Prairie Grl Ditches Dining Room

What can a Prairie Grl do to get invited to Oprah's dining room for a dinner party???

The times they are a changing in my dining room.  

I have a lovely china hutch and an antique table in my dining room. 

BobWhite Salt ' Peppers  By Red Wing Pottery

My Grandma Edie's dishes are stacked in the china hutch.  I have tea cups, salt & peppers, sugar bowls, and wedding china edged in gold that haven't had a breath of fresh air since we moved six years ago.  I have a drawer stacked with placemats that never get used.  The remaining drawers are stashed with my kids' artwork, snowman candles I'll never burn, an old camera I can't throw away, lighters for candles I don't light, and multiple decks of cards in Ziploc bags. 

The table is oak and has extra leaves.  Chairs from Pier One surround the table.   

   
So, why don't I love my dining room?  The short answer is because we don't dine in it.  I don't host dinner parties.  Dinner parties scare me.  The china hutch is just an expensive storage unit.  The table displays my unattractive laptop computer and Dora the Explorer coloring books.  The dining room is a constant reminder that I don't entertain large groups of people and of wasted space. 

This weekend, I am packing up all the dishes and storing them in basement.  I am moving the table & chairs somewhere else in the house.  All the nonsense in the hutch's drawers will either be thrown out or donated.  (Not the kids artwork.  Maybe that can be framed and hung on the walls.  Or maybe it can be thrown out.  Who knows?)  I am turning the dining room into an art/game/book area for me and the kids.

  

Gus and I have been discussing the new room all week.  Apparently we are going to be holding regular book club meetings.  Gus used his own money to buy a skeleton hand pointer to use during book club.  (Obviously Gus hasn't read my powerful blog series, The Art of Book Clubs - October 2, 7, and 11th.)  Gus is also envisioning bean bag chairs in a variety of colors.  Hmmmm.  I am wondering how I can add height to the room if all the chairs are on the ground.     

My hope is that the new space will spark more creativity, discussion, and fun in the house.  

Prairie Eydie 

       
Happy Birthday Prairie Sherry!!!  I hope you're having a "Bed of Roses" type of day.  Love Ya! Prairie Jon