Growing up, we had some beautiful sets of China that we actually used to eat on. My mother also displayed pieces of her china sets whenever possible. So I love dishware and always try to buy interesting and beautiful pieces for meals, but also to use as part of the decor. It is an inexpensive way to add interesting chatchkas to your home – and my home is full of chatchkas, often arranged into decorative vignettes.
Here are some of the dishes I’ve used in my kitchen, eating area and sun porch, on shelves, on tables, and on the walls.

This cabinet is mostly decorative and I rarely use those items.

This cabinet is totally functional and houses my everyday dishes and cups.
I also use plates as wall decor.

The same fish plates used on top of the cabinets above the stove area in the kitchen
I still have many of my mother’s and my old china sets that are too country or too formal for my homey but modern house today. They also don’t fit in with my mostly aqua and turquoise color scheme. But I still love them and want to share them with you.

Formal dessert set I got for my first wedding in 1974

The charming and less formal set I bought for my first home in New York City in 1974 (from Italy)

My favorite of all my mother’s china sets which we used in our summer, country style house in CT
Categories: Arts, Photography, Pottery-plates-porcelain
I used to love setting up a table with pretty dishes, candles, even flowers. It always made the meal more festive somehow. Don’t do much of that now, but it was always a delight.
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My two uncles were fighter pilots in the second world war. Thank the Lord they came back and when they did they brought some Limoges bowls with their under plates. My grandmother use to serve me porridge in those bowls and I felt like a princess. I now have those bowls and their under plates.
Leslie
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It’s so wonderful to have beautiful things that also have wonderful memories attached to them. My mother had some Limoges too, I forget which plates though. I sold a few of her dinner sets when she died because I could get good money for them. The ones I kept were more common and less valuable, which is fine for me because I got to keep them! ANd my mother actually used all her dinner sets. We ate dinner off of these beautiful works of art every night. And when she planned dinner parties, I helped her decide which dinner set to use and which napkins and dessert plates to use with them. It was such fun!
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I agree with you Ellin. I think fine china makes the food taste better.
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The fish plates on the wall are so cute!
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I love the fish plates too. When I bought them, I thought they were too pretty to cover with food and put on a table. So I always wanted to use them as decoration.They are perfect in my kitchen and sun room.
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All so lovely! I especially like the green and white ones from Italy.
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Thank you! Those are one of the few things I actually picked out myself! I still use them for company when we eat in the dining room. My taste has changed a lot since I was in my twenties, but I still love those dishes!
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Ellin, you’re so classy. Seriously.
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