I’ve found the secret to making some of my rooms feel less cluttered.
I leave the tables that we use most often, EMPTY. {I count the lazy susan as part of the table here} This is how this part of my house usually looks. I too, cannot believe it~it looks clean!
Ever since I wrote this post about how I accessorize our coffee table I’ve been wooed by the freedom of nothing. Nothing by choice is truly something, sometimes. In this season of life with 3 boys, a man who eats chips and salsa and reads lots of books and magazines, a dog with a waggety coffee table height tail, homework, and laundry being folded in the family room, empty tables have proven themselves to be work horses.
This doesn’t mean my tables never have anything on them. It means that we use them so often that I don’t want to have to move something pretty from them in order to put what I need on them. This table is my other office and homework central. And where I fold laundry. Our breakfast area/kitchen table is usually clean at dinner time because of this extra table {never in my life have I been able to keep our eating table clean all day–this extra table is PRICELESS!}.
And the tables or surfaces that we don’t use as much, well, they hold a few pretties. Having the extra table in our family room and purposely keeping it clear has definitely helped me keep a neater nest.
This post goes hand in hand with what my 31 partner in crime, Emily wrote today. “No one wants an unemployed couch to support,” was a fantastic quote, go on over and read Give Every Space a Job.
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Winner of the Emily A Clark Online Decorating giveaway
Texttussi @Pins and Pens
You make it sound so easy! ; )
I have embraced empty tables too. My husband is a stacker…he piles things. Piles of softball stuff, papers for grading, tennis stuff, XBOX stuff. I smile and move his piles into his room. It keeps our marriage in wedded bliss. He has his piles and I have my empty tables. :)
Cheers~
e
I am in the same situation as you (married-to, but also mother-of a “piler”). My issue is that they are attracted to the empty tables and pile even faster on them, ha ha. Guess I need to designate a place to move their piles to, so I can have the “empty” back :)
I’m like a distractable little bird, I like shiny things. Shiny sinks, shiny counters, shiny tables – alllllll with nothing on them or in them.
great advice, wise Nester girl.
Hmm…I have a giant basket on our coffee table (wide & rectangular) that holds newspapers, the remote, and coasters. Maybe I’ll test out the “empty” idea one day this week. I’m inspired by your tables. Now if I could just find somewhere else to keep the newspapers…
I wonder if that giant basket could sit on the floor *under* the table? Still have the storage, and the empty surface, as well. Blessings!
I am a big fan of clean tables too. I became a fan after my daughter was born 8 yrs ago and have enjoyed it so much I still do it. When she started walking the last thing I need was anything on the coffee table – I am sure everyone understands that! :) And clearing of the dining table when I use it so much was just too time consuming with a little one.
LOVE your idea of the lunch basket!
This seems so foreign to me but I am jealous of the clean surfaces! I have 3 boys also (and then 2 little girls came along) so I think you are dead on about needing spaces clear of things that would have to be moved, There are always legos and alien creations on my coffee table anyway. Im gonna clear everything off tomorrow morning. One question. HOW do I keep my long counter area clear??? HELP!
every night I put stuff away. or every morning. boys put away their home work and legos and colored pencils, and I put away my stuff. right now, there are legos and bills on the table but, in 1 minute it can be clean.
My husband would kiss you if he read this…I am a pile-er, and his biggest pet-peeve is when the formal dining room table has clutter on it. It’s involuntary, I swear, I pile stuff on it in my sleep. I don’t want it to look messy either. Ok, I’ll give it one more “Nester” try ;-)
We must be soul sisters! Trying right along with you. Blessings!
YES!! Love table clearing! I’m always telling clients this, sometimes it is the easiest, most impactful way of updating a room. Sometimes we (not you, though, with all your amazing changing) have accessories on a table for so long that they sort of disappear to our eye.
And one of my favorite things to do is to clear all the tables right before you leave for vacation, and when you come back you just think, “ahhhhhh, I’m home,” and not, “AHHH! My house is messy!”
I agree with you Sarah! It is terrible to come home to a mess….I will definitely impliment the empty table concept BEFORE I go out of town :)
I have this extra table in my bedroom serving as our desk….and I think it might be perfect so I can have a nester-style table to keep my eating table free – amazing, lady!!
So very, very true, Miss Nester. It’s an instant facelift to your home when you just keep the tables CLEAR.
That is DEFINITELY my biggest struggle — keeping the flat surfaces clear! It takes discipline, but the results are overwhelming. Thanks for the inspiration! {And I am so sorry I missed your garage sale! Long week, compounded by my 7yo in the hospital the weekend before, and a huge crop at my house on your garage sale day… I was sad to miss the fun!} Blessings!!!
i copy catted you and cleared my coffee table. i so want to put another table in our family room right now. where? i don’t know. my kitchen table is grand central station and i’m thinkin’ about what to do.
