my dining room
Many of you mentioned that clutter was your biggest battle in your dining rooms and so often that clutter is paper. First identify what these sources of paper are and figure out why they are landing where they are landing. It most likely means these things don’t have a home or they do have a home that is obviously not working for you. The easiest way I know how to explain this is to take you on a little tour around my “still waiting to be painted” dining room. Walk with me.
My kid’s papers/crafts always end up on the table. I needed a system that would house the kid’s stuff and where they could have some ownership and pride over what gets displayed. I’m not a big fan of the fridge front being cluttered up so instead the kids have their own magnetic white board on the wall. They also each have their own magnetic clip with their name on it. I just cleared the board off, usually it’s a lot more crowded than that.
So moving around the room, we come to my tea trolley. My tea trolley doesn’t hold tea but it does do a great job of keeping my sale flyers and magazines under wraps. I read my flyers at the kitchen table so it would make no sense for me to store them anywhere else but conveniently there.
Out of necessity for the kids, I also recently purchased the three drawer container (one drawer for each child) to hold the kids workbooks and other miscellaneous things they like to take out to work on at the table. I blogged about it here.
It’s important to remember that different stages call for different systems. When my big kids were younger I found it extremely helpful to keep an art centre on a book shelf in my dining room for ease of use.
Next we have my china/linen cabinet if that’s even what it can be called. Not the most attractive but it fits the space and works for us now so we are making do.
This is the only designated spot I have for these things so if I purchase something new, something else has to go. It wasn’t long ago I organized my table linens in the bottom of the cabinet and you can see that here.
If you are working at getting your dining room organized this month, follow my PROCESS steps and concentrate on one step at a time. If your plan is to get your table cleared off so you can all sit down and enjoy dinner together again then the next step is to REMOVE everything off that table, SORT it into piles and PURGE what you can. Piles are accumulating on your table because they don’t have a home somewhere else. Give those things a home that is accessible and easy to use.
Storing things where you use them really is the key to maintaining a system. This post of mine talks a little more about systems and how do go about setting them up in your dining room to control the paper clutter.
Once you get your systems in place and find a home for everything let’s not forget one other very important factor. Discipline! Taking 5-10 minutes each night before bed to quickly put things back where they belong will go a long way to keeping the clutter from accumulating on you and becoming an overwhelming mess.
Related posts:
Controlling paper with a hanging paper organizer ~ so smart and easy!
Clutter Free Eating Space ~ Professional Organizer Marilyn Bohn
Kin says
I LOVE your tea trolly and so want one for my “eating” area (as opposed to formal lounge room). I’m hoping to get it set up this weekend with everything the kids need etc – plus have somewhere for the miscellaneous papers to go rather than the kitchen bench!
Becky@BoysRuleMyLife says
OH, I feel so smart… because that’s exactly what I did! I found a home (or made a home) for everything that was accumulating on the table. I removed, sorted, and purged! I’m just tweaking my new system before posting pictures.
I love your magnetic white board! What a fantastic idea! Thanks again for hosting this roundup… my house needs it! 🙂
Elaine says
I am SO loving the idea of the tea cart as storage piece! I really need something for my sons coloring books and other art projects and that may just work. Where did you get it? Thanks for the tip, as usual!
sandy says
My dining room is small, so not much to clutter up. But I love seeing yours – and where your family eats!
Happy Easter Laura!
N. & J. says
I’m really good about starting organizational systems and then really bad about keeping them up so I’ve taken to dedicating some time on Saturday to sorting through the paperwork, mail, etc that has accumulated and that seems to help.
Amy says
Wow! That looks so great! You did an excellent job. I am still working on not letting piles build up, particularly of mail and magazines. I made a small investment and got a desktop paper shredder which makes it more convenient for me to get rid of the junk before it piles up too bad. It is in a more convenient location and I think it makes it more usable for me!
Great advice!
Susanne says
Great advice, Laura! I love the tip about taking a few minutes each night to put everything away. That is key for me.
Renee says
I love the cart idea. I plan to start my search for a small cart for my kitchen.
Jenean says
Thanks so much for the encouragement! Clutter, unfortunately, wants to be my friend 🙁 So, I organized my living room this month and just posted about it. My problem is definitely finding a home for things and then being diligent about purging as N & J says above. I have kept up with my desk, though, so I’m seeing some improvement 🙂 Now, to get my kids to fall in line!
Haley says
As always, everything you organize turns out so nicely!
Hope things are well with your family, has the mound of snow in your front yard melted yet?
If you need to feel warm check out the pictures of my recent trip to the beach! 🙂
The Lazy Organizer says
It looks great! We don’t do anything on our dining table but eat except for the kids’ occasional project which they have to clean up right away. Plus it helps that the dining table is off in a corner by itself so it would be inconvenient to set anything on it. It pretty much minds it’s own business. I think it’s the only flat surface in our house that does!
Milk in the Closet says
Wow. Great tips! I’ve been lurking on your blog for awhile now. Thanks for all the input. I love your step by step process. I need to get my house organized! (Do you want to come over?)
Q&Q says
Great advice as always. It’s so true that you have to find homes for things where you use them.
Laura says
What a great idea about the 3 draw unit with each kids name on it. I am so going to do this! I already use one of these 3 draw units for my control center for my bills. One draw is for my personal bills one draw is for my business bills and the other draw is for the paid statements. It sits on my desk and as I go through my mail I put my bills that need to be paid in the correct draw. On Sundays when I pay my bills I just pull out each draw and work.