Does anyone use china anymore? I have two large sets of china in boxes in my basement, sets that belonged to Mike’s dear grandmothers, respectively. I’m not completely sure how I ended up with all of it. It is nice to have but I also don’t want it to simply sit wrapped in newsprint, stacked in boxes.
A couple of months ago we had a slow but steady spray of water leakage from our hot water heater. Over time, it totally drenched my boxes on the large shelving unit next to the hot water heater. Some of those boxes held the china. We set them on the floor to dry out a bit and knew the cleanup was a big job that would need attention at some point.
Well, that point arrived today. We have been working in the basement in order to create easier access to the electric since we are remodeling the kitchen. Let me rephrase that, our dear friend, Phil, needed easier access to our electric. What a friend he is. Pure gold.
While clearing out space to work, we saw those, now dry but yucky cardboard boxes that needed to have the china taken out, washed and stored somewhere else. That somewhere else would be my new and spacious cabinets in my bigger kitchen. Nice!
Mama is with me today. She loves to work. I figured the timing was right to wash those boxes of china and let her dry every piece. And that is exactly what we spent about two hours doing. Washing, drying then finding new homes for those old and sentimental sets of china.
They are now ‘literally’ sparkling clean and ready for use. When will I use them? They are lovely. One set is soft white/gray with darker gray edgings of leaves and dandelion puffs. The other set is pure white with edgings of deep pink roses.
When I first moved into my house, 21 years ago, I had a formal dining room with Mike’s grandparent’s cherry Queen Anne style tables and chairs and china closet. We used it for years and it was beautiful. Mike’s grandmother had done the needlepoint on the seats of all of the chairs. Very special.
Our most recent update to the kitchen is open and contemporary and hosts a very big island. When all of the family is in, we spend most of our time gathered in the kitchen around that island. It is definitely the heart of our home.
But now….can I ever have a formal dinner party and use that beautiful china, sitting around an island with tall bar chairs? It just doesn’t seem to go together. I’m in a kerfuffle.
It’s a new season in the world. It seems that we can decorate any way we like – eclectic, mix and match furniture styles and wood finishes. Wear whatever we want – any skirt length works, white is no longer a faux pas after Labor Day and yoga pants are accepted as dress code nearly everywhere.
Perhaps it’s only a new season for me, being 60. If I want to host a dinner party for 12 and sit around my big island eating lasagna off of Grandma Hendrixson’s fine bone china, wiping our mouths with white linen napkins, so be it. This is my home and I have worked hard on it for 21 years.
As my oldest son, Andrew, says: “Own it.” If I ‘own it’ and carry it off with (attempted) style and grace, maybe I can combine the old with the new and somehow bring Grandma ‘H’ together with my dearest and best group of friends. I can almost hear her giggle.