Crockery - YouLookFab Forum

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Crockery

Adela

Angie, I was really happy to see than you collect crockery! Do we have more collectors of crockery here? I would love to see your collections! I love crockery. Now that we moved to a bigger home I want to expand my (at the moment small) collection. But I have a challenge: as I like to buy different plates it is sometimes difficult to attain a cohesive look. For instance, I am hosting a Christmas dinner for 12 people this year, and I don't have that many plates of the same collection. I don't want to buy a set of 12 pieces because I get bored easily and don't want to be limited to this 1 set. Do you have any ideas?

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17 replies

Latest reply was from Bijou

rachylou

Veteran

I love buying dishes. I should stop. I buy in sets of two or four just for evenness around the table... not that I’d ever have to set a table for 12+ with my own china, ‘cuz there’s grandma’s service for like a bazillion, lol.

Style Fan

Veteran

My mother collected china. I don't but I do like pottery. I have one set of dishes and I got them as a wedding gift when I got married the first time. For serving dishes I use different pottery and wooden dishes. I try to pick a theme to pull everything together. My dishes are blue and white with a small brown edge. They look a bit like pottery (Denby stoneware). I use placemats, flowers, candles, etc. to create an interesting look. We live in a natural setting so I tend to go with that theme a lot.

I think having different dishes would be very interesting. You could create a very beautiful table with your collection. I would look at some images on Pinterest on how to do this. Pick colours and themes to bring the dishes together. I have seen this done and it is gorgeous.

cindysmith

Veteran

I tend to be all over the place with my dishes and serving pieces and bakeware. I have 2 sets of dishes for 6. Most of my serving pieces are 'oddball' fun bits and bobs I've picked up at various yard/garage/estate sales or discount retailers. My neighbor collects cobalt crockery and probably has a collection worth a bazillion dollars (she used to be an antique dealer), so I get to live vicariously through her collection

Kyle

Veteran

See if you can mix and match your dinnerware so it looks intentional and eclectic.

JAileen

Veteran

If you need just a few more dishes, check out thrift stores.

I have two sets of dishes. Our everyday is Williams Sonoma Brasserie, a plain white classic modern porcelain. Our “good” set is Villeroy and Boch Tipo. It’s also a white porcelain, with a subtle golf ball pattern. Ten minutes after I bought it, they discontinued it. I like porcelain because it’s very sturdy. I’ve gone through so many sets of stoneware that chips and breaks. The WS is very durable.

I like white because it looks good with any tablecloth, and isn’t busy, and food looks good on it.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Good grief. WHERE DO I START, with our crockery collection? It's enormous and makes me and Greg VERY happy. Every meal is a pleasure to plate

I have a service that is as old as me that I ate from when I was growing up. I have custom made crockery that I inherited. I buy crockery on our travels and haul it back! Sometimes I buy two of a setting only. This is a collection of over 50 years, and I'm not stopping. It's my thing. Every crockery item has a story and is sentimental. Nothing was bought or inherited without great thought to earn a place in our home.

Here is SOME of it as we unpacked and moved four months ago. The colourful items! It has to be ASIAN, and not Western. We also have very modern WHITE everything crockery that creates a great juxtaposition. That's the Euro part, that you don't see here. Just a glimpse of it in pic #4.

I mix it ALL up, and we use EVERY piece! I LOVE CROCKERY!!!

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rachylou

Veteran

Lol, Angie. I am not alone! YLF is the best place ever!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

You are in great company, Rachy!

Adela, to answer your question, I don't have 12 of anything. I have 8 or 10 in some cases, but that is rare. I like to mix it up, BUT it has to work together. I like mixing patterns though, and the colours that run through the crockery are very consistent. They are the same colours that run through our home - and my style

Anonymous

Fellow dishes lover here. When we moved earlier this spring, I chose to significantly downsize my collection as there simply isn't room (at the moment) to store it all in the more modern condo we live in . The only set I have more than 4-6 pieces of is what was our wedding china (seems such an outdated concept now and makes me feel 100 years old to even write that). When we moved, I decided that it would become our everyday dinnerware.. Why keep something preciously stored away only to use it 2x a year? I now replace and add to my serving and "regular eating* pieces when I see something I really like, and sometimes it's only 2 or 4 of each piece. In terms of hosting a lot of people, I love the look of mixed patterns and colours ! I can't even tell you how large my placemat and tablecloth collection used to be too

