registry style: whiteware
White dishes are to your pantry what the little black dress is to your closet. Don’t get me wrong, I bow at the altar of my china, but white dishes are the everyday, every dinner, every party workhorse. With a new napkin color, a new linen or different flatware, I have an entirely new table. It’s kind of like having neutral walls (big fan, by the way) – with little expense you can give a room (or table) new life with different accessories.
{image #1 via eddie ross; image #2 via Country French Antiques, image #3 via country living}
The brilliance of whiteware is that you can mix and match. Here are a few patterns that would be good starters for a collection…
Macy’s: scalloped edge, montmartre & kensington, all by Martha Stewart; antique whiteware by Mikasa; country heritage by Villeroy & Boch
Pottery Barn’s Great White
Queen Anne at Williams Sonoma
Match Pewter and Juliska’s “berry & thread” at Michael C. Fina. Both are also available locally for registry at Fraiche.
Anthropologie: paper pretender
Crate & Barrel: century (originally designed by Eva Zeisel)
I have been on the hunt for the perfect (and reasonably priced) white dishes for months. What do you use?
Hey Kelly,
I collect dishes everywhere I go. I’ve had the most luck at places like Home Goods, TJ Maxx and Marshall’s, but every once in awhile, I’ll splurge on a piece at Williams & Sherrill (a local store in Richmond). Our collection is mix and match.
We originally registered for china at Macy’s and then I realized I’d feel like a jackass asking someone to spend over $200 for my gravy boat. I got a reality check, did a little research and went with the century collection from Crate and Barrel and we couldn’t be happier with our decision!