We have a neighborhood yard sale coming up in three weeks so we are starting to talk about what we want to sell since we plan on downsizing. The whole idea is liberating to me.
At last count I think I have moved 13 times in the last 17 years. Each time I moved I shed more belongings. It felt like the weight was literally being lifted off of me. So, now the process begins again. Since our house is not yet sold we are taking baby steps. We are doing things that can benefit us now and will eventually have to do when it is time to downsize.
Here is our first obstacle: DISHES! The classic case of his, mine and ours. We have always had the room for them so we never bothered getting rid of any.
Here we have his, Corelle with green ivy. I’m not a fan of the ivy at all but love the Corelle because they are virtually indestructible and great for the kids. We have enough for 8 place settings but that really isn’t enough for our family. We do not use paper plates and a family of five can go through quite a few dishes in a day.
Here is the set of dishes I came with. I love them but they are too heavy for the kids. They all are bringing their plates to the sink now and I want to make it as easy as possible! I only have a place setting for 4 so they have to go.
Here we have ours from the wedding registry. When we picked this Pottery Barn set we thought we would love them. We are big fans of Pottery Barn but as we buy more of their product they start losing a little more points with me. The quality is lacking. Two plates have been broken so far. My husband found out the hard way that the plates are not microwaveable and another time he just put the plate down on the counter a little harder than usual and it snapped in half. With 3 kids I can’t have my plates snapping in half. I don’t like the plates because they are more bowl like and I don’t like when my food runs together. (I know, I know it all goes to the same place)
See, they all fit quite nicely. This won’t be the case in the next house. So far we haven’t looked at any with 42″ tall cabinets.
While I’m at it I will throw in the cups as well. We all use the cheap plastic (again, indestructible) cups.
These are my lovely little goblets we bought from Pier1 last year but they have been tucked away in a box ever since. I think it’s time for the grown ups to break away from the plastic! Needles to say no matter what dishes we buy this will be the glass that goes with them.
So, this is what we eat on until the yard sale. All of the dishes will go and we will buy one set that the whole family can use but it still has to look nice. Top priority is that it has to be nearly indestructible and second fairly inexpensive. Corelle is still an option if we find a pattern we can agree on. I am almost wanting to do something a little retro in the next kitchen.
Here is where you come in. I have been scouring websites looking for indestructible fairly inexpensive dinnerware and I would love to get some input from my readers. What do you use at home? What do you like and dislike about your dishes? I would especially love to hear from those with kids.
The yard sale is April 19th so I have less than a month to find new dishes. The next couple of weeks I will continue to search my house for items that have extended their stay. It is time to shed a few more inches.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m new here, following a link from Sharon B.’s blog. I’ve been using the same pattern of white stoneware (Johnson Bros. Athena) since 1966. I know they’re probably heavier than you want, though. The first 4 place settings were for my own first apartment, and when we married, I didn’t see anything I preferred. More recently I’ve picked up plates in another pattern of stoneware from Myott Meakin. All the English potters make whiteware, and they look fine mixed on the table, IMO. Serving pieces are a mixture, too, of the same Athena, other makes, and clear glass. Since it’s all open stock, I can add pieces from thrift stores or garage sales as they turn up, or buy new, if I’m desperate.
Thanks for all of the comments! I think I am leaning more toward the white Corelle myself.
Diane, another great point. They do fit nicely into the dishwasher. That is another huge selling point for me.
I also like the Fiestaware and the variety of colors. I wonder how well they fit in the dishwasher. :)
Things to think about. I will keep you posted on what we decide.
Thanks sweetpeas for bringing up the leaching of plastics I hadn’t really thought about it for the cups. I will have to look into that more.
Debi, 36 years on the same Corelle, way to go! That is too funny. It may be to late to retrain the husband with new dishes though. It just throws everything off balance!
Nice to meet you. I had to share my giggle at your question. When DH and I married we elected NOT to register flatware or china because we thought we should get to know each other as husband and wife first, then choose something we both liked. In the meantime, we asked people to give us the plain, white Corelle.
