A few years back over at Apartment Therapy San Francisco, we mentioned our slight obsession for real dishware. We've never been big on the disposable stuff (even for parties, outdoors or not) and because of it, we have 160 white plates we picked up on Craigslist for a ridiculously low price. Having toted them around for almost 5 years now, we have to say — best decision ever.
If you check out the past link to our plethora of plates, you'll notice that we originally had 200 and although a few have gone the way of the buffalo, the remaining 160 have been a fabulous investment. We picked up these plates from a bride who decided it was cheaper to purchase plates at IKEA for her wedding reception than it was to rent them from a local catering company.
Now I know 160 sounds a bit extreme... and it is. Although Facebook and Twitter tell me I have more than 160 friends, it's quite rare we have that many people show up for planned events. In addition to our own gatherings we are constantly loaning them out to friends and family members who use them for the same thing. They add an extra touch of elegance (even if they are just simple white plates from IKEA) to any outdoor party, plus they're easier to balance on your lap.
We've used them for all sorts of things (including customized Christmas presents one year) and even if it does take a little extra effort to move them each time we relocate, we never find ourselves hustling to find a matching place setting when someone extra comes by for dinner. As an added bonus, knowing we're not buying into disposable options (even if they are recyclable), their packaging and the energy it takes to ship them to stores... is a great feeling. If we totaled up the cost of what we would have spent over the last several years, it would have been 5x what our plates originally cost us! How's that for saving a buck?!
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We have a similar investment! I hosted a baby shower & had planned on using nice, clear or white disposable plates. But thought they were kinda high, for what they are. I checked out the local Old Time Pottery (home decor store w/ all things random) & lucked up on nice, white dessert plates on clearance for .10cents ea! They look nicer than the plastic, nothing to throw out & are perfect for baby showers & pizza parties!
Long live the plain white plate!
ozonegal - OTP is a great place to pick up inexpensive dishware (even cheaper than IKEA!). Great find at 10 cents each!
What is OTP?
We don't have 160, but we have acquired around 20 (white from Ikea; beige from Target) so that we almost never need to use disposables at our cookouts.
Sorry Kitchenette, OTP is Old Time Pottery as ozonegal mentioned above. In my mind, I say OTP so I don't end up saying Old Time Pottery Barn... it's happened more than once haha.
I have been buying white dinner plates for years. Mostly porcelain china, but about 12 years ago I found 24 NEW restaurant grade Buffalo plates. I also found a dozen of those little 4 oz serving Buffalo china bowls and use them all the time. Best money I ever spent at the Salvation Army store.
Cool. Now searching for similar plates. I have all coloured ones and now want just plain classy white. Then I can add colour to my table! :D
I too have a large stack of coupe shape white porcelain plates, found at a local Goodwill store. They go with everything else we have. A few have broken, but we still have a good supply; and they cost only a quarter each!
Corelle's Winter Frost White does the trick at my house. Dress it up or down. I have 24 of everything. If a piece breaks, no problem. I use varying shades of white serving pieces - whatever catches my eye: Pottery Barn, Longaberger, or antique market.
I bought two case of plain wine glasses (48!)from cost plus years and years ago on sale ($6 a case!) Awesome decision. I gave a case away to my mother; who even wants to need 48?! I feel so much cooler giving parties with real glasses. One of the best decisions of my grown up life... and that' saying something!
I pick up mismatched china from thrift stores a few at a time. All the mismatched patterns end up having a very Anthropologie look that I always get compliments on, but the best part is that if one dish breaks, it's no big deal
Can't see the purpose in this in light of party rental places that will rent wine glasses and plain white dishes by the case at very reasonable prices. Bonus: I don't have to store them! Also, after relocating from one end of the country to the other three times in five years, I know how much it costs to move dishes. Movers charge by weight, so the fewer heavy items the better.
Having overflowing cabinets or boxes of dishes stuffed in a closet doesn't make one a grown-up. I have never understood this line of thinking. Less is enough.
Interesting. But when I picture a tower of dirty dishes, I want to run away! I'm curious about the labor involved, but it must not be awful since you're still using them.
Could you describe how you clean up after the party without a commercial dishwasher? Do you use bus tubs? Set up an assembly line for dish scrub, rinse, dry, store? Who helps? How and where do you store the collection?
