I don't have an answer for you--I am just posting because I too am looking for new dishes to go with future new kitchen. So I am interested to see what people post. I was thinking of Crate & Barrel, they always seem to have pretty things there, and a nice range of prices. But I don't know about durability.

I have plain white plates from Williams Sonoma called Everyday dinnerware that are oven, broiler and microwave safe. Since I'm not the type to keep several different sets of dishes on hand I like that they are durable and neutral. I can decorate around them with linens and centerpieces and they'll never clash with anything.

Here is a link that might be useful: WS Everyday dinnerware

I love my Apilco dishes from Williams Sonoma. They are beautiful, durable, but a tad pricey. I have the dinner plates but I use my salad plates a lot more often. I don't have the soup bowls, I have the cafe au lait bowls instead and use them for everything from cereal to pasta.

These are really pretty - the Apilco dishes!

I bought a new set of Mikasa everyday dishes called Italian Countryside. They are Ivory colored stoneware and go with everything. I love them!

I've been collecting Fiestaware for eons. Not the old ones, the new ones. I have way more than I need, and can't seem to stop. Hence my need for a.lot.of.cabinets.

I have found myself migrating to plainer and plainer everyday dishes as time has progressed--am using a lot of solid color or clear glass plates and soup bowls these days. (I no longer even seek out a full set of everyday dishes with mugs or cups, because we have so many assorted mugs plus six matching bone china mugs for "special" everyday.) No problem using glass plates in oven or microwave, although I need a hotpad to lift them. I repurpose glass salad plates--good for leftovers and lunches and they double as lids for casseroles for the microwave and the refrigerator, allowing me to stack items because there is no knob or lip. Plain glass plates take less cupboard space than official casserole lids, they stack well, and they allow the food to be the star on the dinner plate. I buy vintage ruby red serving bowls whenever I can find them at junk and antique sales--we smash our way through these regularly. My favorite salad or mashed potato bowl.

But..I have given myself a set of 6 clunky yellow "Tuscan" plates for the deck, for summer morale. They get put away the rest of the year along with assorted deck serving ware. I also have 3 sets of china, used primarily in the dining room. No microwaving them!

Glass plates slowly accumulate a patina of scratches and nicks, but I don't mind. I hate the haze that some glass gets (dishwasher?) a lot more.

I have Portmeirion Botanic Garden and love them. Bought them one at a time from Marshalls, TJMaxx, and eBay. Absolutely bulletproof - never a utensil mark. Huge variety of patterns.

Years ago my friend Lucy bought 4 place settings of some wonderful Italian pottery. Called them her 'happy dishes' and only used them for special times.

This thread is fun!

Rosie

Costco had a set of Corelle White dishes with scalloped edges...they were much heavier than original Corelle and the set had REAL coffee mugs, bowls, plates...great prices at Costco! I love white because I can dress up my table anyway I want!!!

Love our hefty, all-white porcelain Cafeware dishes. Casual and family-tough, but also look dressy enough for more formal occasions, since they adapt to the personality of their surroundings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cafeware on cooking.com (although I bought mine locally)

I have White Pearl from Crate and Barrel. They are made by Nikko-- they're bone china so a little more refined than earthenware and they have held up beautifully through daily use and dishwasher. They are very simple and classic and there are some nice serving bowls. Also you can buy place settings or open stock -- I bought lots of plates but no cups and saucers because we usually use mugs. I really love these -- they are as nice quality as my Coalport Countryware but much less money and (I think) more durable.

My everyday dishes are inexpensive porcelains that come boxed in settings for four. I prefer the porcelain because it feels like "real" grown-up dishes, yet is still very durable. I have a few odd ceramic bowls and the like which are prone to chipping.

Most kinds of dishes do get little scratch marks after a lot of heavy use. I don't know if your old dishes had that, or something more bothersome. If little scratches really bother you, I recommend something like Bunzlauer pottery ("Polish stoneware"). It's incredibly tough and should resist scratching more than glass or the glass style glazes that most porcelains and ceramics have.