Angie - where do you store all of your dishes? Do you have the kitchen cupboard space for it all?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Lisa P, storage was a challenge in the new loft. YES, we have kitchen cupboard space, AND we have a very handy side board in our dining area that is a full of crockery. Everything fits and I have additional space! We are extremely minimal on the placemats though, and there are no table cloths - so more room for crockery

Adela

Thank you all, my fellow admirers and collectors of crockery! Rachy, I hear you, I also love buying dishes! Style Fan, is your mother's china collection still there? I'm asking because my mother "cleared out" all of her older plates and I'm still sorry for them. Cindysmith, cobalt crockery collection? It must be magnificent. JAileen, I agree, white is very elegant and practical, but I get bored easily so I need to mix it. Oh, Angie, that is a beautiful collection! So if I understood properly, you have Asian and Western pieces and you mix them in a cohesive way. But it's not as easy as it looks, at least not for me! I think that I will have to pick either a theme/style or similar colours. Actually, I can make different "capsule collections", the same as with clothes And ok, probably will have to buy a pure white set to use it with everything else. Like a neutral.

LisaP, now I wish I had wedding china- but I didn't like the idea when I was getting married, unfortunatelly. And I think that it's wonderful that you're using it now- why wait?

Style Fan

Veteran

Angie, your collection is beautiful. Gorgeous colours. Adela, making capsules is an excellent idea. Wonderful.
I only have a few of my mother's dishes. I am not a fine china person. Not at all. My brother took one set (I think she had 4) and I donated the rest to an animal shelter for their fundraising event. I am sure they have gone to a good home.
I am glad I decided to do the wedding dishes thing but one set is it for me. I do love having pottery serving dishes, placemats and accessories for the table. I also have some nice vases.

Joy

Veteran

I wish I had done what I wanted to and collected blue and white patterned china and mixed it up. I also wish I had collected different rise patterned ( or pansies) cups and saucers with a couple of tea pots and a bunch of dessert plates. I do have a capsule of several brands of a deep red colored crockery that I love using. The color goes with greens for Christmas, earth tones like orange and browns for fall, and blue and white for national holidays. I also have a capsule of Japanese dishes that look handmade pottery. I use them after New Years and through the spring/summer.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Adela, crockery capsules sound great

YES. All our patterned crockery is ASIAN apart from three items I bought in Positano, Italy last year. Other than that - no exceptions! Even my Wedgewood set is Asian in design. The white crockery is very modern and Euro. Scandi. Goes with everything. The colours and patterns of our crockery work together. Broad but very cohesive in palette. Like my wardrobe and our home, actually. It's a theme.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Wow, I love your dishes, Angie! Gorgeous! And so clever to stick to a theme and enjoy your beautiful colours.

I'm not a collector but I do enjoy beautiful crockery and might begin after reading this thread!

Murph11

Veteran

Big fan here! I have a curated collection of 15 mid-century modern gravy boats on display in our kitchen that make me VERY happy. I’ve used them for centerpieces down an extra long table filled with flowers and tapers for Thanksgiving, as well as sauces of all kinds. I have just enough, so I can only add if I’m willing to let go of one. (Echoes my closet no-growth policy.)

I also inherited my mom’s blue and white Spode as well as a dear family friend’s large set in a similar-but-different pattern, and I love to mix them!

We entertain frequently, and I love that all our serving pieces are plain white. It helps make a buffet or serving table look orderly.

Bijou

Veteran

I inherited a stunning but incredibly formal Wedgewood dinner set. It was rarely used but much loved by my parents. The only issue to using it is that it needs to be hand washed. I have a plain white Wedgewood dinner set that works perfectly with this - it is the same style but just not embellished - and happily goes in the dishwasher. When I have guests, I use my white set and use Mum's beautiful serving dishes and platters.

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