Random poll: On using fancy things

EmmieB

So as I was digging through the garage looking for candlesticks (which I found) we were reminded that we've got Crystal stemware boxed up back there. It was a wedding present from a friend - we did not register for it, but he's the kind of friend who thinks nothing of going to extra mile. They're not entirely our style, but we like them well enough and decided to pull them out and use them for the holiday season at least. 

Also - my husband inherited an Italian wardrobe from my crazy-ass boss, so on a casual day, he's in jeans with an Armani shirt...he reserves his t-shirts for sleeping, manual labor, and cooking things that may spatter.

Which makes me wonder - how many other people keep their "cheap" stuff boxed up and use the "Fancy" stuff every day?

 

 

[Poll]

dani2480

Some of it is boxed up. Some of it is put away in our buffet. Some of it is on display. We don't use it frequently, but I love pulling it out for special occasions. I'd definitely like to use it more, since I always feel like it's such a shame to have beautiful things and not enjoy them.

mrs.jacinthe

I answered for myself. I say, why buy/own nice things if you never use them? So any of my "nice" things get used on a regular basis. 

DH, on the other hand, is a "save for special occasions" kind of guy.  As in, he'll buy an expensive chocolate treat while he's travelling for work, bring it home, and "save it" for whenever ... but it goes bad while he's saving it.  So then he regrets saving it so long.  He's getting better about it, though.

hersheykiss

I grew up in a very southern home that had our every day china that we used and then we had our special occassion china, silver, etc. We do not use "fancy" stuff every day but occassionally I will pull out the nice stuff just because. I have crystal candlesticks on the table, and a lot of "nicer" things out to use as we want, but we eat every day on $20 set of plates from BBB.

DH's work clothes consist of shorts or jeans & nicer tshirts to work (think Eddie Bauer shirts, or henleys not polos or dress shirts). I wear business casual to work so I normally am seen in dress pants & blouses. Tshirts for me are for sleeping and I don't own "house work" clothes just because I don't want to buy 2 different types of wardrobes. My lounging clothes are pjs.

Mrs.BoomBoom

I registered for china that was nice but that we could use every day because I wanted to USE it.  (it's Lenox) Part of decorating for Christmas is swapping them out for the Spode Christmas Tree.  We use our nice things all the time.

Most of our stuff is more mid-grade though so it looks nice but it's not super expensive but I've gotten rid of our cheap stuff as we've upgraded.

Rock-n-Voll

We're not really fancy stuff people for the most part so I voted that we don't have any. However, I guess our tableware is sort of middle of the road. We have Henkels silverware and Denby dishware so more expensive than the stuff you get at Target but cheaper than fine china and real silverware. We use our stuff every day.

hannikan

Mrs.BoomBoom:

Most of our stuff is more mid-grade though so it looks nice but it's not super expensive but I've gotten rid of our cheap stuff as we've upgraded.

Yeah us, too. Our "fancy" china is really considered everyday but I liked it enough to register for it as our fancy stuff. We actually still need to buy a few more pieces of it for a full set. We do use some parts of it everyday though. My everyday stuff after almost all chipped or broke so we took MIL old everyday stuff when she got new. We have a set of wine glasses that I consider fancy but they're the only ones we have. So when we have wine, we use those. Our drinking glasses actually match (they're all square) but they're not as expensive. There are some fancy things I leave for only special occasions, like my sterling silver pasta server and pie server. Things I didn't register for but people gave us.

Roni.Cedra

We don't have a ton of FANCY things as in china or silver, but our regular items are nice and the real deal--as in buy it right the first time and it will last you a lifetime. 

  

CarFar

We have nice china and crystal, no silver. It's used, but not regularly, but also not just for " special occasions " I'll bring it out because.

EmmieB

Roni.Cedra:

We don't have a ton of FANCY things as in china or silver, but our regular items are nice and the real deal--as in buy it right the first time and it will last you a lifetime. 

  

this is totally our philosophy. that and i want to love every single thing i touch every day. If I'm just "meh" about something it gets donated.

