As a little girl the one thing I absolutely loved was a beautiful tea set, now I'm grown up not much as changed apart from I now love beautiful dinnerware.
So how do you go about creating the perfect dining experience.
First, you're going to need to know, how many place settings do I need?
Well, this will depend on the size of your household or if you're entertaining how many people you've got coming to dinner. If you're a large family or love to entertain I think you'll need a minimum of 12 place settings.
For most households for everyday use, 12 place settings is ideal and this will also allow for those extra when entertaining.
A boxed dinner set can be a good investment if you have relatively simple needs.
If you're buying a value set for everyday use, you'll probably discover the set comes as 12 pieces/4 place settings containing a dinner plate, side plate, and bowl, sometimes with mugs for everyday use or with additional cups and saucers for entertaining.
How you buy your dinner set is your choice, you can either buy a complete set or choose open stock dinnerware that allows you to mix and match to meet your needs and create your own unique set.
Secondly, be practical!
Think about cost, availability and purpose.
Are you buying for everyday use or for special occasions?
Will be you able to purchase a replacement piece?
Is it reasonably priced to buy it all now or will you need to purchase half now and half later?
Think about durability
Intended use
Practicality
There is no point buying beautiful huge dinner places if they won't fit in your cupboards. Fine bone china and porcelain are relatively expensive but may not be microwave or dishwasher safe. They are however, thin, lightweight and elegant.
Stoneware and earthenware are durable and usually suitable for the microwave and dishwasher but they also can chip and break easily.
You may recall at the start of this blog, I said how do you create the perfect dining experience. So thirdly, you need to look at your dining decor.
Is your dining area brightly coloured or full of pattern? If so, you may wish to choose a neutral dinner set which will compliment perfectly. Or, if your decor is neutral then you can add aesthetic design elements with beautiful dinnerware.
It's always worth adding some neutrals to compliment your dinner set as too much pattern can become visually overwhelming. Maybe opt to add a neutral tablecloth, complimentary napkins. Mix classic and contemporary patterns or square and circular shapes, mix and match to create the ideal set.
Once you've decided on the perfect dinner set then it's time to create the perfect table. I would suggest you always use two patterns and one plain, don't be afraid to mix it up using new contemporary design with those vintage designs, this will create a striking effect.
