Give Me the Bone!

China, that is.  For dinnerware, bone china is my first choice.  In it's purest form, it's white, translucent, streamlined, durable and neutral.  Are you looking for an everyday dinnerware solution that can be dressed up, dressed down, put in the dishwasher and microwave, that looks good on just about any table?  Then consider going with white bone china for your tabletop.

When we first moved to our small house, I enjoyed eating on our fine china on a daily basis.  The big drag was that it couldn't be cleaned in the dishwasher.  Our formal pattern has a silver rim which makes it impossible to microwave and unsuitable for the dishwasher.  In order to save space in our cabinets, I moved on to clear glass plates, bowls and mugs.  That made sense at the time because they were affordable, durable and essentially "neutral" in color and design.

While glass dishes can be durable and functional, they still chip.  They also always look casual.  I wanted to "upscale" our everyday tabletop but didn't want to sacrifice in function and utility.  White bone china fit the bill.  Alas, it took some searching to find a set that had no metallic embellishment and would also not break the bank.

This Zoe Couple service for four was what I finally decided on.  It came from Overstock and you can find it here.  There were a few simple criteria for choosing it: size, price & shipping.  The Big Guy wanted bowls that were big enough for a healthy portion of cereal and also insisted on mugs rather than cups.  My budget wanted to come it at around $50 for a 16 piece set and I did not want to pay shipping.  This service for four came in at around $55 so I purchased three sets.

Similar styles can be found at Target and Bed Bath & Beyond -- and I don't get a kickback from any of these sites.

So far, we are very happy with our new dishes.  The worst part was getting the individual bar-code/inventory sticker off of each piece.  Goof-Off helped with that.

The dishes take up very little room in our cabinet and the full three sets can be done in one dishwasher load.  The bowls are plenty big for stew, cereal, etc.  This style will fit in nicely with our "fine" set of Mikasa which we've had for years from our wedding.  I look forward to having the opportunity to find mix-and-match serving pieces from lots of sources, both retail, on-line and second hand.  With such a simple look, this set will be easy to match or complement.

If you're in the market for a new set of everyday dinnerware, consider the durability and versatility of plain white bone china.