Our apartment is old-fashioned, with a kitchen that’s not eat-in but only for cooking, a too-big dining room, a butler’s pantry (where a butler is supposed to be plating our food), and a cozier ‘breakfast room,’ where we end up eating most of our meals.
The table in the breakfast room is beat-up and small. Its surface is chipped, and its chairs bear the chew marks from when our late dog Barkley, a Chesapeake Retriever, was a puppy. When it’s set for four, the place-mats touch. For all these reasons, it’s the place we prefer to dine in with our friends.
Harley says
Gee, that is one nice table setting you put together ! I’ve been to many homes where the kitchen table is just as you described. Too me, it makes a home—“homey.”
Celia says
You’re right–people love eating in the breakfast room. We’ve also had guests fall asleep while sitting in our living room–a surefire clue that they’re comfortable and at ease!
Janet says
When I was a kid, my grandmother’s breakfast room was used ONLY for breakfast; lunch and dinner were always served in the formal dining room. I am lucky enough to also have both rooms in my home, but we rarely use the dining room. I’ve said before, you set a nice table, this one is so colorful. 🙂
Celia says
So interesting, Janet; I have to admit being drawn to your grandmother’s strict sense of decorum. I kind of like the idea of social rituals that are fixed, though my own upbringing was much more fluid. . . . I have an older friend (now in his 70s) whose grandmother insisted on having a formal luncheon with guests every Sunday, even when the family was supposedly on vacation. They were all supposed to dress and sit at the table for hours, a custom that was not to my friend’s taste. After a week of work, he would much rather have been out playing tennis or golfing!
I do love setting a table–one of those household tasks that connects me to the generations and calls up many happy memories–a veritable feast for the heart.