I love this picture of my daughter playing with the vintage
style kitchen that her dad lovingly made for her first birthday. I designed the
play kitchen to look similar to ours. Bead-board
planks were used for the back-splash and the cupboard doors. A wood counter-top gave it that farmhouse
kitchen style we all know and love. I found the vintage faucet fixture at an
antique shop, and the gentleman could tell I was salivating over it, so he
quoted a pretty penny. I tried, in vain, to talk him down, but the fact is I
would have bought it even if he went up in price. It completed the tiny
kitchen.
When I was kid playing house was my favorite thing. My
sister and I had a big porch all to ourselves, and we spent many long sunny
afternoons tending to baby dolls and arranging our homes. To this day, playing
house is what I crave most when feeling stressed or directionless. Cleaning
calms me. There are days when I wish all I had to do was fix my house up to
make it look pretty. There are days when fluffing the pillows makes me feel
that everything is fine with our world.
Our little girl isn't little anymore and her kitchen is
tucked away in the attic, waiting, hopefully, for another generation to play
house.
