The Kitchen & Dining Room

What to say about our kitchen and dining room? They are certainly at the heart of the hustle and bustle of our house, but they are also the smallest, least decorated and least impressive of our rooms. But, hey, it's a rental. I've gotta work with what I've got.

Here's what I like about them: 

The way the light comes through the kitchen window in the early evening, casting dancing shadows on the Windsor-style chairs in the dining room,

The chalkboard on the kitchen wall, where my husband and children erase my carefully planned weekly menu (and my grocery list!) with little drawings and notes of affection,

The Blue Willow plate and canisters on the counter and backsplash, which I inherited from my grandmother. Her kitchen was covered in blue things, and, consequently, I will always think a kitchen ought to have lots of blue in it,

That Boos cutting board table. Kevin bought it for me for my birthday umpteen years ago, and it was then and still is one of the nicest pieces of "furniture" we own,

How my children—Archer especially—love to sit at that cutting board table and help me bake and cook,

The Laughing Cow poster in the kitchen, which I bought with Kevin on a trip to Montreal years ago, not yet knowing that we would one day be married, with three children who all love Laughing Cow cheese,

The little wooden kitchen and doll high chair in the dining room where all three of our children have cooked delicious imaginary meals (and, yes, I do tidy up my kids' kitchen every day. I *hate* a messy kitchen),

All those meals I've served at that dining room table: to my dear old friends in Boston, to our newer friends in Edmonton, and, oh, at least five times a day to our children. Good times!