I’m reaching out to you all to get some feedback about everyday china. For Christmas, some of my family members gave us some funds so that we could replace our 10 1/2 year old everyday china. We’ve been using Colorwave in Graphite by Noritake (pictured below) ever since we got married, and I stopped liking it about 5 years ago. So this was a really wonderful gift to receive!
For several years, I have been saying that when I get the opportunity to change my everyday china, I’m going to buy all white plates, but buy several different patterns so that nothing matches perfectly but everything still looks cute together.
I still think that is a fun idea, but now that I am able to get new plates, I’m getting cold feet! Is this idea of an eclectic pattern-mixing display only good in theory? I want that, “you shopped at a thrift store and knocked it out of the park” look, which I know is possible to achieve. But I fear what is more likely is a, “you shopped at the thrift store and now you have a pile of weird and non-matching dishes” look.
Why is looking effortlessly fabulous so hard, people?!
I suppose I’m timid because I’ve lived for 10 1/2 years eating off plates that I didn’t really like and I don’t want to make the same mistake for the next 10 years!
So what would you do if you were in my shoes? Would you keep it nice and neat and just find one simple pattern, or would you take a walk on the wild side and get all different plates that are still the same color? Or would you take the middle road and do something like mix just 2 patterns together for more cohesion? Have you ever changed out your everyday china? Any regrets with what you own now?
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me. I need some different perspectives!
Nancy says
I have basic white china with a raised bubble around the rim of the plate. I’d go with all white china and then add sets of colored or patterned bowls, etc as you find them on sale.
Tiffany Merritt says
I think that’s a great idea, too! Perhaps the salad plates and the bowls could be the source of pops of color. Thanks for your input!
Barbara says
My sister uses a “mix-n-match” pattern through Pfaltzgraf (it’s retired now, she was married 14 years ago). The colors are the same, but different patterns (bands, floral, stripes, etc). It’s nice because she isn’t bored with the same thing. I did the wedding show rounds with her back then, and Wedgewood did a presentation that all dinner plates could be white (same shape, rim/no rim, square/round, etc), and then change up the dessert/salad plates with colors/patterns. I think this would be good for everyday china, just make sure that the dinner plates “match” (again all have rim or no rim, square or round) but have different white on white patterns or some have no patterns, and it will look eclectic chic.
Tiffany Merritt says
Very interesting! It never occurred to me that there may be some patterns our there that do mix-n-match by design! I’ll have to look into that! And that’s also a good idea to think about keeping the dinner plates very plain and the same and bringing in a pop of color and variety with the salad plates. You’ve given me much to think about!
_emily_rose says
I think the magic number is 3 or 4. Try 3 or 4 different patterns or shapes to mix in match. My everyday china is round fiestaware in 3 colors. I’m still building my set, but I have 4 settings in white, 2 in orange, and 2 in yellow. I can use all white if I like, I can bust out the orange and white for gameday, and all 3 look nice in my kitchen. I like that it’s mostly white, and I’ve picked up some avacado green ceramic serving pieces from World Market that fit in nicely on my table too. I love the mix and match that stick within a color pallet.
My advice for you is to vary one thing, either shape or weight. You may want to vary your shapes more than the weight of the plate or vice versa. If you’re just starting to experiment, it might be too much to mix thin round plates with thick square ones.
Good luck and have fun!
My other advice is to pick pieces that you love. If you love the individual pieces, then odds are you’ll at least like them when you put them together.
Tiffany Merritt says
Very good point about just varying one aspect instead of several. I bet if I looked at pictures of place settings that were mix-and-match and looked super cute that they would have elements that would tie them in together (like a similar shape or weight) even though you might not initially notice it. That’s one way to ensure that your eclectic look actually works, I suppose! Thanks for chiming in!
Tamara Sz says
I like the idea of mix and match. Maybe 2 or 3 different patterns and maybe 12 settings, so you could do all the same for your family of 4 sometimes, if you like.
Tiffany Merritt says
This really might be the way to go. It can look eclectic without looking junky this way!