Guest Picks: White Dinnerware for the Holidays and After

olldbobbi White dinnerware is beautiful, but not just for the holidays!! The best part is it goes with everything and you can change your table linens with the seasons or holidays, or for birthdays; it can be casual or it can be dressed up. It's perfect!

azstrawn White definitely gives a lot of bang for the buck & pops other decor items, especially holidays. However, the real reason for white is to make the food the star. That's why restaurants use white tableware. I recommend it to all couples building a wedding registry.

bonnieinflorida Restaurant supply stores have great white (and cream) dinnerware, sturdy, durable and inexpensive considering the quality.

Pink Fortitude, LLC Our white dinnerware is from Kohls. Inexpensive and indestructable. Great for the more budget conscious. Love that the same dinnerware can transcend any season and table decor.

jesr I love the dinnerware I purchased at a local restaurant supply store. Super indestructible, good size and always looks great. And, the best part is that I don't get tired of it, since it goes with everything. I can add any colors I want to dress up the table at a moment's notice.

sclawson Love our plain white dinnerware because the food looks so great on it, AND I can mix and match it so well. What we have now is a mish-mash from Pier 1 and Target. I see a bowl, plate or mug shape I like somewhere, and I add it to the collection. I also have some patterned salad bowls and plates I can mix in for added pizzazz when there's company for dinner. And if something gets chipped or broken, it's easy to replace a piece without needing a whole new set!

Inis Lovely White gets my vote, too. Dress it up or down and food looks so appetizing on it. I have 20 Blue Willow place settings, platters, and serve ware and rarely use it. Food just kind of looks sickly pale on it. LOL.

olympia776 My everyday dishes are Fiesta ware white. I adore them. They look gorgeous in glass cabinets. It's great to pick up serving pieces in fun colors too. I've got some turquoise and cobalt for a beautiful summery feel.

I'm also quite fond of the Apilco other similar french lines.

silverscreenstar Sorry, but I disagree with all of you who like white dinnerware. I find it bland and boring. I like color. I have several sets of dinnerware, from the most formal, Royal Doulton "English Renaissance" (now discontinued), to a porcelain set I bought for next to nothing, online. I have a third set which is also made by Royal Doulton, but in a less formal pattern "Tapestry" (also now discontinued), which I use for brunches and the like. I began collecting this set was I was thirteen years old. I loved it then, and still do. It was my only dinnerware when I later got my first apartment. Our everyday set, bought for next to nothing, is porcelain and is the only set we have that is dishwasher friendly. Both of the Doulron sets are not, because they have gold rims. They are also bone china. I don't own any stoneware dinnerware because I find it too heavy.
The older china is absolutely beautiful, but it's not white. However, it co-ordinates with the colors and the furniture in of each of the rooms in which it is used.

Francesca I see a benefit to white but I love color too. I guess that since I want a somewhat white kitchen that I truly want the dishes to pop. But, I do own white china, Noritake Stoneleigh that I got in Japan. So, I suppose I can go crazy in a formal setting. :-)

silverscreenstar I have been thinking a lot about the white v. color for dinnerware issue. I guess I don't really like anything to "pop". I like soft, muted, shades on almost everything, or mostly neutral. The color in our home comes largely from oil paintings I have collected over the years. Everything else is pretty neutral in the public areas of he house. Now, the bedrooms are another story! They are wild with color, and each room is very different. I think it is somewhat of a waste to hang museum quality art in rooms in which you sleep. You don't get to see enough of them because you aren't awake. What a waste!

canajuneh So far, nobody has mentioned IKEA as a source for very chic, inexpensive white dinnerware. Love them for all the reasons stated here by others, plus they have stood the test of time, use, and dishwashing. The very large dinner plates and soup bowls look great for everyday or dinner party.

k2_the_vortex I moved to New Zealand a couple years ago to get married to a Kiwi man and was really frustrated that the ONLY dishes we could find of any sort of quality were plain white. Boring, boring, boring...

Now, two years down the road, I LOVE my white dishes. They always look so clean and fresh and never clash with how the food looks.

I have my mom's wedding china set now and I'm still sentimentally attached to it, but I definitely prefer my white dishes.

Another great thing about white dishes is that you can always find serving pieces that coordinate without being too matchy-matchy.

