I am back this week with another round of dishes to share and hopefully inspire! My close friends know I love to “collect” dishes of all sorts. From my cherished Bordallo Pinheiro to the latest Royal Wessex I pick up at TJ Maxx…I can’t help it, I am a dish addict! The fun thing about collecting dishes is the thrill of acquiring a vintage or out-of-production pattern from an antiques shop or estate sale. I love to search on Ebay for old dishes to mix in with my current inventory. I mix fine china with $4.99 plates from HomeGoods without giving it a second thought. As I stated in my previous post on Wedding China, you do not have to spend a fortune collecting interesting pieces for your entertaining or tablescape needs. I keep a list of my plates, salad plates, accent dishes and chargers in my phone notes, so I am always up-to-date on my collection and can quickly decide if a new “find” will work for my tablescapes. If you are just starting out, or starting over, keep in mind that a simple white or bone/ivory plate can mix with just about any salad plate, soup bowl or accent dish you run across in your shopping. I try to limit my purchases of dinner plates, salad plates or accent pieces by determining if I can use the item with at least two or three pieces already in my collection. A white or bone/ivory plate is easy to dress up with colorful, seasonal dishes from even your local Dollar Store. I had a hard time finding something “orange” for my Fall and Halloween tablescape last year….I drove my daughter and niece crazy going to every store I could think of…then we happened to just take a chance of stopping in at a Dollar Tree and found simple, plain orange salad plates! At $1 each, they were a cheap find and if I break them at some point, I am not out a lot of dough!
I am going to jump to my pictures of dinner plates mixed with various salad plates and accent pieces…hopefully you’ll gain some ideas and inspirations for your tablescaping!
Below are my Lenox Butler’s Pantry Dinner Plates with assorted salad plates:
with Butler’s Pantry salad 
with Bordallo Pinheiro salad 
with Matceramica Yellow Dot salad 
Royal Stafford Red Bull Inn salad 
Royal Stafford Scattered Flowers 
Queen’s by Churchill Tonquin Blue salad 
Royal Wessex by Churchill Calico Blue salad 
Simple Santa accent plate by Department 56
I hope this simple collection will get you interested in exploring your current dish collection and look for ways to mix and match for a fun table!
I’ll be back with more “Mix and Match Dishes”….so stay tuned!
