Declutter Tablecloths, Napkins & Placemats {15 Minute Mission}

Today's mission is to declutter tablecloths, napkins and placemats.


This mission is designed to be done during the Organizing Dining Room Challenge, which is part of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge here on the site. That's because we often store these types of items in the dining room, or pull them out when entertaining guests, although certainly some of these linens may be everyday use items as well.

As usual, I'm not suggesting you get rid of all of your table linens, but often these are items we tend to accumulate too many of.

Of course, only you can decide how many is too many, and it depends on a lot of factors including how often you use them, and how much space you have to store them.

Use this mission as an opportunity to be honest about how much you currently use them, and if you don't want to get rid of them but you don't use them often make a concerted effort to use these linens more often. Who says save them for a special occasion? Enjoy them!

For example, one reader, Debra, made the decision to use only cloth napkins in her home. She explained, "I only use cloth napkins. I have to do laundry anyway so it's easy to just throw them in the laundry. I only use 100% cotton, and all different colors. Very pretty."


So definitely consider using them as an alternative to getting rid of them. But, some of the no brainers to declutter include those you don't like, don't ever seem to use, not even on special occasions (and can't foresee using in the future -- honestly), and those that are too stained or damaged.

Below I've shown some more pictures from readers who've already done this mission to get you motivated and inspired to tackle your own table linens. Once you've done the mission too don't forget to submit your photos here to show me what you've gotten rid of and I'll add the best images to the page!

Top photo courtesy of storebukkebruse

How Many Cloth Napkins Do You Really Need?

Something I didn't really know before I began running this decluttering mission is how many people really love to collect and use cloth napkins, of every sort and variety.

They really are very pretty, and you can easily accumulate a lot of different colors and patterns, as well as have napkins for basically every holiday and season.

Above is an example of one reader's napkin collection, sent in by a reader, Meredith. She said, "I decided to organize and sort through my linens. I'm sort of a collector and use them often, but in looking at my handiwork, I may be a bit obsessed! These are my solid napkins only."

Answering how many napkins you really need to keep is tough, because there are so many factors involved in the decision.

However, the minimum number you need is helpful to know, and here's the formula to figure that out. The minimum is enough napkins so that each person who normally eats in your home has a clean napkin at every meal, for the whole day, plus a few extra for guests, spills or major accidents. Then when you know how many you need for one day, you multiply that number by the number of days worth of napkins you want to have before you need to wash them, with a maximum of waiting one week between washings.

Here's an example of how this works in practice. In this example you eat only dinner each day with cloth napkins, but neither breakfast nor lunch, and there are four people in the household. You do laundry every other day, and so would like 2-3 days worth of cloth napkins available for use. In this scenario for each day you need four napkins, plus two additional napkins for guests (for a total of six), and then multiply that sum by three (to allow washing every three days), for a total of 18 napkins.

Choosing to have more cloth napkins than that is totally up to you, and just depends if you've got the space to store them without it being clutter. Be sure you will regularly use any that you do keep, because otherwise they're also clutter.

Here's a before and after photo, below, from a reader, Valerie, who did this mission.


Valerie said, "I went through all the napkins today and discarded 5 bags. Someone impersonating my hubby walked by and said 'wow, you cleared out a lot.' If it were truly my hubby he would have said 'do you really need to keep that many?'"

I think you did a great job Valerie, and woo hoo for getting rid of 5 bags worth of cloth napkins! Now you'll be able to find and use the ones you've kept much more easily.

Don't Forget Holiday Linens When Decluttering

When you're decluttering, don't forget the holiday linens. Often we have special tablecloths, or napkins, or placemats that we use just for a special occasion.

If you use them each year I'm not suggesting you get rid of them if you have room to store them. BUT, if you've got more than you can use, or you never end up using them and honestly don't foresee yourself changing that habit in the future, out they should go!

That's what a reader, Julli did recently. She sent in this before and after picture and explained, "Overwhelmed by my clutter! So, I need to start somewhere! Before pic of Christmas linen's, and then after."

Great job Julli! It feels great to start decluttering so you feel less overwhelmed!

This reminder applies not just to holiday linens, but also to any other special occasions. You can get more ideas for how to declutter party supplies here.

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Often times, if you've got nice table linens, you've also got china and silver, so check out these tips for decluttering china and silver.



In addition, here's another related mission, to declutter your china cabinet.

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

Get Rid Of Kitchen Clutter Hall Of Fame

How To Declutter Dining Room

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