August 24th, 2020

This is our kitchen table.  There is a perfect little spot right there for it.  It's taller than the average table. I think they refer to it as "bar height".  We intentionally selected this taller version so that the chairs would work in multiple places. Such as as that kitchen island

And at the table in the family room

Sometimes we really put thought into what we do :)

The entire reason that I bring up this kitchen table thing is that recently I was watching one of those HGTV house renovation shows.  And on this particular episode the home owners were talking with the designer about how to change their teeny tiny kitchen into a larger more useful kitchen.  The designer suggested knocking out the wall between the kitchen and dining room.  Great idea! Everyone was in favour.  But then there was the thing that surprised me. The designer threw out a lot of different ideas of all sorts.  The couple thought that everything was wonderful except for one thing. The only thing the couple said no to was having a spot for a kitchen table.  The couple felt that they did not need a table because they would either eat at the island or in the living room in front of the TV.

I was gobsmacked.  No Kitchen Table?  How does anyone function without a kitchen table?  Ours gets one heck of a workout on a regular basis.  Or at least that's how I felt when I saw that show. 

But that got me wondering just how much we really do use our kitchen table.  So I decided to document how much the table got used in a week and the variety of ways.  So here we go:

First of all it is a perfect place to fold clothes.  I dump the contents of the basket, choose one item at random, and begin to fold and stack by owner of said article of clothing and type of garment.  Tim's tee-shirts in one pile, my shorts in another, for example.

It's the perfect place to take care of correspondence of any sort.  And yes I still write actual letters. I own stamps, return address stickers and envelopes.  I even have pens, paper, an address book (a real one, not online) and when the situation calls for it, I buy cards.  Christmas cards, birthday cards, anniversary cards, graduation cards, sorry-you-are-sick cards, sympathy cards and well, whatever the occasional calls for cards.  Sometimes I just write a short little note in the card, sometimes I just sign it but once in awhile I write a separate full fledged actual letter.  Shocking, I know

The table gets used heavily when I am baking.  It's perfect for cooling racks.  I usually put down either a table cloth or newspaper under the racks to protect the tabletop.  And if they are the sorts of cookies or cakes that require decorating, then I use both the flannel backed, plastic table cloth AND newspaper.  It works.  There is plenty of room for cooling, for decorating and for certain people to snitch one as they walk by.

This particular table is a terrific spot for a larger puzzle.  The smaller ones fit perfectly on the family room table but the bigger ones need more room.  It's not just the puzzle itself, but the pieces. Gotta have a place to sort them!  I like to turn each piece upside right first, then pull out the edges to build the frame first.  Then resort by colour.  But then that's me. I'm sure everyone has their own method that works for them.

It's also a great table for games.  Especially if there are more than two people playing.  AND being the kitchen table means the game is close to food and drink if you need refills.  Very Handy.  While you are stepping away for a second you can still keep an eye on certain people to be sure they are not doing anything sneaky.  This is not a trust issue, this is a practical issue.  Keeping honest people, honest. (get your mitts off my tiles buddy!)

And if I take a break to read during the day, I like to read here.  Sometimes I read while having my lunch. Sometimes just a couple of quick chapters while I'm waiting for the oven timer to go off, or the water to come to a boil or the dryer buzzer to sound or maybe I'm just killing twenty minutes waiting until I absolutely must start dinner.  There are other days when I don't even kid myself about doing anything useful. I just curl up on the sofa in the family room with a book and call it a day.  But on a normal regular day, I read here and there as I can.  Those days, it's at the kitchen table.

And of course meals.  Yeah, we usually eat here too.  Apparently that is unusual?  We eat, we talk, we laugh at the table.  I'm so surprised to learn that some people don't. 

That's all I came up with last week, but I know that it has been used in other ways. For example for gift wrapping.  It is a large enough surface to wrap almost any package.

Also for projects.  If should take it into my head to attempt to create something or (even funnier) sew something, this is where it happens.  Plenty of room on a nice big flat surface with lots of light both from the window and over head.  It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. And when it does I need a place to do it. Obviously, the kitchen table.

As a kid I did my homework and art projects there as did my own kids when they were in school..  As a young mother of three, my friends and neighbors would bring their kids over to play and the moms would sit around the table for tea and talk.  We ate every single meal at the kitchen table.  But I suppose that was long ago and far away.

​And well, I am positive that there are other ways this table gets used that aren't immediately coming to mind.  I guess the point is  that I cannot imagine NOT having a kitchen table.  

​How 'bout you?