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by Caroline Gephart
2 months ago in Design Dilemma
Anyone else tried white dinnerware?
My husband and I are building a new home and want to get new everyday dishes. We have looked at the Hotel Collection Bone China at Macy's but I am hesitant to go to white! Anyone else tried it? The ladies there told me it's great because you can change place mats/napkins/tablecloths/etc. and get color that way plus it shows off your food. I'm not sold though. Any thoughts?! Thank you!
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sam0705 We got the plain old Macy's cellar white square dishes for our wedding 6 years ago and they are still going strong. I love white for an everyday dish. Like the ladies said, it goes with any accessories or accent plates. Our china is more elaborate, but for every day white is great.
2 months ago · ·
kimdee24 Food always looks more appetizing on white dinnerware. That's why restaurants use it.
2 months ago · ·
shelleyuk Our dinner service is plain white. Everything always looks so much more elegant on it.
2 months ago · ·
Aja Mazin Excellent choice!
2 months ago · ·
maryryder I have used white dishes for many years. I use the square ones from crate and barrel. They go with ever decor and season changes. Only negative, is they are pretty heavy.
2 months ago ·
karen paul interiors Years ago I went consignment shopping and found all sorts of white china, different brands, different shapes, but all good china. I love the pieces and they are so easily replaced cheaply. I use them for everyday and dinner parties. I love that I can use place mats or damask linens or just whatever I have on hand. Also, they are wonderful when you create a color scheme and have fresh flowers for those special occasions.
2 months ago · ·
ASVInteriors I just read that Restoration Hardware have started a new tabletop collection in search of the perfect white plate in Elle Decor - so perhaps that is worth investigating (won't see it this side of the pond.... I will have to go fetch it!)
2 months ago ·
pvore Its all I ever use.....for about 10 years now! Love it!
2 months ago · ·
Susan K Go for it, you won't be disappointed, all I use too
2 months ago · ·
zenhome I wouldn't go for anything but white dinnerware. They are so versatile and like someone mentioned above, look great when used with coloured accent plates.
2 months ago ·
Patricia Pelgrims White. Always white.
2 months ago · ·
jan74 My dinnerware is all white.

Another bonus is that you can use colorful serving bowls, coffee cups, cereal bowls - the rule we use here is any solid matches a solid, so right now we have purple coffee cups, sage green cereal bowls, blue salad bowls, and so on.

Go white, you won't regret it.
2 months ago ·
DIAspoton i love my white. alone or mixed with patterned dessert plates. it goes with everything. dress it up or down. excellent choice.
2 months ago ·
RuthSings I have mostly white dinnerware. I pick up more whenever I feel like it and freely mix and match shapes and textures. At artisan fairs, I pick up hand-made ceramic mugs and serving pieces in a range of colors from purple to blue to green, all of them with a dipped/dripped color change somewhere on the piece. These really combine well with an eclectic mix of whites. I also like to sew and dressing up a table is very satisfying. The whites go with everything and tables never complain about the fit. :-)
2 months ago · ·
eshirley White can be casual or white can be elegant. I use a floral pattern salad plates and bowls with colored glassware with white plates. When I am ready to change the colors in my kitchen, I change the salad plates, bowls but keep the staple white plates. White mixes well at the holidays with bright reds, greens, golds, silver. Black and white are classic. I have 222 Fifth Eliza Plum, 222 Fifth Gabrielle Red, Johnson Bros. WIllow that change with my mood and I never get tired of the white plates and accessory pieces. I think white is the perfect choice.
2 months ago ·
eagledzines We've had white with a gold rim for many years. Our life style has been all over the place, from eating while sitting on the floor to serving a formal dinner with gold chargers and candles. It has served us well.
2 months ago ·
orangecamera I love all white dinnerware. I have used the heavy stoneware pieces in the past, but since developing shoulder issues, I switched to lightweight all-white Corelle for everyday dishes. I still prefer the look of stoneware though.
2 months ago · ·
Patricia Pelgrims While I said white, always white, I do have paterned dessert plates, but they have been bought at flea markets and they are vintage. It works well with white dinner sets.
The most important thing is the food on the plate. The food should be THE star and anything detracting from that is banished from my dinner table. So, no to blue, green or yellow plates. Yes to white.
You can create a certain mood with tablecoth, serviettes, flowers, candles....
2 months ago ·
williamhayden Hello Friends,

It was either throw out my apple shaped dish, and several others if truth be known, or figure out how to get that ugly white film off of them. Elbow grease is not my favorite way of doing anything so desperation took over.
I read everything I could and citric acid kept coming up. Well Fruit Fresh is basically citric acid and I happened to have some so I gave it a try. I put around 2 tablespoons in 4 cups of cold water and immersed my apple dish in it, 5 minutes later I checked it. I couldn't believe my eyes it was sparkling clear. No elbow grease needed. I dried it and put it in the cupboard looking like new. You must try it to believe and save your elbows!

Thanks and Regards,
William Hayden
2 months ago ·
henrithehorse Eshirely said it best.
2 months ago ·
janishill Do not hesitate. Purchase the Hotel Collection Bone China at Macy's You will never regret your decision.
2 months ago ·
sarahpost I use my the set my parents got for their wedding over 40 years ago! About 5 years ago I wanted to add to the collection and was able to still find the set. How's that for timeless?
2 months ago ·
eagledzines A basic full set of white dishes allows you to add interchangeable and coordinating color to your table. You can add small pieces of very expensive (or not) patterned dishes (formal as well as informal that are interchangeable) as well as solid dishes such as salad plates and dessert dishes as well as chargers. This comes in handy for all meals, breakfasts, brunches, lunches, and dinners as shown below.

