Small town life sounds good to me. As does living in the country. We had a few acres when I had horses and other animals back in the 60s and 70's. Phoenix is soooo big, too much traffic, and I hate driving even if it didn't cause my leg to go on the warpath. I was born in a small town, in Ala. I don't really going places alone either, and won't go out at night except to family gatherings at one of my kids. I'm waiting the arrival of my toile plates I just bought. Tho heaven knows what I can find to do with them, but will try just because of all the support I've gotten here. Any table settings I do will be just for ONE, maybe two if you're lucky. LOL. I'm going to be a one-trick pony, sorry about that. I just can't do full tables for many reasons. I've been 'planning' my Christmas decor. Really planning this year. Thought it might take some of the load off me being so over-whelmed with it when I go to unpacking a zillion things in the middle of the floor while telling two cats NOT to help me. A zillion times! One sleepless night I started plotting different places to put things this year. I want my newly begun collection of Nutcrackers (started last year) pretty much together. But I think the purple one should go with the Santa. And I have two golf Santas and two golf Nutcrackers that should stay together. Last year they were with my two other special Nutcrackers, a policeman and a fireman. These have a lot of meaning! I'm going to put my Village in the antique china cabinet in my entry hall this time I think, instead of Painted Pony Cabinet in familyroom. Tho I still have to move over a 100 statues from BOTH. I was thinking of putting Xmas horses and reindeer in the pony cabinet. I have quite a few of both now. Anyway, its fun to mentally decorate. It also doesn't wear me out or hurt my body. LOL. I think I'll start my Village next week in fact. First I have to make room for all those dog statues to safely go on closet shelves for the next two months! Ugh. hugs, Karen

This is an excellent post, Beachem! Some of you know that my 30 yr. old daughter, Joy, who lives with me, and I are in the process of becoming certified organizers. We're also writing a book, "Minimalism and the art of the lovely home." And a lot of you know my house story. In January, I bought a 1979 manufactured home fixer upper. It was previously owned by hoarders and even after truckloads were removed by them, they still left truckloads of the hoard behind. Joy and I spent three months just cleaning out their hoard. They had neglected the home to the point that it is really deplorable. And under the hoard it was FILTHY! Another month just to CLEAN. Then, 2.5 weeks ago, the movers delivered OUR stuff. Now we're in the process of unpacking/organizing all that. And, just in our spare time, haha, painting the interior. Really not the highest priority, but we needed some cheering up! I bring all this up for two reasons. First, the kitchen remodel will be a gut, but won't happen for a few years, and that may change a bit of how it is used. Second, when organizing a home, the first thing Joy and I ask clients is, "What is the purpose of this room?" We talk through it, and ask them to write it down. It seems obvious, but really isn't. Just read the comments above me. The purpose of a kitchen can be: cooking, eating, food storage, kitchen related storage, non-kitchen related storage, command center and/or home office, social gathering space, homework or art project space, electronics charging station, romantic dinner space, landing space for everything that comes through the door, family meeting space, bar, football...OK, probably not football, but you get my drift! YOU need to decide what you want the purpose(s) of your kitchen to be, and then organize your kitchen around that. Once you define what the space IS, you will find organizing it, or remodeling/building it to be a much easier task. OK...so my kitchen is a small eat-in kitchen. It's a 900 sq ft house, so there is no other dining area/room. (Though I don't mind eating in the LR when I have guests.) No island. The kitchen part is an L, and there is a small, round pedestal table that can seat 4 in a pinch. We just have two chairs to save space, since 99% of the time it's just the two of us. Future plans may include banquette seating. There is also a huge, hideous built in china hutch with a pass through. It faces the LR, so the back of it faces the K table. When I'm done painting the kitchen this weekend (I hope!) I'll post pics. The kitchen is often the heart of the home. We spend a lot of time in there, and we almost always cook dinner together. We eat out very, very rarely, so dinner is prepared in the kitchen 7 days a week. I work from home, so we have breakfast and lunch in there too. Breakfast usually separately because I get up a lot earlier than Joy, lunch mostly together. Breakfast for me is usually yogurt and granola. Lunch is generally a salad. So not really "cooking" for those meals, unless I get ambitious and make pancakes or something. The purposes of my kitchen: cooking/meal preparation, eating, coffee station, coffee with neighbors who pop in, coffee or lunch with friends and clients (from my editing business), and general social gathering spot. This may shock some of you here on the KF, haha!, but I DO NOT want the "command center" in the kitchen! It's too small, and I have never liked it there anyway. I now have a library, which is the master bedroom. My books, desk, computer, files, a small bulletin board, etc., are in there and that is also the command center. I ABHOR stuff on the refrigerator!!! I don't care how cute the cat, grandchild, whatever, is, it's not going on the fridge! And that is not the place, in my kitchen, for calendars, announcements, lists, etc. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's just a "thing" with me. I think it makes the whole kitchen look messy and cluttered. I have a small dry erase board and bulletin board in the library, and that's where that stuff goes. If my kids were still little, it might be different. As far as liking people in there while I'm cooking, I'm really OK with that, and likely to ask them to pitch in! My mom, OTOH, did not want ANYONE in or near her kitchen, and had no trouble telling people to get out and go sit in the LR! She didn't even want them in the adjacent dining room! I think that's just a matter of temperament. I'm a clear counters person, but due to lack of space, have my utensils canister, a fruit bowl, and my beloved coffee station on my counters. My LR and eat-in kitchen are basically an open great room now, except for the built in. The top half (above the pass through) will be knocked down eventually, and the bottom half will be made into a useable peninsula, with the storage opening on the K side. (Those bottom cabs are our pantry.) That will really make it an open concept great room space. I'm very casual and have no need for anything more formal. CEFreeman, if I ever become a hoarder, it will be books and office supplies, haha! I love Staples like some people love BBB or W-S! ;-)