Dh and I will be married 36 years in June. While, at year 30 we were able to find flatware we liked, we have yet to find dishes. Don’t want China, but we can’t agree on anything! Finally bored with those white dishes (yes, they survived the birth, growing and leaving home of two boys), I started buying little cheap sets at Target, but DH still uses the Corelle.
Sorry I can’t be more help.
We only use Corelle here, for the same reasons you have discussed. Plus, they just fit nicely in the dishwasher. I am tired of my set and am seriously considering the white ones. I have to say, my Corelle dishes are TEN years old, and they look brand new!
Hi, well yardsales are a favorite subject of mine & I love dishes too. In fact, I got my dishes at a yardsale. I decided I wanted some creamy white dishes & ran across a brand new hardly used set at a yardsale (they are Pfaltzgraff Filigree) for $10, so I bought the 8 place settings. I really loved them so much that I found another 4 place settings on Ebay (of course, not as good a deal, but not bad), so now I have 12 place settings. And I love the fact that I can mix it all up with creamware that I also pick up at yardsales. They aren’t all exactly the same tone, but they definitely work together & I love displaying the creamware in my DR. And one big plus, food looks SO good on a white plate!
Fun subject!
Rhoda
I have 12 place-settings for our family of 3. Half live in the kitchen and half live in the china hutch. Great for company! The dishes are ones that I bought 7 years ago (Horchow) when I was first married. They are all white and kind of heavy. Our three year old has his own set of melamine (no microwaving).
A caveat on Fiestaware: Make sure you are buying the newer kind. The older fiestaware may contain lead.
~J
I also like Fiestaware. My 5 yr old uses it every day and we’ve never had a chipped or broken piece. It has been around forever and it is fun to mix and match the pieces.
I use Fiestaware and it works great. It can take a lot of use, comes in lots of awesome colors and goes with everything! Looks really stylish and yet non fussy. I buy a new setting of every color that comes out…stores run sales quite frequently so it is fairly inexpensive. Fiestaware has been around for years, so is also “retro”
–Ali
Another vote for Corelle, I haven’t looked at their current patterns recently (I got the ivy pattern at the outlets 11 yrs ago, don’t think we’ve broken any yet)but you can’t go wrong w/ the white :) I also use the corelle mugs as cups for my kids, pretty much can’t break them (at least we haven’t yet) but none of the leaching issues of plastic.
Corelle are my favorite. I have been thinking about going all white myself.
I don’t have any great ideas for you – I’ve been thinking about getting rid of my mismatched stuff and getting Corelle (7 kids here) – but I still have 5 of these, 4 of those, and a piece that matched the other thing. :-)
I love your goblets though! I’m going to check out Pier 1 when I get a chance!
Toni, They used to carry the ivy dishes at Walmart too but I have not checked in store lately. They are not shown online. I’m trying to avoid going the ebay route with dishes, I really don’t want the headache of trying to package them so that they will not break. The ivy ones are inexpensive and would be easy to unload at a yard sale.
Laura, I do love the durability of the Corelle. You can practically drop kick them across the room and nothing will happen. They have been dropped on tile before and nothing happened. I keep going back to the white. That is an option.
And, Toni I love the idea of going with basic white and picking up pieces along the way that will complement it. That way I can make my own style! Something to think about.
Thanks Ladies!
I am a HUGE Corelle fan myself. I went with the all white ones so that they go with everything. We use them everyday and for company. Because they are white I can decorate the table any color I want for any season around them. It really works great.
I hear ya on the mixed and matched dishes. I wonder, however, if you couldn’t get a good price on ebay for some of the more unique pieces, such as the Corelle green ivy.
I started my dish collection with a simple white set from my local department store (ie: Walmart, etc.). That was a couple of years ago, and they are still in good shape. However, I don’t have kids and they are microwaveable.
Have you tried looking at an Ikea catalog? Their products are usually pretty durable and inexpensive. The pieces are simple in design, which allows for customizing the kitchen without having to buy all new dishes… which is why I love my basic white set. I’ve added red dishes from Ross (randomly unique) and green mixing bowls… huge blue cereal/soup/ice cream bowls… the possibilities are endless.