Basic white also makes it easy to adding napkins, table cloths, placeholders and center pieces that change as your style change over the years.



2 months ago ·
One Specialty Landscape Design, Pools & Hardscape White dinnerware does make food look more appealing! I love my white china! The pics above shared by @eagledzines are a perfect example of how you can style your white dinnerware to suit your personality!
2 months ago ·
Stacey Taylor White is a great choice. All types of food look good on white. Add color & style with chargers, table cloth, place matts, napkins, napkin rings, flowers, candles, etc. that can be changed out/mixed & matched as you like.
2 months ago ·
Luciana I am a great believer in the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" so I had to go downstairs and photograph our plates' drawer (no wonder my friends call me bonkers!). Those are the plates we've been using every day, probably more than once a day, for the last 10 years; they get dish-washed daily and still look as new. I know they look like common plates in a drawer, but being bone china they have that almost translucent shade and apparent fragility (no chip in 10 years!!) that makes even the simplest food appear sophisticated in them. (These are British Denby China). I'm an eclectic/ hippy type person, but I'd never trade these plates for something else. And if my drawer doesn't convince you, I don't know what else would...
2 months ago · ·
gbroderick Love my mikasa bone china Lucerne white. I use it for my everyday. I have a large family love the versatility and I use chargers for holidays you can add beautiful mugs or by miss match for accents. white gives you a canvas to be creative!
2 months ago ·
pedalva I used to use a collection of Fiesta Ware dishes in all colors but changed to all white this past fall because I wanted to be able to use my collection of depression era glassware that is in various colors. I am so glad I did!! The glasses really pop with the all white dishes, and as others have said, you can use all sorts of different dishes and accents with them. They are so flexible you can decorate your table according to your mood.
2 months ago ·
Margaret Phillips Used all white for over twenty years, goes with everything. You can add holiday dishes and of course all your linens will go with it as well. White is so nice and crisp.
2 months ago · ·
Kristina Morgan White since the food looks so much better! It isn't a jumble of contrasting colors which can feel a little chaotic. It puts the emphasis on the food, where it belongs.
2 months ago · ·
Ironwood Builders I worked for years as a professional chef..San Francisco, Paris and NYC...cooked for Julia Child, Marcella Hazan, Paul Bocuse, Jaccques Pepin, plenty of Hollywood types... We used white plates to make the FOOD look good...that is what those people were there to do..to eat food. The restaurants spent incredible money on art, decor, tables and chairs, banquettes and barstools, lighting and flowers...but the linens and the plates were white....for the food to have a backdrop. All I have for place settings is white...fine white linens...fine sterling silver...
2 months ago · ·
Liz Davey I have used white dishes for the past 48 years. I prefer to decorate my plates with wonderfully garnished food. A friend long ago got brown plates with black rims. THey looked nice by themselves but not so good at all with food on them--very unappetizing.
2 months ago · ·
catcourage I switched from a pretty floral pattern to white and I am thrilled with the decision. It opens up so many colour and accessory options and food presents better.
2 months ago ·
Vida Flora Landscape Design I've used Fiestaware in all different colors for many years, and recently received a full set of white dinnerware from a relative. I love it! I am a color person, but have been very happy with the white dishes. Our home has concrete floors so when something drops, it always breaks. I like the idea of replacing broken plates and bowls with white. Go for it!
2 months ago ·
Carolina Photo To Go LLC I am with orange camera! I have used Corelle since I was 22! I love it's durability. It will break but rarely and you have to try very hard. I have had one item break in 40 years. I like it because you don't have to be careful around children. Having worked away from home, I can quickly load and unload a dishwasher without any worries. They have a website so you can easily order. Besides, you may never have to replace. You can use the money on something else.
2 months ago ·
celestial I have had white Corelle for everyday since college, 37 years ago! I am still using the same plates. They aren't totally indestructable, but very nearly. They have a very slim profile so you can stack a lot; very different from stoneware. I love mine.
2 months ago · ·
lilion I love my Correlle too! We use it for our everyday dishes, in plain white. We discovered the hard way it breaks if you drop it on tile. :-) In fact, it doesn't just break, it disintegrates! But otherwise it wears like nobody's business and looks good forever.
2 months ago ·
Liz Davey I absolutely loved my Centura that I got in 1965 but it would not go in the microwave. It was so much nicer than corelle. I got present Linens and things dishes about 8 years ago, but I sitll miss the Centura and in fact still am using the small plates and the small bowls as those did not come with the new set.
2 months ago ·
Caroline Gephart Well I did it and ordered 12 places of Hotel Collection Bone China in square from Macy's. Should be here in a few days. Thank you everyone!!
2 months ago · ·
DIAspoton good for you and do have fun mixing patterns and color with it as the mood strikes you. one of my favorite more sophisticated looks is to stay all white with china and napkins use crystal and silver including candlesticks. fresh white flowers.
2 months ago · ·
eshirley Congradulations! I think you will be very happy that you have chosen such a versatile pattern. You just can't go wrong with the classics. When you see those pretty little napkins at Macys, no matter what color, they will match and there will be no question.
2 months ago ·
pvore Wonderful! Don't get rid of your current dishes..... use them to mix and match. Have fun adding different pieces to suit your fancy! One of the best things about white dishes is that you do not have to spend a fortune to change things up!.....And i have never seen anything that did not "match" ;-) ! ! ! ! !
2 months ago ·
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