Monday, January 01, 2007

The Dining Room Story

As mentioned in last night's blog, I finally have a dining room. By that, I mean I have an official "dining room" - i.e. a room set aside for dining, not just a room designated as a dining room on the houseplans. I've had a space called a dining room for 10 years (ever since we built this house) but it's never been officially a dining room. At first, it was storage (as we finished the house) then it was a play room for the girls, right next to the kitchen so I could keep an eye on them while I worked. The vast majority of the time, the dining room served as office space: the computer and file cabinet were in there, and almost five years ago we added a desk. The two places we lived prior to this house were too small to have a dining room, so it's nice to have the space for one.

I bet you're wondering what transpired to finally make my dining room a reality. Well, as usual, I have Carl to thank for this. He's been trying (for over a year) to get the interior of our house repainted: in September of 2005 he got our foyer done, and in the fall of 2006 he got the dining room and living room done. Then he took a couple extra days off for Christmas break (his company shuts down between Christmas and New Year's) and painted the family room. We took our pool table apart and put it in the basement, where we'll set it up once (if ever) we finish the basement, and we put our office furniture in the family room. It really looks nice, and it finally opened up the dining room for my dining room furniture. Not that I have a lot - right now I only have a hoosier cabinet and a dry sink, but I plan to add to that. Downstairs I have the pieces of my Grandma Frances' old china cabinet, and I'm going to get that refinished (I hope) soon. Plus my Mom said that (someday, no pressure, Mom) I'll eventually inherit Grandma Frances' kitchen table and chairs. With those things, plus some shelves I'm working on, I should have a very country, antique-looking dining room.

And there's a possibility of adding more antiques, too. It just so happens that our 20th anniversary falls in the week between the end of Spring semester and the start of Summer school, so Carl and I hope to go somewhere for a few days where we can relax, enjoy each other's company, and go antiquing. Right now I'm thinking maybe near Lansing, Iowa, or the Villages of Van Buren in southern Iowa. (If I have to haul furniture I don't think I want to drive any farther than that.) I'd like to find a pie safe or sideboard or something to put dishes in. I hope I'll be able to do some entertaining. I'm not much of a hostess, and I really can't cook, but if I'm going to fill my house with antique furniture and my paintings, I kinda want to show it off. I suppose I can always have someone else cook for me, like a caterer or something. Or maybe I can take cooking classes, like my sister. Or maybe I can kidnap my sister....hmmmmm.....

Just kidding, sis. ;-)

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home