The Red Room

Those of you who have been to our house know about our red room. For the first few months, I think it was completely normal to have a vacant room - you know, just waiting to buy furniture, trying to figure out what to put in there, etc. But the longer and longer we got from June 2008 (when we moved into our house), the stranger it was to have an empty room, particularly when that empty room was the first thing you saw when you entered our front door. But when you're next in line for a full dining room set, complete with china and silver, there isn't a huge incentive to go out and buy your own. Don't get me wrong - the red room had plenty of alternate uses in the meantime. In December of 2008, the red room became the tree room.

Then Santa brought the boys a snazzy car rug and a trunkload of Matchbox cars, so the tree room became the car room. All the while, the red/tree/car room was also known as the "watch your head" room, due to the dangerously low hanging and gi-normous chandelier that anyone and everyone would bonk his head on while finding Christmas presents/playing with cars. Well finally, at age 35 and after more than 2.5 years of home ownership, the red room has finally become my very own grown-up dining room. A few weeks ago, my parents showed up with a U-Haul full of dining room accouterments and within an afternoon, the car room had been transformed. You may wonder if the boys are missing their extra playspace, but surprisingly, no. In fact, they were very excited to christen the new dining room when we celebrated Grandpa turning 6111 the weekend before last.

We did cake in the kitchen. The boys were so well-behaved while eating in the new dining room, but we didn't want to push our luck.

Inheriting my grandma's furniture is so much better than going out and buying our own. When I walk into our new dining room, it already feels warm, broken-in, well-loved, and full of stories. I open the hutch doors and the smell inside brings forth memories of dinners and gatherings at Grandma's house as a child. I had such fun stocking the hutch with her china, and some of my great-aunt Viki's, who also recently passed away. With some of my own stuff thrown in, it feels like a wonderful blend of my tastes with a homage to all the great women who set their tables and welcomed guests before me. The funny thing is that my grandma was far from a domestic goddess; in fact, she was quite the opposite - a progressive woman who almost completely gave up cooking after my grandpa died. Still, my childhood memories are filled with dinners at her house, and I very much feel her presence among her things. The dining room even has a spot for our old rug. I never loved this rug (sorry Ben), but I have many warm memories of playing with my babies on it, so it's kind of nice to see it again.

The rug completes the room just perfectly - I'm so glad Ben didn't let me throw it away when I wanted to years ago. Now onto dinner party planning!