it all tidy when you are going about your day.
Now is the time to deal with all of the leftover items on your dining room table.
What are those items? Is it paperwork that belongs in the office? Your children’s backpack that needs to be returned to their bedroom? Or is it dirty dishes and food that need to be taken back to the kitchen?
Whatever the items may be, now is the time to put them where they belong. Take note of who these items mainly come and have a conversation with that person on the importance of keeping a clean dining room.
The last step in organizing your dining room is to wipe the dining room table top clean once there are no more items on it.
Another great way in helping keep clutter from accumulating on the cleared dining room table, place decorations in the center of table (candles, vases, plants or any cute thing you see while walking through Target!).
By having items already set on your table, you will be less likely to leave items like old mail or lunchboxes sitting on the table since that space is already being taken up.
If your dining room is a only used for formal affairs, have place settings already set up around the table to also prevent unwanted clutter from gathering.
Don't forget that we also offer Home Event Prep services! We are happy to help you get ready for a family get-together, holiday party or special event!
If you still feel like you may need help with tackling your dining room (or any spaces in your home!), please reach out to the Clutterless Home Solutions Team for help.
Talk soon,
Clutterless Home Solutions