tall kitchen table

tall kitchen table with Farmhouse

By Interior Designers & Decorators Photographed in New York
Date uploaded: July 19, 2017
In the very first half of the twentieth century, the ‘dining table'was an important item of furniture for the British working-class family. Its importance is clearly shown in working-class autobiographies which described the important points of domestic life during the very first half of the twentieth century.

Your kitchen table needs to be placed in its environment in order to understand its significance. Nowadays we may think that this was the kitchen. Certainly, in middle-class homes, your kitchen table was there, in the working-class home it absolutely was in the primary family living space. For two thirds of the autobiographers examined, this room was called a ‘kitchen'however for one third it absolutely was called a ‘family area '. Food was prepared and cooked in the family area but it absolutely was unlikely to be always a area for washing dishes. This may be performed in a'scullery'or ‘back kitchen '. A passionate ‘kitchen'was therefore not confirmed in the working-class home and plans for the very first council houses in 1918 had ‘living rooms'and ‘sculleries'but no ‘kitchens '.

For many it was the table – the only one in the house. It had been the focal point of the family area and activities took place around or on the table. In the first the main period, the main light source might sit there. Some uses for the table are familiar; others are now rare. It had been at your kitchen table that the family ate together, sometimes in two sittings if the family was large. Though middle-class families now eat meals in their kitchen, this was false before the Second World War. In those days, only the servants ate regular meals at your kitchen table in wealthy households and your kitchen of the lower-middle class suburban ‘semi'had little space for eating at a table.

Food preparation was generally done at your kitchen table because it was the sole work surface in a period before units. The table was used being an ironing board and for washing up in homes lacking a sink. People sat, sewed and read there. Memoirs of working-class childhood recall playing at the table and deploying it for variety of games from Ludo to ping pong. Homework could be done at the table too as overcrowded bedrooms lacked desks, heat and adequate lighting. Middle-class children had a different relationship with your kitchen table because winning contests and doing homework could be performed elsewhere. In all, the autobiographical sources known 24 different uses of your kitchen table. These ranged from eating to more obscure uses such as for example an operating table to remove tonsils.

The uses of your kitchen table varied over time and reflected the distinctive weekly and daily routines of the working-class home. Ironing would occur either on washday (usually Monday) or the next day. Food preparation was a daytime activity, whilst the playing of games took devote evenings and at weekends. Uses of the table were also seasonal: warmer weather and lighter evenings meant children played outside and grown-ups chatted on doorsteps. Changing the appearance of the table can also help alter the ambiance of the living room. On Sunday, the weekday tablecloth (or newspaper) may be replaced with a better cloth signifying the special nature of the day.

The centrality of your kitchen table declined in working-class homes following the Second World War but has increased in importance in middle-class homes. The range of living spaces increased in the former along side how many tables, during middle-class homes, your kitchen table grew in importance as did your kitchen itself. Present-day usage of kitchen tables thus reflects a convergence in domestic culture between the 2 classes, though contemporary advocates of the ‘farmhouse kitchen'rarely acknowledge its antecedents in the working-class living room.