No, this is not a post about how beautiful I think our house is (although it does have some shining features). This post is about how we bring beauty into something so simple as weekday family dinners.
All of our lives are so jam-packed with activity -- meetings, sports and dance practice, school, church activities, work (and the long commute home). These extras can pull a family apart, just at the time of day when we're needing to come together.
What we all really need is a pause, a time to enjoy our families, a good meal, and the homes that we've taken the time to make special and unique.
Beautiful everyday living is our family's way of savoring the moment, and in this case, the weekday family dinner.
For the last month, we've been having our family dinners in the formal dining room. It's such a perfect place for dinner. There are no visual distractions, such as pots and pans, a pile of mail, or schoolbooks. Those distractions only serve to remind us that we need to hurry up so we can get back to the work of life.
Well, why is it so important that those dishes get done ASAP? Why do I really need to go through the day's mail this very minute? Most of the time, I can afford a few extra minutes to listen to my family, and hear how their day went. The dishes and mail can wait. My family is growing up and will only be here, in our home, for a little while longer. I say, make the family the priority, not the distractions.
The dining room is not only a peaceful respite for us all to gather 'round, but the table itself is a nice, generous size. We have this to thank my son for. He and his friends gather here every Sunday evening, for game night. And they like the space of an extra leaf in the table.
This is fantastic for our family dinners. A little extra space always feels like a luxury. For quick breakfasts and lunches, the smaller kitchen table is just about right (although, I caught one of my daughters in the dining room with her breakfast oatmeal earlier this week. She said it's just so much nicer in the dining room -- Agreed!) At the dining room table, we all have much more elbow room. No accidentally kicking my daughter every time I cross my legs under the table.
I don't worry about spills and mishaps in the dining room. There's a sealed wood floor, with no rug, underneath the table. I use cloth placemats for every day, which are very washable, and require no ironing. And the table and chairs themselves, I don't worry over, as this set is 47 years old (or young, however you look at it). My parents bought this set in 1966, and it has seen many years of wear already. It is still holding together quite well.
To enhance the beauty of dining everyday, I use cloth napkins. They're so much nicer to the touch. When I'm shopping for cloth napkins for everyday use, I look either for a print or a dark solid, as both will conceal stains well. When my son and friends get pizza, I make sure to set out my ancient (bought 30 years ago) burgundy-colored cloth napkins. These napkins were a great investment. They have yet to reveal a single stain.
Lighting can either be harsh and make you want to hurry up, or it can be gentle, and make you want to linger. This time of year is perfect for the use of candles on the table. They're very flattering, gentle on the eyes, and again, add that feeling of luxury. There is just enough light outside at the dinner hour, that 2 candles are all the light we need. I buy my candles at the dollar store, so even this expense is minimal.
For nothing more than the water to fill a vase, I can have fresh blossoms on the table everyday, from now until early October. This week we have the cherry blossom branches from my pruning last weekend. I had to take some branches off, anyway, that were blocking a walkway. So I thought, "I might as well bring them indoors to unfold their beauty".
As a mom, I find there is one more advantage to our using the dining room on a daily basis. My kids have the opportunity to exercise their manners and social graces, under my watchful, but kind eye, preparing them for occasions outside the home.
