This week I’ve been helping my parents out while my kids are at camp. I grew up in this house but only lived in it for about twenty years—I’ve now lived in Virginia longer.
This particular room was my favorite. The midcentury builders conceived of it as an elegant knotty-pine dining room with closing pocket doors opening onto the living room: my parents, with us ten kids to seat at the dining table, knocked down the connecting wall and bought a long extending table from the Amish to accommodate us all. They mounted large mirrors to bounce light around and help us grow in self-confidence. (PS: that totally worked)
