In Donna Smallin's The One-Minute Organizer she writes:

"Set your table for a formal dinner, to discourage household members from using it as a dumping ground for backpacks, mail, books, and everything else that comes in the door."

I don't know that I'll set it for a formal dinner, but I think after clearing the table from one night's meal, I may set it again for the next meal. After dinner, I'll put out the breakfast bowls, and I'll ask dh to set it for dinner after he and the kids have breakfast (I'm already at work by that time.) I think this really might help us from dropping things on the table instead of putting things where they go!

Good idea, Thanks!:)

Great idea!
Many years ago as I was dropping dd off to play at a friends house I was asked inside & immedietely noticed the table very nicely set for a major dinner party. I remarked on the lovely table and she said it wasn't for that day but the next. With 5 kids under 7 she liked to plan ahead and get as much done as possible when she could.(she also said it is almost always set & ready to go...just in case. Her husband worked in the state Assembly and I guess they entertain often) I don't remember if her house was at all messy, that fancy table is what remained in my memory, lol.
It just seemed so wild to me that someone my age in our school district was having such a fancy dinner, that table was unbelievable! We're talking fancy goblets varying hights(more than 1 per person, lol) full sparkling silverware setting,charger+plate and salad plate, candles, flowers, and hanging from the light fixture over the table were crystal beads that were sparkling in the morning sun. It was stunning. Yep 15 years later I'm still blown away.:laugh:

I have started doing this with our kitchen table, I am not a tidy person by nature so there would always be the laundry basket, some cookbooks and other stuff on the table.

I got a pair of small vases and filled them with coloured glass beads and put them on the table along with placemats etc and ever since it has been tidy - well for the last 6 months anyway!

Our proper dining table is kept clean for a completely different reason - we have to put the cushions from the sofa on there or it will be attacked by furry creatures !