My Quiet Room

Even our 3 year old knows this as the "Quiet Room". There's something about my dining room that makes you want to speak in hushed tones.

This room is near the front of the house, just down a little hallway to the kitchen but for some reason whenever I am in this room (hiding out) my family can't find me! Ahhh! Bliss!... It could be that I stay perfectly still with my eyes closed - you know the "I can't see you, so you can't see me..." theory,....so far it works!

I've tried many times to capture the "essence" of this room with my outdated camera but to no avail. The pictures don't do it justice with it's harsh flash and untrue colors.

Oh, I know there are some things that need tweaking, adding, subtracting, etc. but for now I am going to focus on the positives of this space. Contrary to what you might be thinking with it's bold floral, it's a rather soothing room. It's filled with many collections that I have either hunted down (antique green transferware, tole trays) or was lucky enough to inherit (silver tea/coffee service). 90% of the furniture was refinished by me (including the antique piano!) except for the wingbacks and a few sidetables.

My husband and I built the window bench one weekend(that was one Looongg weekend!) and I painstakingly sewed up the curtains, cushions and most of the pillows. I even installed the dark blinds myself when my husband was on a trip (he still hasn't said anything about how they suddenly "appeared"). The black buffet (formerly a peeling,beat up brown finish) was a roadside find that I made him back up & load in the truck, hoping the neighbors weren't peeking out their windows at us! ha-ha! :)

Some might think a formal dining/living room that only gets used a few times a year is a wasted space...but not to me...I use this room daily, I just don't have a crowd of people with me. When the holidays arrive ,this room is anything but quiet with our family & friends gathered but during the other 360-some odd days of the year, it's become a sort of retreat where I can sit with my tea and look around at all my little bits & sparkly pieces and breathe deeply. You know the room that stays clean and things are exactly where you left them....

I steal a few minutes of peace & tranquility and then I am ready to face daily life again with my family, because you all know that once in a while you wish you could ship the little buggers off to boarding school (or camp, which we did for a week!)

So now I am going to stop talking and let you sit and relax...because that's what this room is all about. The Quiet.~ Enjoy! ~