I just drooled over every last one of these photos.
After I put an extra small table in my kitchen my dining table has become “clean”. And once a day I put things away from this table too… but I feel having sideboards and other surfaces decorated keeps dear family members piling stuff there… empty space invites putting things there…
I think clean surfaces give your eyes a rest, too! Plus, if I put a decoration on the table, my 7 year old snatches it and uses it decorate her ‘home’ (wherever that may be for the day). So yes,
my coffee table is clean (except for the wii remote basket – which doesn’t really count). Kitchen table is decorated with various cups and goldfish crackers. I know, elegant and practical!
Foreign to me too. We don’t have clutter, but I always have something on the center of the dining room table. We don’t have children, so that eliminates alot of things, I am sure. BUT, the breakfast nook table would be the first place piles would appear if I didn’t stay on top of things and move stuff to the office. I don’t know that I would like things completely clear, but I am a “a place for everything” type person.
Too funny about the different laundry comments. I confine (hide??!!) laundry to the laundry room. Do you have some type counter or table in there or could you add one to help?
tina
I’ve always been one of those who piles on the home deco whenever there is a flat surface. Example: oooh, look at the tiny naked spot there! Maybe I’ll stick this one teensy candle there to fill it up even though I can’t light the candles there because some of my other stuff might catch fire from being so crowded around it. TOO MUCH STUFF, BABY! This past year has been a lean one and we’ve learned to get by with a lot less which translated into me ditching all the extra frou frou and knick knacks as well. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a coffee table with 1 basket on it to hold the coasters and remotes. That’s it. Nothing else. Same with the kitchen table. 1 candle or seasonal piece. No more clearing all of Mom’s “pretties” off to do a project or eat. We actually have the space to drag out the checker board for a game instead of flopping on the floor to play then struggling to get back up when said game is done. I’ve liked it so much that I’m working on all the bookshelves and little cluttery shelves hanging on the walls. With less stuff cluttering up the space, we can actually breathe and enjoy the paint color on the walls! (Not to mention not having to spackle a million holes and touch up paint every time we rearrange the furniture.) Thanks, dear Nester, for validating something that is important to all of us! We need to own our stuff and not let it own us.
We don’t have many tables/flat surfaces in our home – just the dining table and a couple side tables in our living room. As a result magazines, mail, books and more get piled on them. We often have to clear space for dinner. But for the last week, we’ve intentionally been keeping our dining table clear. You are absolutely right – what a difference a clear table can make! Great advice!
It’s so funny that you would say this about empty tables. I started stalking your blog and a few other decorating blogs because I really need help with my decorating. I have very, very little in the way of decor. My tables are always empty (unless we are using them for something). I stopped putting things on them years ago when the kids were little and it’s much easier to dust if there are no decorations. But it all looks so plain. So I’ve been reading and reading your blog and I’m back to empty tables! That actually makes me happy, because I don’t have to think about “stuff” or dust it or arrange it.
I love having empty (or mostly empty) tables. We have to keep our coffee table in the living room empty, because our two girls, 3 and 1, climb on it and remove anything interesting we put there. This would spell disaster if we decorated it with a vase of flowers or really anything halfway breakable. My dining room table is sooo easy to pile full of junk but I am going to work on that this week! I am really enjoying the housekeeping/entertaining posts in this 31 day event! My house is bound to look ten times better by November.
I LOVE your house! and I love empty tables too, although mine rarely are I do try. I have three little boys and one husband, our coffee table doubles as a play table or racetrack for hotwheels. I am curious as to the slip cover on your sectional, did you purchase it or did you make it? I’ve been trying to find one for our sectional and I cannot find a premade one.
click on the photo of that room on the sidebar–we MADE it and YOU can too!
This is so true! We have an ottoman in our living room and I try to keep it pretty with a bowl on top or something else… but we move all the pretties off so much (ok, daily!) that it’s just not worth it.
You’re right :]
Great idea! But I just bought a really cute tray for my trunk-turned-coffee-table at the yard sale…. ;0P
“A waggety coffee table height tail…” hehe… ;)
You have inspired me, every surface in the house is covered in clutter and general rubbish. That’s my job for tomorrow now :)
Hi! Just curious where you do keep you books/magazines and such? My guess is baskets?
Thank you for the inspiration!
Your home is so cozy and warm!
Blessings to you today as you make your home!
Hugs,
~me
I love this idea! I have been toying with the idea of getting baskets to go under our small coffee table so it is not constantly cluttered. And I love the look of our dining table when it is all cleared off. Great tips!