I love my red Fiestaware dishes! I almost chickened out and went with white - there's nothing wrong with nice, classic, 'safe' white - but the red stole my heart and all else paled next to them. It was only later that I remembered that red stimulates the appetite so maybe red dishes weren't a wise choice when it comes to my waistline. Yeah, I'm gonna blame my dishes! LOL

Be aware that today's dishes and bowls are bigger than they used to be. I was surprised to find many plates were so large that they wouldn't fit in my upper cabs (standard depth, overlay doors) and that many bowls were so deep and large that they took up a crazy amount of space in the DW. I measured many plates and took more than a few bowls home to try them out before I bought new dishes. Anything that didn't fit well in cupboard or DW went back to the store.

Hi, Here are some ideas. I haven't decided myself which ones I will get but it will either be MUD australia (LOVE!) or one from the link below:)

Here is a link that might be useful: remodelista

here's a link to MUD

Here is a link that might be useful: MUD

I still have the corelle dishes from my mom and grandma. The ones with the gold designed edges. We are married 25 years this summer and I till haven't gotten around to buying a set of dishes. I "inherited" those when I went away to college in 1976. LOL!

I love solid white dishes. I feel the food is showcased that way. I mainly use plain white Wedgwood bone china. I also like Apilco porcelain.
I no longer use my Portmerion very much. The plates are too heavy.

Ikea white dinnerware. I can use it for everyday and then dress up the dining room table with accessories for those occasions.

No scratches, stains nor discoloration on the hi-gloss glaze after 5 years. I did not get the matte finish set.

I'm with gabeach - I use white dishes to "display" the food. I have a mix of Apilco, Pilluvuyt, miscellaneous white dishes from France (there are entire stores dedicated to these), and simple white dishes from Pier One ("Coupe").

Here is a link that might be useful: white dishes galore

I'll give another vote for plain white Corelle - mostly because of their weight and stackability (i.e., very slim). You can fit a lot them in a limited space. I actually purchased them because my elderly mom could not lift the dishes into the cabinets - her one home task is to empty the dishwasher. I now have a hard time imagining changing to anything else for everyday dishes.

Love white dishes as a foundation...food always looks good. Like marcy96 have the Mikasa Italian Countryside, a very classic design that can be elegant or casual depending on placemats/tablecloth. For fun you can add inexpensive dishes in your "color of the moment" to spice them up.

I have two sets that I use everyday (just not together): Pier 1 Ming and Wedgwood Nantucket. I got the Ming after we got married because I couldn't resist getting all the pieces I could at $1/piece(!)when the pattern was being discontinued. The Wedgwood bone china (all white) has held up beautifully and is easily replaceable. I love them both, but I cannot afford replacements for the Pier 1 plates/mugs/bowls if I break any of them, LOL.

Another Fiestaware family here-- we have 4pc settings in all different colors except brown, black, white and off-white. The kids love all the colors and dinner is fun!

We also have a bunch of plain white plates and bowls from Tarzhay for overflow if needed.

I have just started buying Fiestaware when on sale and just love it!!! The colors are so fun :))) I am buying all differnt colors. And this is coming from all white stoneware. I have learned to buy the 4 pc. place setting as the cups are larger (the 5 pc. has little tiny coffee cups).

Anther Fiestaware fan here. I have many different colors and watch for discountiued colors on sale to get more. My big dish cupboard will have glass front doors so I can show off all the bright colors.

We had bought some cheaper knock-offs and they did not hold up well at all. Recently we got some called ColorCode at a kitchen store that was moving - got them for $3 a plate.

I need to get some bowls, and we use an odd collection of mugs (from years of collecting).

Cathy

I'm a dishaholic and have 2 different sets of neutral dishes to use as a base for my colorful pieces. One is Sakui from Pier1 and the other is a white basketweave set made by JCPenneys. Both have held up very well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pier 1 Dish

Love, love, love the Vietri line. Have Encanto white and blue. The am desperately coveting the Poppy collection!