Needless to say, I've been converted!

Natalie I'm sort of surprised the "Aspen" dishes from Crate & Barrel weren't on this list - though I was expecting to see them, I guess, because we have them. They are inexpensive, sturdy, and have that "classic" look. I have those, and a large, varying set of Fiesta dishes, and I thoroughly enjoy switching back and forth between them whenever I please. I've noticed I tend to like the white Aspen's more during the Fall and Winter, however, and the vibrant Fiesta during the Spring and Summer. It's very nice to be able to choose.

mrlonestar I see lots of comments about the color and design as it pertains to looks, but what I think is even more important is style. Square designed dishes make more sense. They fit in to the cupboards much better. Why circular? Have you ever noticed how much empty space round dishes make? My main goal in the kitchen is to purchase square dishes and even square or rectangular pots and pans, baking tins and food storage containers. Not just for the cupboards but for the refrigerator and freezer as well. Makes more sense, doesn't it?

olldbobbi I bought square dishes once. A beautiful set from Pier 1. My husband hated them, because "dishes are supposed to be round". And he has a point, square dishes don't work as well in a microwave with a turntable.

mjahanshahifard I think God like creative person.

hopingtogetfit I've had 2 sets of dishes for years---a black set and a dark brown one. Talk about your food looking fabulous! Every time I switch to white plates, the food looks so blah. Nothing more boring than food on a white plate, in my opinion.

A Design Group Atlanta, LLC I love my white square dinnerwar, red square dinnerware and green and beige (multiple pieces in either green or beige colors) square dinnerware. I mix it all up and can decorate with my other round china such as red rooster french, yellow and cherry scalloped edge french, etc. etc. Square, round...it all mixes up if you get the right chinas with the right colors...white is the mainstay. My tables are never the same.

emailjayne We chose the all white Wedgewood patter Coliseum when we got married 11 years ago as our only china pattern. We use it every day and I have always been happy with this choice! As others have said, it can be dressed up or down. Also, it is surprisingly durable! We just had our first plate break last week! Beautiful, practical, and only need to own one set of china! Perfect!

Stevie That was nice but I would have liked to see a few table settings with the white pieces.

kennedytarheel Craigslist and the thrift store are excellent sources for dishes of all shapes and sizes and colors! So many people tire of their dishes, donate them, and they have so much more life in them. The ultimate recycle.

lindaksidney I love white dinnerware. It is fabulous! I have white with silver, plain white and white with gold trim. I couldn't ask for anything more elegant and the food always looks fabulous on it.

grandlady Notably missing from this line-up is Lenox china's "Butler's Pantry" Simply beautiful.

jlwms123 I've had the same white dinnerware for years and I love it. The best part is being able to buy salad bowls, bread plates, or other pieces with pattern and color to mix with it. There are some VERY talented ceramic artists on Etsy who make gorgeous and affordable pieces to add a little color and texture; designs you would never see in a department store.

Mackenzie Austin Design White's the way to go IMO. You can switch up cloth napkins and other table scapes to suit the occasion or season, and keep adding more white pieces as the years go on, b/c it doesn't matter the brand, just as long as it's white.

tshome I used to like to change up my dinnerware almost every 2 years which was a ridiculous amount of wasted money. That all changed nearly 10 years ago when I discovered Corelle's Winter Frost White dinnerware. It is such a classic and clean look that never goes out of style. Not to mention, the price and shatter-proofness are to die for.

While I still occassionally look upon new dinnerware with lustful eyes, I now know that is simply a fleeting feeling that will pass before I can say the word Corelle.

Mackenzie Austin Design @tshome: While I too like Corelle and it is certainly durable, I assure you it is NOT shatterproof!! When it breaks, it shatters into a million shards of razor sharp glass-like pieces.

alibonelli As I age and my tastes change I find myself liking white more and more. I have short and tall mugs and some square serving pieces from Cooks @ JC Penney. I found white salad bowls I liked at Pier 1. Now I'm looking for white soup bowls with just a plain black rim to step it up a bit. I do like square dishes with a round table and vice versa.

lwcabell Square dishes are nice, but tend to chip easier because of the corners. I use the square for appetizer plates and circular for rest of food. I store all my dishes in big drawers with pegs, no high cabinets. Love it.