Monday, November 19, 2007

The Dream Table


In our home we have a ‘dream table’. Affectionately named so due to the creative splatter of paint, glue, glitter, etc, that has become part of its appeal. As much as I love art, I have never wanted my home to look like an art gallery. Stark walls hosting minimal content begging constructive criticism from an obscure leather bench seat in the centre of the room. No thanks. I’ll leave that to the experts.

In my home, I’ve always wanted people to feel welcome and comfortable. Lazy lounges, stacks of cushions, piles of magazines, fresh flowers and endless cups of coffee in oversized mugs. That’s more like what you’d find in my home. More than aesthetics, my main aim is to put my family at ease and create a haven, especially for my daughter Mannie. She needs to know that this is her home, that she has full run of the house and that she never need feel like a guest.

So years ago when my beloved study table began to show traces of her artistic footprints, rather than grab the gumption/stain remover and scrub away, I stopped and thought to 20 or 30 years ahead. These are the things that I will wish I could look back on to recall those precious irreplaceable moments like her working so intently on making a birthday card for her great grandmother or writing me a love letter on Valentine’s day when she was six. To treasure the varnish on my table all paled into insignificance when weighed up against the dreaming spirit in my girl.

Hence, we started calling my study desk the dream table. A place in the house that Mannie can truly dream up anything and take steps to get there, no holds barred, even if it only involves sticky tape and coloured paper. I couldn’t count the letters that have been written on it or the pieces of ‘art’ that have been masterfully executed on it.

Obviously this is confined to the one area in the house, as the thought of creative mess all over my home doesn’t really do it for me! Yet I will never regret not reaching for the gumption/stain remover on our dream table.

Michaela.

6 comments:

Susan J Sohn said...

Mic,
What can I say I LOVE THIS post. I love the dream table, you shared that with me a few years ago and it has stayed with me. I love this so much.
Thanks.
Susan

Anonymous said...

I know. I think it has to be my favourite piece of furniture in the house.
Michaela.

Anonymous said...

Michaela,
This is so beautiful. In our world of precision styling and planning we can too soon erase the memory of a day.
Annie

Anonymous said...

Wow Michaela, that is a beautiful idea. Thanks for sharing your inspiration!
Deborah

Anonymous said...

My pleasure Deborah, it's the simple things like this that keep us grounded in a frantic age.
Michaela.

catherine jayne said...

Michaela,
I love it. This is one of those things that will stick with Mannie forever. As I'm beginning to start a life apart from my parents, I'm realizing how priceless moments and things like this are.
~cj

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