"-L." > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> cathyxyz wrote:
>> Sorry - all the talk about using good tableware reminded me that we
>> actually have a dining room table
>>
>> We usually eat in the "family" room. I can remember as a kid that my
>> Mom used to lay the table properly for *every* meal. She still does.
>> Only time we use ours now is for HIgh Days and Holidays...
>>
>> Cheers
>> Cathy(xyz)
>
> The only time we eat at the formal dining table is when we have guests.
> I would like that to change but I am outnumbered and resistance is
> futile. DS eats in his high chair, I usually eat standing up while
> managing him, and DH eats in his office (working), in the kitchen next
> to us, or in the bedroom watching a movie (we have sort of a theater
> set-up). We are pretty non-conventional types when it comes to
> formality.
>
> -L.
A dining room may often look formal, but it doesn't have to be, except in
one's head. If one thinks of a dining room with the standard set up and
everything laid out perfect, then it will be formal usually in your mind,
too. My dining room has a buffet that always has fruit or veggies on it,
a large desk (with all is usual clutter), two tansu's, one very colorful
and one a deep dark red, a warm friendly oriental carpet, loads of
paintings on every space on the walls, a nice view, and my large table
dining room table that always has on it jars of honey, some trays of
condiments, etc. One might say it is a formal dining room, and it looked
that way when we first moved into this house, but our messy way of living
has turned the room into a room to be in that is quite pleasurable.
By all means if anyone has a dining room that is being used for company,
turn your kids loose in the room and let them re-decorate!
Square footage is a horrible thing to waste.
Dee Dee