Carla's Dining Room

Photo courtesy Flickr

Carla is one smart cookie.

Her house in Portland started life as a small tract home. It grew with the years and the families that lived there. She bought it with the profits from the sale of a small place in Palo Alto.

The original poky dining room was surrounded by new construction and transformed into a major entry hall without windows. Carla set a sturdy wood table in the middle of the space, lined the four walls with inexpensive freestanding bookcases, chock full, and used it as a study hall.

When the kids got home from school, they shed coats and packs in the corner, grabbed a snack in the kitchen next door, and then did homework at the table. In retrospect, I realize Carla had recreated the dining hall we shared at college.

The evolution of the house had created a family room at an awkward distance from food central, so the easy traffic patterns of the family worked in favor of learning rather than escapism.

-30-