Reclaim Your Kitchen and Dining Room Ep. 122 | Life at the Table

Reclaim Your Kitchen and Dining Room   Is your kitchen really a kitchen? Has your dining area been taken over by clutter, or, worse yet, converted into an office or a media room? If so, it’s time to reclaim your kitchen and dining room, both of which are two very important pieces of real estate in your home.   Busy Lives Clutter Our Spaces It’s easy to clutter up our living spaces given the overwhelmingly busy pace of life that we live. In between work and soccer games, recitals, and family recreation time, the flat surfaces in our homes become easy and convenient storage spaces. Briefcases, athletic bags, mail, and anything else that needs a home occupies the space meant for fragrant aromas, shared meals, and sweet memories. What’s worse than the clutter and the misuse of space is the missed opportunity for conversation, creating community, and building a sense of togetherness. It’s just not the same grabbing a bite in the drive through, eating out, or taking out to eat at home As a result, there’s a sense of dissonance our homes. But a new day has dawned and it’s time to reclaim your space. Here’s how to begin:   Three Tips to Reclaim Your Kitchen and Dining Room   1. Understand the Value These Spaces Give To Your Life First, understand and value the gift that these spaces give to your life. Your kitchen blossoms into a place of creativity and kindness as everyone lends their hand to the evening meal effort (or, even if you’re cooking for one!). The resurrected dining room is a space where relationships bloom with conversation front and center.   2. Make the “What’s for dinner?” Pledge The second step is this: Make the “What’s for dinner?” pledge. This pledge means that at least once a week you will cook and share the table with family and friends. Your meal doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. The simpler the better, but always, always focused on fresh and flavorful. Make a commitment and share that commitment with your family so that schedules can be arranged.   3. Declutter Your Space Third, declutter your space. Find a permanent home for everything that currently lives on the flat surfaces of your cooking and eating spaces. Just like no one enjoys driving in rush hour, no one is motivated to cook and share a meal if it requires a monumental effort to clear the kitchen and dining table each evening. Value the gift that these spaces give to your life, take the pledge and declutter. A new day has truly dawned to reclaim your kitchen and dining room for a true life at the table experience. Need an easy recipe to inspire you? Try Slow Cooker Pizza. The post Reclaim Your Kitchen and Dining Room appeared first on Life At The Table.