Posted: 14 Oct 2012 04:39 AM PDT
You thought I was being funny when I mentioned I’d always dreamed of having a picnic table. But it’s true. I grew up eating on picnic tables in my grandparent’s back yard and just like a having a tire swing, it’s a shining beacon of home.
But it wasn’t until I was a freshman in high school that our family got our first picnic table. In my fourteen-year-old head, picnic tables were for rich people. So I figured that’s why we didn’t have one. So yes, even in college I knew that one day, I would have a picnic table too. I can vividly remember thinking that I might even *gasp* put my own picnic table inside one day.
Regardless if you are rich or not, every house could use an unassuming workhorse picnic table. And I’m so happy we finally got one.
Cost Breakdown:
Picnic Table Kit: $149
Umbrella : $49 (just noticed it’s on sale for $39)
Drill Bit: $10ish
Stain: $12ish
Total: $225ish
Not bad for seating for six and a
versatile table that I hope will stay with our family for years–maybe
I’ll even bring it inside one day…
Is there a little something you’ve always
dreamed of having in your home? Maybe like me, it’s not anything all
that expensive, but something that represents home to you. I’m
surprised at how great it felt to fulfil a childhood dream for our home,
as ridiculous as it was to wait this long for a picnic table, it really
helps makes our house feel like home to me. And isn’t that what Home.
On Purpose is all about?
I love my childhood home. Now that Mom and Dad have bought a retirement home, it makes me sad to think they'll be selling the NY house in a few years. I love the rooms, the deck, the yard. But one thing I've carried with me from living there has been a frustration, first that I saw with my Mom, now I can see it for myself, in projects taking a very long time to get done. My dream, which I've always thought is "only" for rich people, is to have someone else do at least some of the work on a house or garden. I don't mind painting, or sewing curtains, or doing certain other things by myself. But some day, I would love to have an expert install, say, a great new kitchen, or design a gorgeous porch, or landscape my yard with beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees.
Maybe, when we have our own place, I will realize there are more things I can easily do on my own than need to be done by a professional, but that's my dream, to have projects done quickly and done well by a professional. And as long as we can't afford that, I want to follow-through and complete projects quickly and efficiently on my own.
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