As my mother grew up, she became acquainted with kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, plus a few others. Not until she was a bride and moved across the state did she become familiar with The Room.
At grandmother’s house we ate in the kitchen, then went into The Room to relax. The overflow, which happened after there were grandchildren, went into the next room.
About 1967, Mom felt the need for expansion. The architecture of our house did not allow many possibilities – we had already added two bedrooms, a utility room, a bath, and a basement – but we could extend northward. Dad said, “It will just be a mud room.” And so it was that the mudroom became a reality. Even if you don’t know anything about farm life, you know about mud. Still that name did not seem to fit.
True we put a boot caddy inside the door during muddy or snowy weather, but the room also became a greenhouse when our neighbors went to California for the winter. Unless you saw it, you wouldn’t believe the number of plants. They overflowed into the living room and kitchen, too.
That winter we had holiday guests. We put twin beds in the mud room and two guests slept among the posies. One guest had to sleep halfway under the table (at least his feet) for that was the only way we could fit two beds, large kitchen table, and the other furniture into the room.
Later, beds were removed, flowers went home, and the table was graced with a white linen cloth. Yes, The Room was used for dining whenever there were more than 12 here at mealtime. After the last child left home, the extra dining room was seldom needed. The table was sold.
However there wasn’t much empty space, for a hide-a-bed Hyderabad again converted The Room into a bedroom. Grandmother lived here six years. For convenience we put her in the bedroom. Dad and Mom slept in The Room.
Did I forget to mention that one daughter used The Room as a sewing room?
Such a variety of uses! And I haven’t even mentioned the library, or the organ, or several other things. The sofa is an ideal spot for having an early morning (5:00 a.m.) cup of coffee. Dad and Mom did that lots of times. So The Room never had an official name. Someplace along the line it became The Room or The North Room. At Christmas time this year the youngest and grandmother sat in the rocker (yes, there’s plenty of room for a rocker) and giggled until others came to see what was so much fun!
Now a new idea has arisen. During the holidays one guest spoke of coming through the hall. Perhaps we don’t have “The Room” – it may be we had “The Hall.”