I’ve cleaned off the dining room table . . .
so . . .
many . . .
times.
Thankfully, the room as a whole has never gotten as bad as it was pre-blog, but it makes me crazy that the table collects clutter the way it does.
(Bad table.)
Anyway, as I re-decluttered in my latest webisode, I realized that I need to make two personal rules:
- NOTHING can go on that table. Unless it’s a vase of flowers or a centerpiece, it doesn’t belong there. One thing invites his friend Two, and pretty soon a clutter riot breaks out.
- I have to get the mail . . . myself. As in, other people being helpful and getting it for me . . . isn’t helpful. I’m the only one who can truly decide which things can go straight into the trash, and distribute all mail to where it goes.
That table is just such an easy target because of its right-inside-the-front-door location and the fact that we don’t eat on it daily. But because of those same two reasons, it also needs to be viewed for its potential to beautify my home overall.
Here’s where my practical side rares up. It feels rational to say, “Furniture pieces should be used!”
But this rational-sounding-excuse-for-me-to-put-things-on-it gets me in trouble and ends up defeating itself. In order for the table to be used, it has to be usable. It’s not usable if it’s being used as a dumping ground.
Make sense?
And yes, it happened. I got caught up in vlogging and completely forgot to take pictures. Which means that if you’re a visual person you just need to watch the webisode, which contains the before and after shots.
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I’ll be linking this up to 52 Weeks of Organizing at Orgjunkie.com.
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You are so flippin’ adorable. Loved it! Keep up the good work.
You have completely inspired me to de-crap my home. Before November 1st. I have a great start already and every time I start to lag I come on and get re-motivated. Thank You!
So good to hear someone call it “de-crap.” Declutter always sounds so tidy, but in reality clearing the crap out is not tidy. It’s hard. Love the honesty.
Hi there,
Kudos to you for putting your foot down. I don’t allow clutter on my dining table because it has to be ready for projects and meals. The only thing I allow are salt shakers, napkins, and plastic spoons and forks in large cups.
Rebecca G.
OK that is just like my table except we do have to eat on it. lol. So every meal time piles of stuff gets taken by the armful and dropped onto the nearby couches. Sad story.
arg…i’m going through the SAME thing in this house…the island..which i was so thrilled to have in my new house kitchen, the table and the kitchen desk..as we unpack everything seems to land on those surfaces…sigh….im seriously contemplating lighting a match to the other boxes to unpack, lol….great webisode..(and I HATE webisodes..so says quite a bit)
Ok – the title says “not ONE thing allowed . . .” so immediately I think “So how many things are allowed? Two? Ten? Twenty?”
OOOOHHHHHH! She means NO thing allowed. So, I’m slow, but I got the message, and I like it! Once again, you hit the nail right on the proverbial head.
Haha! I vote this the “comment of the day”! Made me LOL!
I so hear you about the mail. That seems to be the one area I just can’t get under control. I have some ideas, I just now need to implement them!
Thanks for your post today! I am proud to say that my dining room table is now cleaned off!
I have room for a second smaller table in my kitchen. I have a large dining room table and it’s always HALF covered in papers/mags/books/colors/etc. I haven’t purchased a smaller kitchen table because I don’t want to have another disaster area. You inspire me. I just don’t know what to do with all the stuff. I have a china cabinet that stays immaculate because I WILL NOT ALLOW anything to be put in it. I wish I could say the same for the table.
How funny is it that I watched this sitting at my constantly cluttered kitchen table which currently holds and assortment that includes:
2 cans of gunk Thrust Quick Start Fluid (to start the ancient generator if the power went out during Hurricane Irene which didn’t happen)
1 can of carburator and choke cleaner (to degunk said generator before trying to start it)
A spray bottle full of water
A basket with a bunch of plastic eggs (sugar glider toys)
A small plastic container that holds “25 Dice All Time Favorite Dice Games” which my husband owned before we got married (23 years ago) that was in a drawer and we’ve never played that I took out several weeks ago in the belief that if it was out and visible, we might actually PLAY some of them. Hasn’t happened yet. It sat on my desk for a few weeks, and then I moved it to the table. Apparently, we’re not fans of dice games. I just need to send it to Goodwill!
The kitchen table is the one horizontal surface that I can’t seem to keep clear. It’s much better than it used to be, but you are so right about the “one thing” rule. One thing is really all it takes to send the table into chaos.
This is me! I have gotten somewhat better. I decluttered the table on Sat. I have a couple things I keep there but other than that it’s off. I have to tell adult daughter to keep stuff off her spot as well. The dining room table isn’t a dumping ground! Thanks for your inspiration and keep at it! That’s the only way the clutter stays gone!
I love all your posts and this one didn’t disappoint! When we were selling our old house, I staged it beautifully. It was so pretty and every potential buyer said “I want to move in! Just leave everything behind~” The only problem is we weren’t ‘living’ there. It was ‘staged’. That was an exhausting few months… Now we are in our new home. The first thing I did was ‘stage’ the dining room with a gorgeous tablescape. So pretty. It’s the first room off the entry hall. My laundry room is a little room between the dining room and kitchen. I do mean LITTLE. A man had to design it. I was miserable in that silly little room for a long time. My daughter wanted to do projects on that DR table, but I didn’t want my tablescape disturbed. Thankfully, I got over it. No more tablescapes. We live @ that table now. My daughter is off at college and the DR table is now my laundry folding table. Totally tacky. But it makes me happy. Even with no tablescape!!! My new rule is everthing must be off the table by bedtime, or it would pile up. Sorry for war and peace, but your post just elicited so many thoughts about that table!!
Oh, so true! Every time DH brings in the mail, he puts it smack in my way or somewhere where I don’t notice it for days. If it’s in my way, I move it and also forget about it for days. I really have to bring in the mail myself. Occasionally I’m really on top of things and sort it on the way in from the mailbox, and throw things directly into our recycle can outside.