As a new homeowner, having a dedicated space for entertaining is my favorite part about my house. The dining room was the first space I decorated, hosting dinners for friends and family before the rest of the house was fully unpacked. With my pantry shelves spoken for and no storage space in the dining room, I quickly realized I needed a place to store all my placemats, tablecloths, and servingware.
I spotted this gorgeous walnut dresser from the BHG Walmart collection and knew it would make the perfect credenza for my space. With six drawers, it’s large enough to hold all my entertaining supplies, and the walnut herringbone design adds an elegant contemporary feel to my space. After a few more successful hosted meals—and a bit of rearranging—I’ve finally found the perfect organizing solution. Here are my top tips for organizing your dining room.
Tips for Organizing Entertaining Essentials
1. Find the Right Furniture Piece
The right furniture piece is key to creating functional dining room storage. When you’re shopping, consider what you need the piece to hold, and let that influence your decision. If you frequently host cocktail parties, a bar with built-in glassware storage might make sense, while someone who collects antique dishes might want glass-front cabinets to display their pieces. I needed somewhere to store table linens, fancy dishware, and candles, so a dresser with spacious drawers was the perfect solution.
2. Store Appropriate Supplies
It’s easy to throw things into a drawer and call it good—especially when you can’t see into the storage space to see the clutter accumulating. Before you start putting your items away, determine what you really need to store in the dining room, and what can be kept elsewhere in the home. Consider what you’ll be reaching for while in the room itself: Placemats, tablecloths, and centerpieces are all handy to have within reach of the dining table.
3. Group Your Supplies
Once you’ve decided what to store, it’s time to focus on how you’ll store it. I recommend storing like items together, so you can see what you have at a quick glance. I filled a drawer with all my tablecloths and runners, and another with every kind of placemat I have. That way, I can easily see all the options at once when I go to set the table. Here are a few of the categories I used to organize my drawers:
Fancy dishware: I have a collection of plates I only use for dinner parties, so it doesn’t really make sense to store them in my kitchen cabinets with the rest of my dishes. Instead, I keep them in a drawer where they’re better protected and won’t get bumped as I’m putting our regular dinner plates away.
Party supplies: My family is big on celebrating, so I have a drawer dedicated to special occasions. Birthday candles, festive paper napkins, and an extra gift bag (just in case!) all live in this drawer.
Cookbooks: I don’t have a handy place to store cookbooks in my kitchen, so I have a drawer dedicated to the ones I reach for fairly frequently. That way, I always know where they are, and they’re protected from kitchen countertop spills.
4. Rearrange As Necessary
Don’t be afraid to rearrange your storage as needed. Organize the drawers in a way that makes sense for you, but give yourself a few parties or hosted dinners to really figure out what items you want to store and how you prefer to group them. If you have a drawer dedicated to seasonal decor, it might make sense to swap those items out a few times a year. I have plenty of Christmas table decor stored in a bin in my basement that I plan to bring up for the holiday season.
Source: Williams, E. (2025b, May 16). This 6-Drawer dresser is my secret to a Perfectly-Organized dining room. Better Homes & Gardens. https://www.bhg.com/bhg-walmart-dresser-dining-room-storage-11736428