How Classics (ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ, ISFJ) Should Organize Dining Rooms

Here’s a burning question: Are dining rooms in or out? Large, all-encompassing rooms called ‘Great Rooms’ became popular in the 90’s, and continued to be so throughout the 2000’s, but it looks like dining rooms are making a comeback. However, dining rooms don’t all have to be formal, nor do they all have to look the same. For Classic personality types (ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ and ISFJ), however, they should be as formal and traditional as possible organizationally, because this is just the Classic’s style and way of operating. In this article, we’ll go over some general rules for keeping dining rooms neat and organized, and then go into specific rules for this personality type.

First, a quick rundown of the Myers Briggs types that ‘match’ the Classic type:

ESTJ- Analytical, decisive, goal-oriented and organized

ISTJ- Sensible, reliable, and detail-oriented

ESFJ- Conscientious, people-oriented, commonsensical approach to issues

ISFJ- Organized, practical, dependable, loyal

General Rules of Dining Room Organization

1. Make sure you have your entryway and home office in order before you tackle organizing your dining room. This is because both of these areas tend to trickle over to the dining room area. Keys, for example, tend to be thrown onto the dining room table, as well as mail and other things. If the entryway is kept organized in a way that works for you, this trickling won’t occur. By the same token, keep your home office well-organized and functional for you so that paperwork and laptop stay within that space and don’t come near the dining area. For Classic personality types especially, it is important to keep the dining room a place for dining only. Laptops and work do not equal a pleasant and relaxing dining experience.
   
2. Along the same lines, don’t make your dining room a multi-purpose room. Just as bedrooms are for sleeping, dining rooms are for dining. Not working, or lounging, or playing video games.
3. Measure the room before getting furniture for it. There is nothing worse than having furniture that is too large and struggling to move around comfortably within the space.
4. Only store relevant items in the dining room area. This means no clutter in the hutch or console — these are to be used solely for things that have to do with eating/dining: napkins, silver or flatware, china or regular plates and glasses, placemats or tablecloths, candlesticks, servingware and the like. To quote our book: “Many personality types put random items in the ‘good china’ cupboard. Avoid this.”
5. Make sure you have enough storage for the above-mentioned items, and that the items are easily accessible and retrievable.
6. Have fun with lighting. Buy a chandelier of your choice and install a dimmer setting on the light switch. Who said that dining had to be boring?

Dining Room Organization for Classics (ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ, ISFJ)

There are three rules to follow when it comes to dining room organization if you’re a classic personality type:

1. Make it formal– You guys were made for formality. Run with it. Use damask tablecloths and your favorite long-stemmed glassware. Light candles. Go all out to make the dining experience one to remember. From our book: All you need is “a beautiful china cabinet, table and matching chairs — you are not the type to eat straight out of a bag of chips on your sofa.” Eating is done in the room where you dine, obviously! If that looks like eating a bowl of chips while sitting at the dining room table, then so be it!
   
2. Have enough storage that includes hidden compartments– Classics tend to love to store things away where no one can see them in order to keep a streamlined appearance. Some things to avoid, and solutions: more than four china plates stacked on top of one another? Get shelf risers and separate them to keep the china nicer for longer. Silver storage should be a chest with a closable lid. Multiple drawers keep items separate and easily retrievable, so keep this in mind when buying a console or hutch for the room. No open shelving for you guys. Not a chance of that organizational/decor trend working for you (for obvious reasons).
3. Cover your chairs with Sunbrella fabric as opposed to plastic- We all know that plastic covering for furniture went out a long, long time ago. However, people (children, mostly) still spill things, and you want to keep that fine upholstery fresh and clean. Sunbrella makes a cleanable fabric that you can wipe off easily. It’s a much better look than straight plastic, and gives you the peace of mind that your fancy chairs will last and stay in good shape forever.

If you’d like to learn more about Classic personality type or the way to organize based on your type, visit our website and take our quiz to see what your Pixie/Personality type is. That is the first step on the road to organizing YOUR way, and we hope it’s a positive start to your organizational journey!