How to Mix & Match Dinnerware

Use the pattern or color in your dinner plates to begin a beautiful table setting.

A wonderful trend in table setting is mixing and matching different China and dinnerware pieces for a creative, beautiful and sometimes whimsical statement. Dishes no longer have to match to set an attractive table. You may use your China pattern from your wedding gifts, heirloom pieces from grandma or pieces you picked up at a thrift store. Table guru Ed Lent from Noritake says using salad plates as accent pieces in a table setting is like a tie or a scarf. "It can make or break the look." Using unmatched pieces together, anyone can create a delightful tablescape or theme for any gathering.

Things You'll Need

• Dinnerware of choice in various colors, patterns and shapes
• Unusual, one-of-a-kind pieces
• Accent pieces
• Themed pieces
• Whimsical dishes or items used in unexpected ways
• Tablecloths
• Paper plates
• Plastic cups
• Coat hangers (optional, for a picnic theme)

Instructions

1. Keep one color and one type of dinnerware, such as stoneware, pottery or fine China, dominant.

2. Let unusual, "one-of-a-kind," or "odd-man out" pieces stand out as accents.

3. Set the dinner plates as desired. Pull a color from the pattern to use for your smaller pieces, such as salad plates and glasses. For example, if you have a floral China pattern that is sage green and pink against an ivory background, you may choose salad plates with a pink rose pattern and water goblets tinted pink.

4. Use a motif, or theme, instead of a color. A Mexican food dinner can suggest a "fiesta." Use bright colors, such as red, orange, yellow and green in your dishes. Serve guacamole in whimsical chili-shaped bowls surrounding a straw hat turned upside down and filled with tortilla chips. Use margarita glasses to serve any kind of beverage. The glasses do not have to match.

5. Do the unexpected. On a stormy winter night, light a fire in the fireplace. Throw a checkered picnic table cloth on the floor by the fireplace and set blue paper plates and red plastic drinking cups at each place setting. Serve barbecue and lemonade. Make skewers out of wire clothes hangers and roast marshmallows in the fire.

References

• Oneida Virtual Table settings
• Do You Mix and Match Your Dishes?
• The New China Policy

Resources

• JC Penny Mix and Match Dinnerware Collection