Kitchen Nook

It is time to share another Corner of Our Home. It is one that we spent a lot of time in; our little kitchen nook. It is actually our entire dining room, but it is rather small and cozy, so it is pretty nook-like. I often feel that I spend the majority of my day here, either preparing meals, eating, or cleaning up after meals.

There are many things I enjoy about his space. I love the large rag rug which so cleverly hides dropped crumbs. I love the way the sunlight streams through the window sheers in the morning and how Noah pushes them aside to watch the children walk by on their way to school. I love the table itself, which was a wedding gift from my parents and is a custom handcrafted Amish table from a local furniture store. I love the rather whimsical chandelier that hangs above the table, with its dangling dew drop crystals and the recently added flying peace doves.

It is common to find seasonal nature tables in many Waldorf-inspired homes. This is usually a special table or window sill displaying seasonal items, often found in nature. For now, instead of a seasonal table, we have a seasonal center piece. This is both due to a lack of space and also to keep the pieces out of a certain little one's mouth. We always have a beeswax candle, which is often light during dinner. The other objects change with the seasons. Right now, there are some crystals, a pine cone, pine boughs, cinnamon sticks, and Mary, Joseph, and Donkey, traveling to the stable (in the living room).

Our center piece also includes a pot of paperwhites. What can I say about them? They are ever so pretty, almost like a bunch of little white stars. When the sun hits the petals, they almost glitter. But why, oh why, must they STINK!?

Another area of this nook that I have come to love is the window sill. For a couple years, it sat empty, but recently I have started adding elements to it. It is a bit of an extension of our seasonal center piece since it is out of the reach of curious little hands.

The window crystal creates lovely little rainbows around the room when the sun shines through it.

The frame is custom from Da Bear's Shop (a.k.a. my Dad) with one of last year's Christmas cards on display (maybe it's yours?). The little Willow Tree angel was gifted to me by a favorite and inspiring nursing instructor when I graduated from nursing school.

The best thing about this corner of our home is the time spent here together as a family. These days, Noah keeps us laughing through most of our dinner with his jabber-talk banter and clowning around. When he is not packing food into his mouth, one fist after another, he likes to tilt is head, cheek to shoulder, and grin at us until we do the same. His newest trick is reaching across his tray and trying to balance bits of food on his toes.

I hope you are taking time to decorate and enjoy all the little corners of your home this holiday season!

-Jen