Building my china collection

*LeslieAnn*

I guess entertaining is the best board to ask this on, so hopefully y'all can help me! I got almost all my china place settings as wedding gifts, but place settings were all I got. What pieces do I start acquiring next? I'm not sure if I should try to get the serving pieces (like the sugar and creamer set, platters, etc.) or the add on pieces (like dessert plates, fruit bowls, soup bowls, etc.). If anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it! Thanks all and happy nesting!

TarHeels&Rebels

Hi!  Welcome to the nest   So happy to see a nestie from my part of the country!

For which pieces you'll actually use, I say go with serving dishes like bowls and platters.  I have never said, "oh, darn, I wish I had a creamer" lol.  I have said, numerous times, "oh, how I wish I had another serving bowl this size."

I have a set of china from my father that includes fruit bowls, and I gotta tell you, they're one heck of a useless piece of china.  Never used them and never had an occasion to pull them out.  I mean, how often are you going to serve fruit cocktail in your china? lol  Dessert plates are useful.  They'd be the first china piece I'd fill in.  Consider a really fun coordinating pattern instead of your main pattern.

My advice would be to get silver or pewter serving pieces and not china pieces.  I have a few reasons for it.  1) You can use the silver/pewter for every occasion between cookouts and formal dinners.  2) You can only use the china pieces for those formal times you're using your china.  3) You'll have to store two sets of serving dishes then - casual and formal.  I only have my silver/pewter serving pieces, nothing else.  4) You can find silver pieces for just a few dollars at thrift stores or inherit them for free.  5) If you have a table set entirely with china, silver/pewter will change up the landscape and give your eye something different to look at.  6) It doesn't break.  

cclilac12

I agree, after the place settings, I went with serving pieces. I ended up with almost a dozen soup bowls from a promotion when I received the place settings, and I actually skipped the dessert plates, figuring I could always use the salad plates again if I really wanted. However, I'd recommend thinking through a couple meals that you'd serve with china and figure out what you'd really use. If you always sit down to coffee / tea after a fancy meal, then those items might be higher on your list than someone who cracks open an extra bottle of wine. Same goes for dessert dishes/fruit bowls, etc.

Personally, I'm not a fan of silver. I know I'll end up inheriting most of my mom's. Since my everyday dishes are plain white, I ended up asking for some of the other pieces in a plain white as well - the creamer, butter dish, S&P shakers, serving dishes. Some have a bit of a red accent, others are all white. I figured I can use those with my china and a silver serving spoon and it would work pretty well. 

*LeslieAnn*

Thanks ya'll! I really appreciate your help. I never thought about getting some coordinating silver pieces, but I'll start doing some research for pieces that'll look good. Guess I'll start saving up for my platters! Thanks again!

Ginger Le Coeur

So I have to ask... because I'm nosy... what is your china pattern?  (If you don't mind sharing...) I bought the Lenox Eternal Gold a long time ago, and really wish i had gone with the platinum, but I still like it. My sister has the Waterford Ballet Slipper pattern with the different color dessert plates and I love that pattern.

BTW... totally agree with previous poster. Platters, dessert plates perfect! If you don't like silver or pewter, I would find a simple cream and sugar bowl... no need to purchase the one that matches your china.

 

*LeslieAnn*

I don't mind sharing at all! I tend to brag about my pattern anyway. My pattern is Noritake Birchwood. I originally wanted the Kate Spade Gardner Street, but the place settings were so expensive I figured I wouldn't get any of them. My great grandmother's china was Noritake, so I decided I would search through them and find a pattern I liked. Behold! Noritake Birchwood looks strikingly similar to the Kate Spade pattern and is about $60 less per place setting, so that's what I chose! It is white fine porcelain with platinum leafy branches around it. It's nice enough to be china, but different enough that people notice it and always commend me on my choice of pattern. My sister chose Lenox and I have to admit that I'm a little jealous of the unique china pieces they offer.