Holiday entertaining season is approaching! Here are some ways to make your dining room just right for your gatherings with family and friends.
Keep and store mostly items that you use frequently:
Many of us only rarely entertain in the dining room but rather use it regularly for other activities. Don’t be afraid to re-purpose the dining room to support what you actually do 360 days a year.
- Design the room’s layout, furnishings and storage priorities according to your most frequent activities, such as homework or crafts or bill-paying.
- Homework and bill-paying items can be stored in an attractive wooden file cabinet or in a sturdy mobile file box that slides under a side table or in a breakfront cabinet.
- Craft supplies can be stored in china cabinet cupboards and drawers.
Store rarely-used items outside of the dining room:
- Items such as table linens or serving dishes that you only bring out a few times a year do not need to be stored in the dining room.
- Store them in sturdy clear plastic containers in your basement or attic where you can access them easily and then put out of the way of your everyday living.
- Designate only about 30 percent of your storage in the dining room for these rarely used seasonal items.
Weed out space-hogging seasonal items!
- Dishes and linens with season-specific designs and patterns gobble up huge amounts of your precious storage space.
- Weed out all but your most favorite seasonal items. Give yourself one box for seasonal dishes and linens and only store what will fit.
- Keep only the pieces that are part of your most precious family memories.
- Donate your extras to the OppShop or Goodwill. You will feel good sharing with someone.
- Instead seasonal designs like turkeys or snowflakes, use solid colors such as red, blue, gold, black or silver that look good any time of the year. You can add a seasonal touch with small or single-use items such as napkins or napkin rings.
Rachel M. Gambone is the owner of ReOrganize with Rachel, LLC. In addition to general home organizing, she specializes in helping you organize your office, papers and digital information. Her signature approach is positive organizing where she builds on your strengths, helps you find your treasures, and teaches you life-long organizing skills. See more organizing tips and a link to her free podcast at www.reorganizewithrachel.com.