I love mine, got them a couple of years ago from Fishs Eddy. They are from a collection they no longer sell (Pantone colors, look like paint swatches--I have blue, red, green and yellow). They are great quality and have held up wonderfully. They make great white dinnerware, too.

I am with Nancyfay- Ikea plain white dinnerware. Have had them for several years, and they look great like a delicate porcelain, but VERY sturdy. I pair them with other colored Fiestaware type dishes. Love them!!

Love this thread! My old white dinnerware has many chips and broken pieces so they are not going into my new cabinets. Instead, I plan to use my china! We'll see how quickly the gold band rubs off when they go in the dishwasher, but I would rather have them well used and loved than sold as "like new" at an estate sale once we kick the bucket! I better measure the plate size to be sure they fit into my inset cabinets! LOL!!!!

We have Sango dishes. We've had them for 8 years. I love them. They look great and have not chipped. Our pattern is nova brown and I have some nova blue pieces too.

beachpea3 - I love mismatched and interesting plates too! All the history and unique pieces. Someday I will have a 'formal' setting for 12 of mismatched china. I can't wait to hold that party!

beachpea3 - I love mismatched and interesting plates too! All the history and unique pieces. Someday I will have a 'formal' setting for 12 of mismatched china. I can't wait to hold that party!

This is an interesting and bitter sweet post for me as I come from the centre of the UK china industry where Wedgwood, Doulton, Minton, Portmerion etc is/was made. This city has suffered economic depression as the industry has dwindled and practically disappeared.
The reason for this decline is simple to see in these postings which lists your dishes. There was a time when every bride would request an English china dinner service but those days have gone as tastes and life styles change. Regrettably, UK households feel the same way.

Although I still own, as does everyone from this city, multiple Wedgwood, Minton and Doulton china sets my everyday dishes are the big whites from Pottery Barn but I still feel a bit guilty!

Everyday dishes are Corelle...the Pretty Pink pattern. Lightweight, durable, microwavable, dishwasher safe...works for me.

I am a dish hound though and have a set of creme and a set of brown dishes from Southern Living At Home with tons of accent pieces. Then I have my display cabinets in the kitchen with my collection of Jadite Fire-King.

Another Corelle user and lover here. I don't think I will ever use anything but Corelle just like my mom and grandma :-). They are practically bulletproof. They don't scratch and can withstand accidently dropping them without breaking.

We got some Phaltzgraff when we married. They were scratched to tarnation within a year. Blech.

Jem199 - I know you WILL have that collection of plates for twelve!! Enjoy the time spent in the gathering of same...and telling the stories of where they came from...

usgirl - Was sorry to hear your story of the china industry in the UK...very sad

Christyinco - great thread...very interesting. FYI Today William-Sonoma e-mailed about their Pantry collection of white plates - attractive and very reasonable prices too.

usgirl, I remember back in '85 when my family moved to England for 3 years, the first thing my mother did was buy a beautiful set of Wedgewood she'd had her eye on but could never afford in the States.

It is still used for special occasions and holiday dinners and the like, still looks as beautiful as the day she brought it home.

Very sorry to hear the industry is struggling like that.

White, Mikasa French Countryside here. I've had these for 20+ years and have only replaced a couple of pieces in that time due to crazing. They don't scratch, still look great and are timeless, IMHO. We've added many place settings over the years, so we now have enough to host the whole family at Thanksgiving with these dishes and Italian Countryside goblets (which I liked better than the French)...

I also have my grannie's old Royal China Blue Willow dishes. I use them almost as frequently as the French Countryside just because the Blue Willow bring back great memories of grannie's house. So sentimental, I know. And, the old Blue is so vibrant!

