Doesn’t it seem like kids barely take off their Halloween costumes and we’re thrust into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season? We know that the entertaining, decorating, hosting, etc. of the season can easily cause overwhelm. In fact, the idea of having people over makes some people break out in cold sweats! With 4 weeks until Thanksgiving and 8 weeks until Christmas NOW is the perfect time to take back those spaces in your home that keep you from really enjoying the season.
We want to help you SIMPLIFY the holidays this year. To get you started, we’ve created a FREE Ending Holiday Overwhelm Ebook for you to download that will help you avoid the “OVERS” of the season.
To inspire and motivate you to tackle your own projects, we’d like to share a story of how our professional organizer helped a family reclaim their dining table!
Dining tables are notorious dumping grounds in many homes. They collect the “go elsewhere” items that we never find a place for. Piles of papers that we’re not sure what to do with find an easy home on the large, flat surface. We sacrifice the ability to sit and eat together for an easy place to stash stuff.
In this client’s home, the dining table was serving a variety of uses. Everything from the sewing machine to the family’s taxes were kept there. It was serving many purposes…but not it’s intended purpose! There was so much stuff on the table that the family could barely sit and eat!
This family’s dining table had become an extension of the office desk with papers jumbled together and hard to find. Work papers, taxes, and old bills were cluttering the space. (This shows the lack of a workable paper processing system! If you’re finding stacks of papers popping up around your home, you might be in need of a good system. Check out our Dealing with Incoming Paper DVD or Floating Paper DVD.)
Not only were papers getting lost in the space, the family also felt the loss of the ability to have people over for dinner. This family loves to entertain, but their embarrassment about their dining room had kept them from inviting people over. With the holidays coming up, this client tackled this project just in time!
Colette worked with the client to establish sustainable paper systems, returning papers to their proper place in the home and reclaiming their table. They reestablished the purpose of the dining room as a place to gather and eat. (This family knew that they wanted their dining room to continue to be a dining room. However, it’s important to take a step back and really look at what’s the best use of a space for YOU and your family. Many people have functional dining rooms that are never used! Check out our blog post Re-Envision: Remove Limits & Discover Possibilities to help you re-think how you use your space.)
As you can see, this family is now ready to host for the holidays!
This client demonstrates a great strategy for keeping your dining room table clear – decorate! When you make your table look warm and inviting and just the way YOU like it, you’ll be less likely to allow the stuff to creep back in.
We hope that this project has given you the push you need to get started on making your holidays stress-free!
Related:
- If you need help preparing your home for the holidays, give us a call at (503)625-5774!
- Learn more about our Household Organizing Services