Passanie

I guess we don't have very much "fancy" stuff. No china, with the exception of the plates MIL bought us last month. I wouldn't call them fancy, but I do have some unusual, brightly colored serving dishes of uncommon sizes. I'll use those for everyday dinner if I need a dish of that size.

cheryl2006

We have China (that we registered for) and have used it once in 5.5 years of marriage. I had us use it we we had my parents and my brother/his wife over for Mother's Day a few years ago. We have never hosted another "nice" occasion, so there hasn't been a need to take it out again.

I have silver that was passed down to me that I've never used. 

Roni.Cedra

EmmieB:

Roni.Cedra:

We don't have a ton of FANCY things as in china or silver, but our regular items are nice and the real deal--as in buy it right the first time and it will last you a lifetime. 

  

this is totally our philosophy. that and i want to love every single thing i touch every day. If I'm just "meh" about something it gets donated.

Yup! I love watching the top chef and iron chef and seeing our kitchen equipment on it. Makes me feel special.  

melgrady

Our fancy china is boxed up waiting for the day when we have a table to eat at and a place to store the dishes. Basically, we are waiting until we live in a house to use our china.

hannikan

melgrady:

Our fancy china is boxed up waiting for the day when we have a table to eat at and a place to store the dishes. Basically, we are waiting until we live in a house to use our china.

We did that for a long time, too. When we were married we lived in a 1 BD and DH's medical bed was in the "dining room." So we couldn't have people over even though we had a small table.

EmmieB

Roni.Cedra:

EmmieB:

Roni.Cedra:

We don't have a ton of FANCY things as in china or silver, but our regular items are nice and the real deal--as in buy it right the first time and it will last you a lifetime. 

  

this is totally our philosophy. that and i want to love every single thing i touch every day. If I'm just "meh" about something it gets donated.

Yup! I love watching the top chef and iron chef and seeing our kitchen equipment on it. Makes me feel special.  

i know that feeling. ;-) 

sm23

Ours is boxed up but certainly not forgotten. Ideally, I'd like some kind of display set up in our "dining room" but we don't have that at the moment, and no room to store the fancy china in the kitchen. So it's in boxes, in our storage area.

Celyn

It's funny, when I was younger, it was important to have some fancy things for entertaining (china, crystal, etc.).  Now that I have all my own and my grandparents stuff too, I'm feeling overwhelmed with the number of things I have but only use for "special occasions".  It's only purpose on a day to day basis is to take up space in my glass fronted cupboards and look pretty. 

Also my style has changed.  I don't really even like my china very much anymore.  It seems a waste to get rid of something I've only used 2 or 3 times a year and buy new fancy china that only gets used just as often.  So, if and when I do get rid of it, I won't be replacing it.

Mrs.BoomBoom

Celyn:

Also my style has changed.  I don't really even like my china very much anymore.  It seems a waste to get rid of something I've only used 2 or 3 times a year and buy new fancy china that only gets used just as often.  So, if and when I do get rid of it, I won't be replacing it.

Agreed.  I saw this happen with my mom.  Her china has big orange flowers and was beautiful when she bought it in the 80's but now it's dated and ugly.  Her experience certainly impacted what I wanted.

Oh, and I have a set of 'fancy' china with a gold edge.  It's hand wash only so I NEVER use it.

EmmieB

Mrs.BoomBoom:

Celyn:

Also my style has changed.  I don't really even like my china very much anymore.  It seems a waste to get rid of something I've only used 2 or 3 times a year and buy new fancy china that only gets used just as often.  So, if and when I do get rid of it, I won't be replacing it.

Agreed.  I saw this happen with my mom.  Her china has big orange flowers and was beautiful when she bought it in the 80's but now it's dated and ugly.  Her experience certainly impacted what I wanted.

Oh, and I have a set of 'fancy' china with a gold edge.  It's hand wash only so I NEVER use it.

I agree about tastes changing. I think it's one of the reasons I'm keen to keep the crystal and the heirloom glass - it's easier to swap out linens than dishes!

 

as for the "Hand wash only" stuff...well that's only an issue if you have a dishwasher! ;-) 

hannikan

The gold also tarnishes, at least in my experience. When they're tarnished they don't look nice at all. My mom had fancy dishes with a gold rim like that and I thought they seemed like a PITA. That's why I didn't want anything with a metal inlay. She got rid of them anyway when she inherited her mom's china. She was always nostalgic about that china so it was more meaningful to her.