One thing I forgot to mention was the tip from the pros... which is, if you can't make them carry their junk elsewhere, organize the area where they throw their junk!
Like many of you, our bar area is the catch all for everything from mail, to pencils, school notes (which never get read becasue they are under the pile of mail!), batteries, broken (waiting to be fixed) toys, cups of half drunk lemonade, and even arrows and used bullet cartridges!
We often get so much junk piled up that, if we are getting ready to have company over, we scoot it all into a cardboard box and throw it in the closet, not to be seen again until tax time sends me scurrying to find those lost receipts. I hate to admit that to the world, but it is the truth!
I already have a file system set up for all those receipts, but I never take the time to actually walk over to the file cabinet and put them up!
So now I have a plan for my catch all area. I am going to buy some small plastic bins, or maybe wicker, probably about 2-3 inches high and around 6 X 8 inches. I may color code them so that we will know what to put in each one. We will put mail that needs to be viewed in one box, and mail that needs to be sent in another. We can put all those odds and ends in another, and hopefully clean out each box every week or two....if not, we can always push those small boxes to the back of the counter and still be fine if company comes.
I'll let you know how it goes.
