Monday Motivation: How To Clean out Your Dining Room

I've never really met a dish I didn't like.

Bowls, plates, pitchers, platters. I love them all.

The problem with loving dishes is that you have to have a place to store them.

This week the Monday Motivation will be to clean out your dining room in preparation for the holiday festivities.

Where to start?

1. First, go through any piles or "stashes" you have in the room. Dining rooms tend to be a dumping ground for items you don't know what to do with simply because it is a room that is not used frequently. If you've decluttered with me before, you know the routine. . .

a. set out a black garbage bag for trash

b. set out a box or bin for sorting your items (keep, donate or sell, return to another place in the house, return to another person, needs repair etc.) Your categories can be whatever works for you.

c. as you go through your items, sort each item into the proper category ( trash, donate, repair, as well as platters, linens, serving utensils, as well as any other categories for items that need to be kept in the room)

Look carefully at each item and decide if it is really worth the space it is taking up in your home. If it's something you never use, find a new home for it - a relative, friend, or stranger might just love to have your cut glass pitcher with hummingbirds engraved on it.

2. After every item has been sorted, decide where your items will live in your newly organized dining room. Keep like items together so they are easy to find.

3. Throw the garbage bag into the dumpster, place the donate bag into your car to drop off tomorrow, and place the items to be repaired in your work area to be repaired.

P.S. Thanks to all of you who have emailed with concern for my lack of posting. I had a bit of a medical issue, but my wonderful doctors at VCU have fixed me back up - the new kidney is still working great. I've also started an additional job at my church which has taken up some more of my time. I won't be posting as often as I'd like to, but I will still be checking in a few times a week.

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