Day 17 - Dining Room Table {Net Zero Decluttering Challenge} | From Overwhelmed to Organized: Day 17 - Dining Room Table {Net Zero Decluttering Challenge}

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Day 17 - Dining Room Table {Net Zero Decluttering Challenge}




Have you ever felt overwhelmed during the month of December with all the stuff that enters your home? The trick I've found helps me is to declutter throughout the month. Will you join me in the Net Zero Decluttering Challenge?

Each day this month I'll share some decluttering tips and ideas so you can end the month with the same number of items in your home (or maybe even less!) than what you started the month with.

Today I'm sharing tips on decluttering your dining room table (or whatever surface you'll be serving guests meals on during the holidays).


Today's Suggested Decluttering Task


If you are having family and friends over for meals during the holidays, you'll probably need to use your dining table, either for a sit-down meal, or to set your food on for a buffet-style dinner or party.

And if you're like many people, if you don't use your dining room table on a daily basis, it often becomes a clutter magnet. So now's the time to declutter your dining table!

Here are a few tips:

  • Relocate anything that belongs somewhere else in your home (which is likely the case for a lot of things on your dining table!)
  • Toss any garbage or recycling that has accumlated
  • Return items to family, friends, neighbours, schools, libraries, stores, etc.
  • Establish a home for anything that you are keeping that doesn't have a home yet (when things have homes they are less likely to be "dumped" somewhere, or at least you can work on establishing habits of putting those items away in their designated homes)

Once you've cleared off your table, give it a good cleaning, add in any leaves you need to add for your holiday entertaining, and get started pretty-ing it up for your guests!

I don't have any other posts about decluttering your dining room table, but let me share this... if you're hosting a holiday meal, check out my 12 Days of Being Organized for the Holidays series from last year... there are 2 posts that talk about preparing for holiday dinners, including setting your dining table ahead of time.  



If you don't have a dining room or a dining table, go ahead and declutter any other area of your home that will make things easier on you when you have guests over during the holidays.


Decluttering My Dining Room Table


I don't have a dining room table so nothing for me to declutter there.  And I've been working very hard over the last year or more at keeping our kitchen table clutter free.  It drives me crazy now when stuff gets dumped down there!


My Progress in the #NetZeroClutter challenge


Super busy few days with last week of school stuff, clients with last minute organizing needs, Christmas parties, and preparing to decorate a tree for a local family shelter (blog post coming next week!)... so no decluttering to report in today's post.
I went shopping for a client today and while I was picking up the organizing products she needed, I bought 1 item for our home.  So that puts me at +1 items today in the #NetZeroClutter challenge and -302 overall.  That's the first time I went backwards all month!  




What's Next For You?


Take some time today to declutter your dining room table. Or anything you'd like to declutter!  Take some pictures and share your progress on social media using the hashtag #NetZeroClutter.  Let me know how you're doing in the challenge so I can cheer you on!

Sign up to receive my blog posts by email so you get each day's post in your email inbox every morning.  You can unsubscribe after the challenge is over if you don't want to continue receiving my blog posts by email.




I'd also love for you to join our 365 Items in 365 Days Facebook group as you do this challenge!  You'll be able to share with others what you're decluttering and feel encouraged and inspired by everyone else who is also decluttering!

If you'd like more decluttering ideas, you can check out my Decluttering/Purging Tips & Ideas board on Pinterest.



So that's today's post in the Net Zero Decluttering Challenge!  I'm enjoying doing this challenge and I'm excited to have you join me.  I love hearing all the stories of how much more you're enjoying your holidays because you're not overwhelmed by all the stuff in your home!

How much did you declutter from your dining room table today?  How long has it been since you were able to eat there?  How can you keep it from becoming a dumping ground in the future?


Happy organizing decluttering!



I link up at these great parties - Check them out!

Here are all the posts in this challenge in case you missed any or want to share some with your friends or family!