Love, love, love clear tables. I do struggle to keep them that way though. In the middle of folding laundry or whatever, I get sidetracked by my daughter’ who’s hurt herself or the phone ringing, then forget all about it, and it stays there until I do the evening clear up and it suddenly seems like I have tons more to do than I need to!
Point taken! I have got some cluuuutttered table tops, and it is stressful. :s Gonna work on that today!
Love this post. My house feels so much better when my tables are cleaned off! Gonna twitter this …
Happy Tuesday Nester!
Love that idea! I think sometimes we forget that a table with nothing can truly be a great space to rest your eyes. Ok, off to clear some tabletops!!
I am loving the 31 Day Challenge Nester! I am taking it with you and would love to blog along. Unfortunately, I am fearful of getting to days 13, 14, 15…. **Crickets** because, I’m obvioulsy hoarding!
I desperately need to simplfy!
Thank you for always inspiring!
Empty is the new clean… I love it! Off to clean my dining table!
My flat surfaces are rarely empty and it drives me crazy! That is a big goal this month for me…..tidy up the piles.
I think I have the same exact table as your “extra” table, except mine IS our dining table. What color did you paint the top? Did you need to sand it first? Do tell!
What a great post. We tend to fight that alot. Keeping the table spaces clean. I am sitting here looking around my room noticing that on many of my tables are things that just don’t need to be there. they are taking up space and don’t even look nice. I think some de-cluttering is in need and a trip to the Home Goods Store.
i can keep my tables relatively clear (at least twice a day) since they are arm or waist height however, the floors are a problem. i’m not a fan of the bending over (as noted by my increasing muffin top).
My tables aren’t empty yet, but they are moving closer daily.
Hi, can you come over to my house and teach my sweet husband how to empty our tables?
I empty the walls and tables and he fills-em-back-up… I love space… he loves to put things in empty spaces :)
How do you de-clutter when you have more “stuff than space”? :)
you get rid of some stuff!
simple, yet profound.
You definitely make it easy. I’m stumped when it comes to making my “nest” more pleasing to the eye, more cozy and welcoming, and less messy! I don’t feel I have good “decorating” skills, and feel like everything is a bit mish-mash and hodge-podge. I don’t even know where to start, but I think I’ll give the empty table thing a try. Even though I too am a piler…like one of your other commenter’s husband.
Your home looks so beautiful!! I, too, am working on keeping the tables empty. Except for my coffee table, which as you said, has a couple of pretties :).
Jeanine
I’ve never been a fan of clutter…especially on tables. (Thanks Pops)
Enjoying your 31 Days to Less Messy Nest!
What a great tip! I think I’ve always had something on our tables, just for decor. I just might clean them off to see what it looks like.
I have been toying with the idea of an extra table for awhile now. In relation to your kitchen, where is your office/homework table? I need one that is near me, but away from the younger kids so my 8 year old can do homework in a bit of peace.
Your house looks great, please tell me you had to hide *something* before you took those pics :)
you can see our kitchen table behind it to the right, VERY close
What a great idea…. and that makes a lot of sense. Think about how clean your house looks when you find out surprise company is almost there and you throw everything in the closet! =)
I love this concept. It would take an act of God for it to happen in my house, lol! Unfortunately, my mother was a packrat, I would say borderine hoarder, so I had horrible examples growing up!
While I have overcome many of those tendencies, I still have issues with horizontal surfaces in my home. If is flat, something will end up there eventually!
I am actually working on purging a decluttering my house so that there will be less stuff overall and then the goal will be for everything to have its place.
Bernice
http://bernicewood.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/more-or-less/
I completely agree on the empty tables. Once again, I don’t have my own place yet so I can’t compare this to my home, but I can say that I do this with my classroom every single day. We have a clean-up routine (and the kids are in charge of their own desk) and I do not leave until my tables and my desk is clear. Does that mean my drawers are completely perfect….. heck no!!! But for the most part it’s organized and it sure darn look its to the eye!! :)
Good post!
“Wooed by the freedom of nothing.” Now that is a brilliant quote. I just got an extra table this weekend because we’ve done homeschool around my kitchen table for over 3 years and I really needed it to just be for meals. Having to move books and papers constantly throughout the day just so we could eat…it was making me cranky. I’m with you; I think this second table is going to change my life.
By the way, I’m loving this series.
Your home is beautiful!! Such beautiful light!
GIRL. I just want you to know that I started at wiping them down, and two hours later had three new tables in three new rooms. I’d been itching to try a few new things, and I guess today happened to be my house’s lucky day. Or maybe just mine. ;) Come by and take a peek if you get a chance!