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Saturday 16 October 2010

Have a table at the heart of your home

With evenings drawing in and the air turning chilly I sit in my rather small flat and dream of a big cosy kitchen with a gorgeous, chunky, natural to the touch oak kitchen table. Whilst it is said that the kitchen is the at the heart of the family home I think it is the table in that kitchen that holds the dreams. It is here that plans are made, wounds healed, delicious meals devoured, scones rolled out, homework done, arguments fought and forgiving hugs dealt out.

With this in mind I went on an virtual search for the perfect kitchen table. I discovered what we already know - perfection is in the eye of the beholder. As individuals are unique their homes reflect them and consequently their kitchens are an extension of their personality. I believe this to be true of all furniture Therefore the one 'ideal' kitchen table does not exist, it is, for each home, something to be created with time, love and memories.

Whilst style is a feeling there are however a lot of technical issues to take into consideration when purchasing or designing a kitchen/dining table It is a precise art of good design with calculations allowing for leg room, elbow room, table dynamics etc. To read more on this have a look here.

When I was growing up we had a tiny, round, pine kitchen table that just about sat the four of us but I have such fond memories of it. It was a little like this...
not a thing of great beauty, I know, but perfect all the same.

My parents now have the most elegant and beautifully designed oval oak table with delicate yet solid splayed elm legs designed and made by a friend of mine.

On the subject of tables, here in Edinburgh there is one very much loved and used table. A beautiful table that is now host to the cities first and much talked about supper club. Charlie and Evelyn's table is a place for all who have open minds and love not just good food but inspiring, creative, delicious food. Pay this special table a visit and see for yourself!

Here are some more inspiring kitchen tables that I found on my browsing travels...

for the 'life at sea' enthusiast

a splash of colour

something reclaimed

a rustic look

I will close my ramblings with something that sums it all up with much more beauty than I can achieve: this beautiful poem by Joy Harjo, it bought tears to my eyes ( but if you hadn't yet realised I am a sentimental fool!)
Perhaps the World Ends Here
BY JOY HARJO

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.

The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.

We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.

It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.

At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.

Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.

This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.

Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.

We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.

At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.

Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

"Perhaps the World Ends Here" from The Woman Who Fell From the Sky by Joy Harjo. Copyright © 1994 by Joy Harjo. Used by permission of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., www.wwnorton.com.

1 comment:

  1. Love the poem! We have an old kitchen table that used to "work" in the kitchen of a great house in France. The stories it could tell. :)

    Thanks for visiting my blog. Sadly, in spite of a Scottish husband and having lived four years near Stirling, I don't seem to have so many cards from Scotland. I must try to rectify that.

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