The dining room is one of the most often used rooms in your home.
Some homeowners want to make the space as conducive as possible for the purpose.
This can include the addition of décor, installation of the best types of lighting fixtures, or the addition of the best dining furniture.
However, there are some aspects of the diner that means a lot to everyone, even to those less likely to be keen to turn the space into a gem. One of those aspects is the state of the dining table.
So, Should Your Dining Room Table Always Be set?
The answer to this question varies depending on who you ask. Busy homeowners who barely spend quality time at home would be less keen to keep the dining table neat and set.
It can also depend on whether you often entertain friends and relatives at your place. Some homeowners, however, prefer leaving their dining tables set just in case. This is why you should too:
The Dining Table Is a Communal Gathering Point, Probably The Only One in Your Home
Whether your family is small or large, the dining table serves as the communal gathering point.
You are more likely to meet family members at the dining table about twice a day more than any other space in your home.
However, that’s not entirely the reason why you should keep the table set at all times.
1. Saves Time
Leaving your dining table in disarray means you will need to arrange things and set the table shortly before the next meal. However, you don’t want to turn this disorganization-induced routine to be the norm.
The best practice, therefore, would be to set the table ready for the next immediately you finish the current meal.
This can significantly cut the time and struggle the family members have to contend with on empty stomachs trying to set the table.
Therefore, the first reason why you should always leave the dining table set is to reduce the time and hustle you spend setting things right on the right shortly before taking your meal.
2. It Is Good for The Looks
Another reason why your dining table should always be set is the beauty factor it brings an aesthetic to the general appearance of the dining room.
Don’t you love seeing your neat dining room complimented with a well-dressed dining table, a few bowls, all the accessories, and napkins for the next meal? Imagine if it remained like that all seasons throughout the year!
There is no point in adding tons of décor and the most stylish lighting fixtures in your dining room when you can’t arrange things on the dining table in the correct way.
An untidy and disorganized table will always add a blot on the good looks you tried to bring in the dining room.
3. Setting The Table Is Part of the General Dining Etiquette
Dining etiquette is a collection of norms that are considered to be acceptable conduct in the dining room.
While you may be familiar with the basics of this etiquette, such as how you need to hold the utensils, how to scoop food, and how to request for accessories to be passed to you, what you probably didn’t know is that how you choose to set your table influences the rest of the dining etiquette.
That’s why how you set your dining table will be considered to be part of your home’s dining etiquette. It is considered to be good dining etiquette to set the dining table appropriately. But that’s just half the journey.
The dining usually doesn’t serve any purpose other than providing a space for the family to have dinner.
Because it serves the same purpose every day, it only makes sense to keep the table set at all times to keep the dining etiquette alive.
4. It Is Convenient and Good for Your Sanity
Convenience is yet another reason why you should leave your dining table set at all times.
There is a particular way you always arrange the table in the evening for dinner or any other time gather around to have a family meal.
The only problem with your routine, as you probably may have noticed, is that the ritual can be made easier and better by keeping the table in the same state all the time.
This way, you won’t have to repeat the same thing every time your family needs a meal.
It is also good for your sanity. Think about – if your family is larger enough, there are things you could forget to bring on the table during dinner.
There are many others you could get wrong:
- Oversetting the dining table
- Overcrowding your table with too many unnecessary items
- Mixing up which cutlery and utensils goes where
- Confusing the glass placemat and napkin
- Positioning the bowls and plates on the right instead of the left-hand side
- Sticking to just one set of tableware (if they are always on the dining, you more likely spot the monotony and make some changes)
- Taking the bigger-is-better approach every time you set your table
- Using wrong table linens or tablecloths
- Forgetting the serving spoons even when they are the most essential of all spoons
Evidently, there is a lot you could get wrong when setting the table for dinner no matter how well versed you are with it. However, there are mistakes you will find to be easier to avoid if you leave the table set at all times.
For example, you are less likely to feel the need for changing the frequently used type of tableware if you are used to setting the table in the evening shortly before dinner.
However, if you decide to always leave the table set for the next meal, you are more likely to get bored of gazing at the same type of tableware. This may prompt you to make some changes.
Why You SHOULD NOT Always Leave Your Dining Table Set
Is it even worth it? Here are the reasons why you don’t need to leave the dining table set:
1. The Dining Room Can Be a Multipurpose Space
While the dining room is synonymous with a family gathering and dining, it can serve more than this purpose.
If you opted for the entertainment kitchen outline, for example, you could find yourself extending some entertainment functions to the dining area.
In such a case, there is no point in always keeping the dining table set unless you want to remove everything before throwing a brunch and setting it afresh thereafter.
That would be laborious if you decide to hold brunches with your friends every weekend.
You need to appreciate the fact that the purpose of the dining room can change any time albeit for a short period.
You don’t want to hold a family meeting and talk over sets of utensils and your dining table.
2. Kids and Pet Nuisance
You probably shouldn’t always leave your table set if you have small children or a bunch of jumpy pets at home.
Once in a while, these folks will encroach wander into the dining room and disrupt the orderliness of the table.
This is one of the reasons why you shouldn’t even think of including some glassware as part of your dining table set. Small children can be chaotic sometimes, knocking your pricey glassware off the table and breaking them.
If you can’t be so sure your kids and pets will not go playing around in the dining room, there is no need of setting your dining table too early.
3. Dusty Seasons
Leaving the dining table always set in a dry season comes with one major challenge – having to wipe everything before every meal.
This sounds like something you would still do even in cold seasons, but the difference is that, in a dry season, you will find yourself wiping the items even if they were covered with a piece of cloth.
Dust particles can still find their way past a piece of cloth unless you use nylon paper to cover the table. This extra labor is not something you’d be particularly prepared to handle.
In a nutshell
So, should your dining table always be set? Yes, and No, it depends on who you ask. Busy homeowners who barely spend quality time at home would be less keen to keep the dining table neat and set. The first reason why you should always leave the dining table set is to reduce the time and hustle you spend setting things right on the right shortly before taking your meal. Also, it brings to the general appearance of the dining room. Convenience and your sanity are yet other reasons why you should leave your dining table set at all times.
But, is it even worth it? There are reasons why you don’t need to leave the dining table set.
- You need to appreciate the fact that the purpose of the dining room can change any time albeit for a short period.
- You don’t want to hold a family meeting and talk over sets of utensils and your dining table.
- The orderliness of the dining table can also be disrupted by small children and pets.
