If This Table Could Talk

Today I want to celebrate this spot: our dining table.

This round black table hasn't been around forever. In fact it was purchased in January 2012, a few months after Chris had moved out. The previous long rectangle table we owned together fit better in his house and I was open to getting a new one.

A fresh start for new stories.

Along the way I purchased some chairs from Ikea and the grey couch from Overstock.com (originally purchased for another room until I wondered if it would fit in this spot) which is definitely the favorite feature of the kids and the cat.

I love this space.

It gets used every day for meals, for conversation, for homework, for coloring, for reading. I love the windows that wrap around and the different light that comes in over the course of the day. I love opening the windows when it's pouring rain just to hear the sound as it comes down through the trees and onto the patio or on those early days of spring and summer to bring in fresh air.

This table has seen and heard many things. Harsh words and kind words. Tears and laughter. Giggles and jokes between siblings. It's been piled on and spilled on more times than I can count in it's life with us. It's been a resting place for adults and kids alike.

I take at least a couple photos there every month because it's such an anchor in our lives.

Sometimes a kid or two is sitting there doing whatever it is they are into at the moment. Sometimes there's simply evidence of our existence: books, computers, the newspaper, or a set table waiting for companionship. Sometimes I'll place my camera on the kitchen counter and use the timer to make sure I'm captured in the mix.

The things we own are pieces of our stories.

If this table could talk it would tell stories of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, dinners, drinks consumed, old and new friends, lives shared, computers, newspapers, coffee, hot cocoa with marshmallows, coloring books, homework, Santa letters, cut flowers, plans made, books read aloud, laughter, tears, laughter that turns to tears, birthdays, wishes, legos built, taxes, best part of the day/worst part of the day sharing, strategies for getting Simon to try more foods, secrets whispered, frustrations expressed, forgiveness granted, Anna jumping up and down on the couch and me telling her to sit on her bottom (over and over again), holidays celebrated, songs sung, manners taught and re-taught, one too many bean & cheese tostadas to ever count and so much more.

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.comIf This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

If This Table Could Talk | Storytelling Ideas From aliedwards.com

Is there a story you can tell about a piece of furniture or an area in your house? What stories would that piece/space tell if it could talk?

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95 thoughts

  1. Tania says…
    07/01/2014

    I imagining every moment when a read this post before I saw the photos and realize that I need less, I need love, I respect you and your work even more. And you Ali, teaching me to be a good person for my 3 kids and a good person for me.
    And for now I need too "A fresh start for new stories" too.

    Kisses and Tks a lot

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. Jamie says…
    07/01/2014

    Love this post...I see you have It Starts With Food...Whole30 changed my life...best thing I've done for myself in a very long time. Game changer for sure!

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Amy says…
    07/01/2014

    Clearly George the Cat thinks it's HIS table. Great post, Ali.

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. Kathleen M Smith says…
    07/01/2014

    Great post! I love using inanimate objects to tell a story. I have my grandmother's 100 yr old Singer sewing machine that is a saga in itself. Now it's on my 'to-scrap' list.

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. Tashia D says…
    07/01/2014

    I loved reading this! Especially because my husband and I finally found our long term dining table after searching for a few years for the perfect one. We wanted one that would reflect our style of course, but more importantly one that would be a part of our story for a very long time. We've already started making memories while sitting at it! Great post!

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Gabi says…
    07/01/2014

    I love this, Ali! I think I need to start noticing the little things in our house more and document them. Thank you for inspiring me.

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. tchris says…
    07/01/2014

    This story is so lovely. Also, thank you for sharing where you got everything. =)

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Kay Gregory-Clark says…
    07/01/2014

    I enjoyed this story so much. I have a tendency to crop too tightly sometimes and forget to leave in background items. And yet, those are things I definitely look at in old pictures because they truly are the setting for what was happening.
    I nearly freaked when I saw George's pose. I never noticed in other photos how much he looks like our favorite kitty that disappeared one night last month—the white bib, paws and white facial marking (ours had a full white mustache). Memories....

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. kelsey says…
    07/01/2014

    I noticed this theme in your posts for a long time. How lovely to see them all in one place. I agree with a previous poster that seeing them all in succession in a mini book would be fantastic!
    I have many photos of us on our couch and in our back yard. You have inspired me to bring them all together to tell "their" story. Thanks!

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Keianna says…
    07/01/2014

    Awesome entry today. A great reminder to not crop our photos so closely, so we can see how the background of our life changes or remains the same over time.

    I use an app call Timehop, which shows you all the pictures taken each day from your phone, camera, computer from past years. Today's photo had a picture from 8 years ago of my niece and nephew. In the pic were our red couches that we have now ordered replacements for. In two months, family photos in the living room won't look the same. I kinda got a bit wistful.

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Audrey V says…
    07/01/2014

    I love it! Rebecca Sower did a scrapbook page many years ago about the life that revolved around her dining room table. Great idea! I also love the It Starts with Food book in the first photo. I love this book, it has become a way of life for me and has made a huge effect on my physical and mental health. Have you tried the Whole 30?

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. Michelle t. says…
    07/01/2014

    Wow! What a prompt! Thanks. Michelle t

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. Andrea Williams says…
    07/01/2014

    What a great story to tell Ali. I thought of all that our kitchen table has heard or experienced and I burst into tears. Great post.... i never would have thought of using "my table" as my story. Hmmm, it's my Grandmother's table from the 1960's. Guess I just discovered that this may just become a longer story. Thanks Ali, I can't wait to get to work on it. This table...

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. Machella says…
    07/01/2014

    I love the idea of taking pictures around a certain item in your home. Thanks for sharing these lovely photos.

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Amy says…
    07/01/2014

    I love your stories Ali--you have such a great family and you can see how much you all love and treasure each other in each of these pictures. Great idea for telling stories in our own lives, too! Thanks for sharing with us :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. Lida says…
    07/01/2014

    I loved how you told your stories/photos from a different perspective, through the use of your dining room table. How nice!

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. Nancy Beck says…
    07/01/2014

    This is brilliant, Ali! I'd never have thought about the story of the table in our kitchen, in fact I've often thought people who see my PL pages must surely notice that I take way to many of my photos around that beat up old relic. You are such an inspiration, I think our table needs it's day in the limelight, lol!

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. Sonya B says…
    07/01/2014

    Thanks for sharing, Ali. I LOVE the story the photos tell. Thanks for the motivation. I have so many photos of us around our kitchen table and never thought about the story those photos were telling. Thank you for prompting me to document it. Please share how you're able to keep your table "scratch-free" and your couch "stain-free"?

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. Patti L says…
    07/01/2014

    Love this! Kind of reminds me of your "31 Things" class. I remember writing a poem about the clothes in my closet in high school, in a similar way to "if these clothes could talk". I like the concept of making an inanimate thing into more of a character in a story.

    You always inspire me to stretch my creativity a bit!

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Sue P, says…
    07/01/2014

    You have definitely knocked it out of the park with this post. How simply lovely to see the fixtures in our house as fixture in the process of telling of our stories. Thanks again Ali

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. Theresa M. says…
    07/01/2014

    I love this!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Cathy L. says…
    07/01/2014

    Love this.

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. Taylor says…
    07/01/2014

    If I were to write about anything in my house, it would be my bathroom. There are so many things that happen in there (especially when you have sisters). LOVE that couch!

    xoxo
    Taylor

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. Stephanie Loudmouth says…
    07/01/2014

    Absolutely beautiful. I hope that one day my family can have a space like this.

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. Melissa says…
    07/01/2014

    Beautiful story of something so oridnary yet so important in your life! Love it!

    Reply 0 Replies

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