Our lovely new tablecloth.

In generations gone by—Baby Boomers and earlier, mostly—they used to use a lot of things in the kitchen and dining room that we as a greater society don’t use so often anymore. I’m sure some people do, but it isn’t ubiquitous.

Things like tablecloths. Placemats. Serving dishes (separate from what the food was cooked in). Fancy china. Crystal platters. Candy dishes.

I feel like we’ve gone a bit more utilitarian as a society, unless you have the money to buy and space to store lots of these kinds of extras. Or unless you entertain a lot, but even a lot of entertaining has gone considerably more casual over the years.

We, ourselves, mostly go the utilitarian route, but sometimes we feel a bit fancy, and pull out a tablecloth. Or a hand-me-down crystal platter. Until recently, we had one (1) single tablecloth. But we really liked this holiday one from IKEA (see photo above), so now we have two. And it was a bargain, on a huge sale. It’s part of their holiday designs this year, and has holiday colors, but it would be just as fitting for a spring or summer spread.

We’re channeling our inner grandmothers, and it brings us joy. If/when we have grandbabies, you better believe those hand-me-down crystal candy dishes will come out.

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