Decisions about keeping and letting go need to be made. I know that I need a framework - and that is certainly on my list of things to work on. But some decisions transcend any form of framework anyway. (Putting things off, anyone?)

I don’t really have room for a dining room hutch in my house that does not have a dining room. But it lives here now anyway. My mom bought the hutch in a very difficult time - after the death of my big brother. He was 8; I was 7. We were devastated in ways that my 7 year old self didn’t fully understand. I also didn’t understand how fully it would impact the woman I would become - but that’s a story for a different blog. This one is about the vintage (circa 1973) hutch.

My dad’s reasoning is simple. I am the only one of my siblings who knew my brother, so the hutch should remain with me. I love all things dishes and table settings, so I certainly wasn’t a tough sell, but logistics is an issue, and I don’t want to seem like a hoarder. So…justification, I love a good table cloth and have recently been collecting some vintage ones. Since the boards allow me to have three different table sizes, I have a few ;-) They are scattered in a variety of locations throughout the house. Changing the table cloth ( I have one on all the time.) becomes an issue of finding, unwrinkling, and so on. To create a pretty table then requires wading through the runners, placemats and napkins. And, back to justifying, people on the socials are displaying linens in glass cupboards now. So I formed a plan and shuffled a chest from my grandparents (Are you seeing a pattern?) to a different location to create a space.

In my defense, I did weed the table cloth collection. I probably didn’t get rid of as many as I should, but I am committed to not out growing the hutch. (See look; I can set a boundary!) My prettiest are on display, and I can change them with the seasons. All of the things - runners, cloths, napkins, and mats are organized loosely by season and by size. Can we call that a step in the right direction?

So I’ve made minor decisions and downsized a collection just a bit. I’ve created space in some key areas. Life will be a small bit easier when I need a table put together. I still pause in a weird way when I see the hutch. I guess because it meant so much to my mom. I think as time passes I will become accustomed to seeing it as a part of my home. So I’ve made a slow start on what needs to be a long term project and some table cloths were let go, and the hutch is a thing I kept.