This post is part of a 31 day series – 31 days to Love the Home You Have. I am blogging through the 31 day challenge in the back of the book “Love the Home You Have” by Melissa Michaels of The Inspired Room. You can read all the posts in the series so far here. And to make sure you don’t miss a post you can sign up to have every post delivered to your inbox , or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram to get even more home decorating ideas and inspiration to help you fall in love with your home.
Oh the dining room. Whose ends up being a DUMPING room instead of a DINING room more often than not? I am raising my hand right along with you. Our dining room is right by our front door which would would make you think that it would help me keep it clean. But with no motivation of guests coming, it sometimes becomes the room that collects all the things that need to be taken elsewhere – items that need to be returned to the store, something borrowed that needs to go back to someone, something that needs to go in the car – and before long the table and floor has piles.
Mine had gotten out of hand recently, but this post was great motivation to tackle it. I spent several hours this weekend sorting through things, organizing things that needed to be returned to a store or a friend, and then dusted, cleaned, and set a simple table with a simple centerpiece.
I find that having the table set pretty motivates me to not put anything on the table or even pile around the table because I love to enjoy the pretty! 
You can get all the details on my dining room including paint colors, curtain info, DIY wainscoting, and more in this dining room house tour post. The fall plates are from the fall Better Homes and Gardens line at Walmart bought several years ago.
So here’s your challenge: Reclaim that dining room and dining room table. Remove items that don’t belong, straighten/clean the room, and then set a simple centerpiece. Maybe it is just a bowl of pinecones in the middle or a faux pumpkin on a cake plate – something pretty and seasonal that you can enjoy.
Such a lovely dining room 🙂
Have a great Tuesday!
Sherri
What a beautiful room! Love that centerpiece!
Christina,
This post was definitely for me…..my dining room is not by the front door, but it does become the “dumping ground”, much like what you described! On a positive note, I am a little ahead….we had house guests last weekend, so I was forced to get in there and do something about it! I cleaned, organized, put away my thrift store finds that were on the table and set the table for fall. I had just found this year’s Better Home & Gardens fall plates at Wal-Mart, as well as metallic pumpkin salt & pepper shakers, so that was also my motivation! Thanks for sharing – I am really enjoying this series!
Blessings,
Lanita
What color are your walls? I am looking for a gray and I have been through many shades and cannot find what I like.