Long ago, there were traditional rules for picking out china such as only brides select china, china has to be fine and match everything, plate settings, glass ware, flatware, etc., and sets should be only eight place settings. Times sure have changed. Now, it’s really stylish for non-brides to purchase more than eight settings of casual china in fun colors and patterns. Just read these china buying rule breakers below, so you can get some ideas on your next china purchase.
You Don’t Have to Be a Bride — You don’t have to be a bride to have new china. A lot of single people and married couples are also shopping for china patterns for their kitchens and dining rooms. Just think about it. How many dinner parties have you gone to that were hosted by single people or long time married couples? Don’t single people and married people need china? Absolutely. Regardless of your marital status, you should purchase china to accommodate your dinner guests.
China Doesn’t Have to Be Fine — When you look for china, you don’t have to find expensive pieces to complete your china collection. More designer china companies are creating casual china that is the fraction of the price. As an added benefit, casual china usually has more patterns and colors that could give life to your kitchen and dining room.
Patterns Don’t Have to Match — All plates don’t have to match one another or glasses, flatware and other table accessories. You can have fun by grabbing large plain white china plates and mixing them up with seasonal or fun patterns on medium size or desert plates. For example, look for flowers and strawberries for the spring, citrus fruit for the summer, leaves for the fall and snowflakes, holiday berries, or Santa themes for the winter. As for your salad bowl, you pick out a color in the pattern and look for bowls that will match. Your flatware and glassware doesn’t have to be plain. This will spark up your dinner parties and create conversation about your creative approach to putting your setting together.
You Don’t Have to Buy an Eight Piece Set — Another myth that people think about when purchasing china is to purchase eight piece sets. There are going to be occasions when you may have more than eight people for dinner or pieces of china break or crack. To ensure that your china pieces match, you may want to consider getting 10 or more place setting, so you will have backup pieces.
You can take the traditional approach of having everything, plate settings, flatware, or glass ware, match or take a creative approach by mixing and matching different colors and patterns.