The Kitchen table is truly the heart of the home… it is where we eat as a family (though with 4 kids it is not often the most relaxing of times) It is where we sit and talk. It is where the boys play with toys, or where Colin draws.
A few years ago we bought a new table. It looked OK right? It wasn’t… It was not only very boring, it was cheap… I learned my lesson…
I had bought it used and it was clean and the table was sturdy (and it actually could extend to fit 10 which was a lot of fun when we had people over) but within months the cushions that were covered with plastic when we had bought it were stained and dirty and then as time went by and the kids were… well… kids… the chairs just couldn’t keep up with the abuse of everyday use.
We kept on finding screws on the floor and after many times of repairing the chairs they just could not be repaired anymore and in the last few months we were down to just one or two chairs that were actually usable. Being that the boys have grown so much in the last years and are all too big for the higher chairs that we had for them it meant that we not only needed the four chairs that we had, we actually now need 6… we were four chairs short. That meant that Kitchen table was no longer the heart of the home anymore… it was not inviting, it was not a comfortable place to be. We used it when we had to but avoided it the rest of the time.
So, for the last months I have been looking for a new set. Money is tight so we needed to look for used and after seeing a few sets up on Kijiji that I really liked but had sold quickly, I knew exactly what I wanted.
On Saturday, about an hour before I left to go grocery shopping and go out to supper with “the girls” it happened… I found it…
It was listed for 300$ neg… and they said that there was one chair that was in need of a bit of repair… So I sent a message and said that I would offer 200$ and I would go get it right away (I was heading around that area any way) Just before I was about to head out the door I got the call… price accepted and I could go get it…
I got to the house with the idea that if it was not to my liking, I was willing to back down. But, I was not disappointed…
It is perfect… even with one chair that needs a bit of repair (there is a rung missing that can be replaced)
We have a new heart in the house, it makes me happy… we are back to eating at the table, I now sit at the table again and read and have tea. I look at recipes and the boys are back at the table to draw and play… We sit there for breakfast and lunch and supper and talk.. it just feels good to have that back…
Now I can’t wait to quilt a new runner and display things that make me happy…
Where is the heart of your household? Do you eat at the table on a regular basis?
That’s a gorgeous table that looks like it has many years of memory making left in it!
The heart of my home is the family bed. All children start out in their own beds now but the two littlest come creeping in during the night. It’s where laundry is folded, and of course where laundry is built into mountains and then jumped on. It’s where we all hang out and read stories, it’s where my son goes to be with me when he’s feeling overstimulated and on sensory overload and it’s where plans for the day are made with all of us in one spot; the teenaged daughter even joining us on weekend mornings.
That sounds great… our family bed used to be more like that when it was upstairs in the same level but since we brought the rooms downstairs, our room is more just for sleeping now…
Makes me long to move and have a house that better suits the needs we have now…
Gorgeous table! We also pour over Kijiji and Craigslist for furniture, as it is one affordable way to get solid wood furniture. Enjoy for many years to com!
(This is Patty from the CC list 🙂
Beautiful post and photos as usual … The heart of our home is the kitchen. Everytime DS wakes up, he asks to be taken straight to see what’s on the stove. But reading about your kitchen table makes me long for a space like that too. It looks magnificent!
natural, confortable, with a soul!!! the table is beautifull congratulations for the deal.
rudolf steiner said something like: if you want kids to be really alive, present as much as possible beautifull and living objects to them (wood, bee wax, cob, wool) not dead things like plastic etc.
i like this idea even if it’s not easy to do it for everything. for the table, you can clearly see the diffence!
congratulations and enjoy your teas and time with your family!