Back in the day before the PC police took over our minds the time between Oct 31 and Jan 2 was commonly referred to as "The Holidays", because it is an intense time of many many holidays being celebrated. They all have THEIR OWN NAMES and they all have DIFFERENT purposes. Most commonly Christmas is decorated for, Halloween has emerged as a very close second. Pretty sure anyone reading your original question "When do you decorate for the holidays" knew you meant When do you decorate for CHRISTMAS. Some of us enjoy festivity and celebrate what we can when the time presents itself. To say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas is infusing a new label and condensing an idea that leaves some of us totally befuddled. WHICH HOLIDAY?!?!?! Why oh why oh why is wishing someone well interpreted as an insult? How is ANYONE fooled that an indoor tree bedecked with lights; not a CHRISTMAS tree--just because the stupid big box stores started saying "holiday tree"??!! WHICH HOLIDAY!?!? This non specific politically correct labeling really needs to just go away. There is no shame in anyone celebrating CHRISTMAS just as there is no shame in anyone NOT. If you choose not to SHUT THE HECK UP and leave those that do alone. It isn't about hurting YOU it is about us CELEBRATING SOMETHING marvelous.

Other than the traditional Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and stuffing. I do not make anything from my childhood holiday meals. My family made things like candied yams with the marshmallow topping, pistachio pudding with the pineapple, marshmallows and I want to say cottage cheese or something like that and a version of I guess you would call it Waldorf salad. I called it apple salad with mayonnaise, nuts, raisins and I forget what else. Sadly none of those things appeal to me as an adult but they were staples at all the family holiday dinners. We also always had ribbon candy and these little candies made with fruit and nuts and sadly I haven't even had those since I was a kid. I do make things from my husbands family holiday dinners though. Like sausage stuffing. I first had it when we had Christmas dinner with his family and I have been hooked every since. Also like to make the Portuguese Roast Pork and Linguica his family likes to have at Christmas as well. I do remember my great grandmother making rum balls and rum soaked fruit cake as well. I do like fruit cake but I do not like anything with alcohol in it because I don't drink the flavor is over powering to me. But I do remember all the adults getting each other stockings full of different nip bottles and giving them to each other. They enjoyed their cocktails :) it is funny I just never acquired a taste for alcohol even though most of my family enjoyed it.