Sitting down for dinner looks different in every household. Some families have homecooked meals, others order takeout, some start with a prayer while others dig into their food while its still piping hot. No matter what the table looks like in one’s home, there is always one event that strings family meals together. Surprisingly it isn’t just the food but the interactions around the dinner table. From the dynamic of the family setup to the conversations that perspire during the time of sharing a meal, the memories that many people build often involve the setting of a family meal. Family can mean a plethora of different things to those involved, for some, it is purely blood relatives while for others it could be their best friend, maybe even their furry companion. The dynamic of family meals comes from the atmosphere of the space but more so from that of the people within that space. Many of the memories that I hold come from time around the table, from sharing details about each person’s day to discussing last Saturday’s football game, the times I think about my dining room often involve fond memories with family. So how can a space be created to hold these memories? It does not look the same for every person and it is not always positive for everyone either but there are ways to curate space that evokes conversation and memory-making.
