so you know how sometimes places have engraved plastic plaques/labels/signs on doors to say, “conference room” or “janitorial supplies” or whatever? this weekend, at the church my choir performed at, there was a sign near a door that read, “pink kitchen.” not just “kitchen.” not something like “sanctuary kitchen.” specifically (and permanently enough to have a sign made about it) this kitchen is apparently pink. the door was locked, so i couldn’t confirm this fact, but it made me smile.

when i was growing up, we had a living room and a family room but since none of us could ever keep straight which was which, they were referred to as, “the green room” and “the orange room” because of their respective carpet colors. even years after we had upgraded to more neutral carpet colors, the rooms were still called the green and orange rooms. then, in my grandma’s old house (the one my dad and his siblings did most of their growing up in) there was “the red room.” that room was seriously red. the floor was some sort of vinyl surface that was pebbly and red, the walls were red and the furniture in the room was red. it always felt very cozy to me. i also adored the two gabled nooks in that room and in the room across the hall. they were my favorite spots in the house. i think that in later years, the red room walls were painted white (not sure if the floor was changed) and when grandma moved out, somehow my sister got the use of the red furniture. later, i think my grandma used one of the pieces in her tiny apartment and repainted it. in the most recent furniture shuffle, i got the red bedside table with three drawers. it looks great in my guest room and i’m so pleased to have my own little piece of the red room.