There’s a difference between a ridiculously cluttered table and a table with stuff on it.
Even a table with too much stuff on it.
Oh. You don’t think there is? Well, it’s my blog and I say so. There is.
Oh the dining room table. The bane of my Slob Existence. The glorious flat surface just inside my front door that doesn’t HAVE to be used on an average Wednesday so it’s always available for absentminded (and sometimes present-minded) piling.
But even though this uniquely re-clutterable spot shouldn’t qualify as a real decluttering project since it’s everyday procrasticlutter, I tackle it using my same old decluttering strategies. When I can tackle it that way, I’m ever so much more willing to tackle it at all.
And tackling is the only way.
Step One:
Trash. Trash is the easiest of the easy stuff.
Once the trash was gone, I took the OBVIOUS stuff (which is ever so easy once I see it as individual items instead of a mass of overwhelming STUFF) where it goes. No decisions necessary. Just a bunch of duhs. A bunch of well-yeah-I-know-where-that-goes kind of stuff.
Then, the piles were smaller, but I wasn’t quite in the mood for a solve-it-all kind of thing, so I settled.
I settled for better. My goal was to be able to let someone in the front door and have them think, “Oh, I just love how Dana didn’t feel the need to clean before I came over. We must be close. Like, almost BFFs. I sure like Dana.”
So I consolidated and straightened. A little.
It’s better, y’all. Better is good.
Note: If you came over and it looked like that, we’re BFFs. Really. This post wasn’t talking about you.
Another note: Obviously, it didn’t even occur to me to straighten the frames on the wall. Sorry OCD friends, but you get what you get when you venture to my Slob Blog.
“Oh, I just love how Dana didn’t feel the need to clean before I came over. We must be close.
I love this! Part of my journey towards being clutter free has been changing how I think about my clutter. I’ve been thinking about how I don’t mind when my friends’ houses are cluttered, which has helped. I like how this takes it to another dimension and that it might make people feel closer to me for letting them see some of my mess. Thanks for the extra perspective!
I love your gallery wall!
And I didn’t even notice the crooked-y-ness, until you mentioned it. Ya know, being as how I have slob vision, and all!
Smart aleck red line didn’t like crookedyness at all! But apparently, crooked-y is fine and dandy. It’s that awful “ness” that’s the problem.
My pictures tend to be a bit crooked, but my husband’s grandmother has a HUGE gallery wall and some family members were forever trying to straighten the whole thing. It drove her nuts to have people fussing. For Nana’s Christmas present a couple years ago we took 3M Poster hanging strips and stuck them under the bottom corners of all 30+ frames so that they’d stay straight. It’s held up pretty well. I even did a few of my living room pictures. The rest all rotate too often.
PS I love the dark paint color with white frames. So pretty =)
Hmmm – my dining table is near my front door and is my landing spot too. Unfortunately, it’s also the only table to eat at in the house (galley kitchen and no breakfast nook). If we want to eat at the table, I have to clear it off. Sometimes that’s more of a challenge than others. But, I can use your method and will try to do it daily like sweeping the kitchen floor.
This idea that “Better is Good” has totally changed my perspective on cleaning! I am such a perfectionist that I think if I can’t finish the whole project, I shouldn’t start it at all, but you are so right that one clean fridge drawer is better than NO clean fridge drawers. Thank you for this!
I love hearing this!
You’re right.
I also know it but usually I don’t remember/try to forget/have no time for silly things 😉
Maybe, just maybe I’ll straighten up here and there tonight….
i do the same, but what i feel helps even more is that i have a colorful runner and some colorful wooden sticks from ikea in a glass vase. i try to keep the piles on the runner. it would take u an extra minute to put the same things that are on ur better table onto the runner and then everything not on the runner is empty and the centerpiece distracts upwards. thank you for all u do!
A hot spot is where clutter tends to build. Anything on my dining room table turns it into a hot spot, as it is the first flat surface inside my door. I’ve finally achieved a clean table and I will fight the tendency to let it turn back into a flaming inferno. 🔥