Deadline week! Week Thirteen, Dining Room Week, sees us move into the holiday season, and it’s time for a reality check.
Thanksgiving Day falls on Thursday for our American friends and ushers in the holiday season, so this week’s cleaning and organizing focus is the dining room.
Holiday prep chores center on Thanksgiving and turn to planning the celebration ahead.
Ready? Let’s get organized with Dining Room Week in the Holiday Grand Plan!
Holiday Prep
- Deadline Week: If homemade gifts are not done, put them away. After Thanksgiving weekend and go buy something. This is not a contest, this is life.
- Get everything out for Thanksgiving Dinner and prepare everything that can be done ahead of time. Make sure enough dishes are available.
- Stock bathrooms and first aid kit.
- Wednesday: Use one of the Freezer Meals, buy a salad at the store…
- Friday or Saturday: Have children make/set up Advent Calendar.
- Set up the Creche area and add figures each day as we read from an Advent book. Continue until Jan. 6 when the wise men come.
- Let kids get out and inspect Christmas decorations; test tree and other lights, replace bulbs.
Deep Cleaning/Organizing Area: Dining Room
Using the basic plan, take everything off the windows and clean them.
Take everything off the walls and clean items and wall.
Empty all drawers, shelves, ledges, etc. Clean items, but don’t replace– YET.
Using the philosophy from the “It’s Here Somewhere” decide what you want to use this area for. eating, entertaining, playing games, alternative office space, etc.; then place only those items related to those uses back into drawers, shelves, whatever. Declutter! Use the 4 box method, place everything that isn’t useable in this room into the appropriate box. trash, Goodwill, someplace else or storage.
Streamline down to what you will actually use in this room.
Remove all furniture, and clean the floors and baseboards.
As furniture is replaced, clean each piece with appropriate cleaner/wax. Check chair/table legs to see if they need new protective caps.
Re hang pictures. on the wall — only try using only half of them. Then add more only if you can’t stand the empty look. According to the “Law of Household Reduction”, when you decrease the number of things, you expand your space visually as well as physically.
Add a new arrangement or fresh flowers and plan to invite company for dinner!