Blue and white china is absolutely a classic, and I love it because it’s easy to mix and match patterns since the color palette remains a constant. Accent your collection with pretty antique flow blue pieces, and use newer pieces day to day, like these.

{Camille pattern, Kado Rice Bowl and Flower dish all at Crate and Barrel, Calvin Klein Bayard at Macy’s, Spode Blue Italian at Macy’s, Something Blue at Pottery Barn}

I love these look-for-less dinnerware sets at Target. From the top, the Medallion set, which looks a lot like this set, no? The black and white Museo Mundo Collection and the Carmin Blossom pattern. I’ve also noticed that Target has done a good job of replicating the Lenox Chirp pattern (one of my favorites) at a pocket friendly price.

Here are my thoughts on dinnerware, dear ones. Feel free to object, but I feel 100% positive that you can’t go wrong when you go with white or off-white everyday china. The white dish is a hard-working best friend. It’s flexible. It can be modern or it can be traditional. It does the work of a thousand sets of dishes. Save patterns for accent pieces that can be rotated in and out and lean on the white dinner plate for everyday sort of occasions.

My favorite sources for inexpensive white dishes, or any dishes for that matter, are World Market, T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s, but there are so many lovely patterns all over the place! Check out these.

The Nantucket set at World Market. We have this pattern for our dinner plates. I’ve mixed in salad plates and bowls that I found around town. That’s the great thing about white – you can mix and match to your heart’s content.

I also love the Boxwood set by Ralph Lauren. Love it so much that I have the bowls from this set that I snatched up for, hold onto your sets, $2.99 a piece at where else? T.J. Maxx. (I promise this isn’t a canned endorsement of that store. Cross my heart.)
The Regalia Porcelain set at Bed, Bath and Beyond is simple + beautiful. And, you can’t beat the price: $49.99 for forty six pieces. Yummy.

I’ve finally diagnosed my condition loveys, not that my husband needed any confirmation via the NY Times that his wife has a problem, something he knows full well. I am, in fact, diagnosable. I am a dish queen. Thank you to Mr. Peacock for pointing out the condition that he shares with me. Our cupboards do runneth over.

So, bad blogger that I am, not posting anything until mid-way through the week, I think I’ll spend the rest of the week focusing on my obsession: dishes. First up, Jessica Rust designs. Jessica, a graduate of Parson’s, makes the most beautiful personalized dinnerware.
The love bug collection would be sweet on a dinner table or hanging on a wall, don’t you think?While the sweet birch tree collection reminds me of those pretty little note cards (favorites of mine) from Silhouette Blue, no?
And, speaking of silhouettes, how lovely is this set?
Jessica also offers a collection of family tree dinnerware to celebrate the coming together of two families in marriage.

Or, you can commission Jessica to artistically immortalize your newlywed love nest.