1 Year to an Organized Life - October Week 2

This week you can:

• declutter your dining room table
• create a room that is inviting as well as organized
• find creative ways to enjoy the dining room if your dinner party days are over

I love this pic.  The room appears small, but nice and bright and inviting!  Love the green and wish I had that storage!!

This room should be easy to do.  We've already done the kitchen and home office...most dining room tables tend to be a home office extension...but it might need a reminder!  If you have a home office, box up and papers and take them there and deal with them accordingly...don't just drop the box into the room!  If you don't have a dedicated room, take it to the temporary home office or to the proper filing cabinet or system you developed during home office month.  If you have a sideboard or hutch, clean out the shelves and drawers just like you have for every other room.  Be sure good dishes or silver are properly cared for or wrapped.

Remove any extraneous items.  I know my dining room chairs end up being coat racks quite often.  Remember the one touch rule.  When you take your coat off, hang it up in the coat closet or wherever you had decided it belongs.  Now that it is cleaned out, does it need fresh paint?  Can you display your best dishes or serving pieces in the hutch?  Do you need new window coverings, etc.

Maybe this room is now pretty bare and you have even gotten rid of your dining room table...if you ever had one...because you just don't entertain.  How else could you use this room?  My friend turned hers into a Wii room for the kids. It's a very small room, but big enough to play on the Wii and it is downstairs where they can keep and eye or ear on the kids if they start fighting over games, etc.  My "dining room" is actually an extension of the living room.  There are no separate walls.  I would love to make it into one large living/family room, but my husband is not yet ready to part with his Mother and Father's first dining room set. *sigh*  So I'm just doing the best that I can by keeping it tidy.  And we have used the table quite a bit as we occasionally have our small group over from church for meals/gatherings.

This might be a great area to consider making a dedicated homework area.  Place the family computer here and table/desk space.  The kids will have an area to spread out and work without distractions from the TV, and you will have an eye on the computer and what they might be looking at.

Every family is different and every dining area is different.  Figure out what works for you and go for it!

Until Next TIme.....

Franny