Does Your Furniture Tell Your Story?

Do you remember when I told you about my pretty new-old table, purchased here in Texas through Craigslist? I imagined all the elegant Christmas meals around it with my family and more. Well, I probably did not really imagine the "elegant" part because we are who we are and that is not a word that has ever been associated with us. (Can you see how I tried to convey the "elegance" by adding the blurred edges to my posted photo?) 

But, I honestly did not foresee that I would be getting down on the floor to wipe peanut butter (and other assorted food items) from underneath the table top. My almost 3 yr old grandson likes to ignore that little basket of napkins for his messy fingers. He prefers the quick and easy 'scrape it under the table' style to clean his hands. 

I don't remember my boys doing this, but now I wonder what may have been hidden underneath the dining table we sold so long ago. Yikes! Elegant we are not.

Do you recall my excited posts about buying this gorgeous desk? Soon after the purchase, thanks to craigslist once again, this beauty helped me write and publish a book of which I am very proud.  

I wondered if more books might be birthed on this desktop in years to come. 

 And once again I must say that I honestly never pictured the scene you see above happening on the rich dark wood. Play-doh, children's library books, paper plates being made into a million different things, glue guns and stickers everywhere! I had no clue that I would become a preschool teacher.

I was a WRITER! In all caps! Writing is all I wanted to talk, think and write about. The publication of my one little book solidified the identity that helped me accept my new life in a new state, away from everything I knew.

But my desk today reveals my true self...for now.

I am enjoying the way our furniture can be an expression of our lives. How each hunk of wood and glue can carry history within it. That's why I love old bits of furniture so much. Don't you love how a nice antique store can take you to another era completely?

It would be great to have the history of my desk and my dining table in front of me. Where have they lived? Who sat around them to eat and to create? How many families used them, messed them up and polished them clean again?

My dining table and my desk are a picture of my true life. It is messy, creative and so so unpredictable. I love that. And THAT is extremely unpredictable, right, my old friends?

I am living in Texas. My home is noisy and messy and full of life and family. I don't know what we are having for dinner tonight. There is a trike in my entryway hall and I just bought an outfit for a baby girl online yesterday!

This uber-planner is happy. Often confused yes, but mostly happy. My pretty furniture may be peanut butter and hot glue smeared, but it is happy...I can tell.

Susie