I LOVE the idea of collecting mismatched china plates. I may have to start doing that! (Although DH is so, so pro matchy-matchy!!). :-)

I had one chipped antique plate from my great-grandmother's china from Germany. I put it in a mosaic in my basement. I covered a steel support pole with all kinds of 'memories.' It has beach glass from vacations, old dish patterns from previous sets used in college, first apt, etc, glass buttons from my son's baby outfit, glass items from those no longer with us (grandma, cousin, friend's child) - my mosaic memory pole. Sorry for OT post, but thought I'd mention the memories associated with dishes. When something is to be replaced, you might consider saving a piece of the set. Your kids will appreciate it. I know mine loves having the old sugar bowl.

Not long ago, I was at Old Time Pottery and got two very heavy high gloss square plates. They are big and different looking, I use them on our very square small table just for the two of us. They never bounce around in the dish washer either. Food looks so pretty on them.

But when Linens & Things was clearing the shelves, I bought 2 plates of every color in their earthenware line, along with some all colored quilted place mats. With gold chargers and white salad plates sitting in them, they make the round traditional table in DH's cape dining room really cheerful. Those plates are heavy too.

For DH, I have been collecting pieces of his mama's china, a bone color with a simple gold band, and that is used for family dinners at his house.

Dishes are fun, and not a serious issue, but a chance to add color to a very white/black kitchen.

I have a lot of Pfalzgraff Naturewood, but am gradually giving it to my DIL who still likes it. So many dishes, so little time!

I have just recently fallen in love with the Rialto.
It is a pattern you would find in Spain. A elegant
porcelain with geometric patterns that are similar to
those mosaic tiles found in some old building in Spain
or maybe italy.

I have never really been into intricate patterns but this
offsets my Virginia mist counters, white cabinets and rich
dark wood floors. The subtle tradional or shall we say safe
and boring style around me is perfect with these dramatic
yet simple in pattern plates. The only big problem
is I can not use these for every day. With three clumbsy
kids a husband who is safer with paper this is for later
when they are grown and I can just feed hubby from the
dog dish. No one would know and he would be so busy eating
while watching tv he would never notice. These dishes will
be for me to sip my morning coffee and eat a baked scone.
Yes, smeared in butter. : )
~boxerpups

I have the same heavy white Cafeware dishes as Rhome. I think I got them at the now-defunct Linens n' Things. I just love them--they are so flexible and stylish, and go from simple everyday to fancy. They are so sturdy that in 10 years (or so) of constant use, not one has broken!

Caleca. It is thick, hand-painted ceramic ware made in Sicily. Not so thick that it fits no problem in my dishwasher.

We bought a set of very plain white Apilco plates at Williams Sonoma about 25 years ago and they've held up well, although the smaller salad-size plates, which we use every day, are somewhat scratched. But we've never broken one and only a plate or two has ever even chipped (and they were hand-washed for 15 years, until -- finally -- we installed a new dishwasher with the reno).

I've recently started slowly buying new dishes from Heath Ceramics. Really soft graceful forms and beautiful glazes. So far we've bought bowls with the French gray/persimmon glaze and dinner plates with the linen glaze.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

My first set of plates was Regency by Johnson Brothers. I have had that set for over 20 years, and I have a LOT of it. I have been collecting Portmeirion Botanic Garden for almost as long...those are the plates displayed in my plate rack (we actually use them, though). I want to get another white set, maybe Apilco or one like that. I am glad I purchased the Regency as my first set, it can be used for any occasion.

We have had dinnerware from Bennington Pottery in Vermont (the white on white glaze) since 1995 - they have held up wonderfully. We are just now ordering some additional plates to fill in what has gotten broken over the last many years. I love that I can just order what I need when I need it! The plates and bowls are substantial and have a wonderful handmade texture to them. Plus I love how the food is the star on simple white dinnerware. Good luck on your search!

boxerpups, those Rialto dishes are very nice!

sw_in_austin, I also love Heath Ceramics - the shapes are just so graceful and lovely.

I also have the Williams-Sonoma Everyday Dinnerware. My parents also have the Williams-Sonoma Everyday Dinnerware and we've found them to be very durable. And to add a little fun, I mix in pieces from places like Anthropologie. I particularly like their Latte Bowls.