Also, and I am a geek for saying this, but that looks like way more than 160 plates, but maybe that is your plate stock before shrinkage. I appreciate how efficiently they stack together, with little wasted volume. :)
REDUCE, reuse, and recycle.
This is hardly being green.
gonzo5680 - We do reuse, we recycle them time and time again and there's no reason to reduce if this is the number that is actually used by myself and friends and family.
Splomo - We have a standard dishwasher and run them through, though to clear tables quickly we keep a large plastic bucket filled partially with water. Dishes get scraped easily (food gets composted) and the dishes stack into the bucket. Because the dishes have been scraped and stay wet, we can run our dishwasher on the quick wash cycle which uses 1/3 of the water and we can run as many loads as we need to (or wash them by hand if we feel so inclined). We store them in shallow plastic crates by sets of 25, part of them are stored in our kitchen, others in our storage unit. ... and if my math is correct, there's only 124 in the photo :)
redhead68 - My husband and I have moved 9 times in 6 years and the plates have been with us all the way. We also don't believe in hiring movers and stand by the philosophy that if we can't move it ourself (with the help of a few family and friends) then we shouldn't own it. The plates haven't held us back yet!
I have 79 white plates, 100 some odd wine and water glasses and I've only used them once (and it was about 30 plates). I guess it really just matters how often you entertain and how many people you have. We keep a set of 12 of everything dinner-related in our kitchen, and that's always served me well enough. I'm actually giving them away because the amount of moving around and the room they take up - I'm working on becoming a reformed pack rat.
I'm assuming you guys have some place larger than a studio and a dishwasher, because that is some serious kitchen duty. I was given a set of white IKEA plates for my first apt (now on my third) and I wish I had something with color, but I can't bring myself to replace them, just b/c of color.
Best option: jazz those plates up with color placemats, napkins, etc.! Good job on reducing the paper items : )
I guess gonzo never has parties? How is this not green? Buying people's used items on craigslist? REDUCE doesn't mean REDUCE THE FUN.
My nonprofit has teamed up with several environmental orgs and bought nice glassware and plates so that we don't have to spend $$ on rentals each year, or have disposables at our fundraisers. The restaurant next to our offices volunteered to put the dirty ones through the washer and sterilizer for us. Having real glasses and dishes puts us above a lot of other fundraisers serving drinks in plastic cups.
After renting plates for parties, my Mother and I decided to go in together and buy a large set of plates and dishware for parties. We bought at IKEA and it was the best decision. The initial cost was less than the rental would have been and the party set has since been through at least 6 large parties. This is a great investment and we don't buy single-use disposables anymore. We split the set for storage and to have on-hand for smaller parties and reunite the set for big shin-digs.
Plus, it gives the party a nice feel when you get to use real dishes and flatware.
This is a good idea, although I'd probably keep my eyes open for some lightweight plastic plates. I hate the heaviness/breakable-ness of china/glass, even with my own mixing bowls and such. :) I think I'd be far more likely to buy a huge set of something if it weren't so heavy and breakable and loud when you set it on something. Haha! I just realized how much I hate that loud clanking.
I probably wouldn't spring for 200, though. 50, definitely.
If you're totaling up costs for everything, you should include all the packing/storage materials and how much of a portion of your moving costs they were worth too.
Awesome idea for homeowners with a spare cabinet/attic space, not so great for many apartment dwellers.
It is handy to have a lot of dinner plates....although 160 is quite A LOT, lol
Having a dozen or more is an affordable way to have nice plates for dinners. You can even collect a specific pattern and not go broke.....buying dinner plates on eBay is always cheaper than buying entire place-settings, and you'll almost never need the additional pieces, anyway.
The same goes for salad/dessert plates.
If you need a storage unit for your stuff, I think that's too much stuff. You mention the cost for another option would be 5x what was originally spent, but surely storage space costs need to be figured in, as well as any extra human energy or additional trips made to move them. BUT if it's truly worth it to have 160 plates, that's great--more power to you. For me, a couple dozen would be more than sufficient for entertaining.
We did the same thing with wine glasses. My mom, friends and I purchased a few dozen cheap wine glasses from Bed Bath and Beyond for our wedding, and we now all share them for parties. Best investment ever.
BetterBombshell - "storage unit" doesn't have to mean the type that you pay monthly for at one of those big complexes down the road. Some apartments/condos have basements with individual "storage units" for each tenant to use.
Though Sarah would have to confirm...
gonzo 5680 is not invited to my party.
Sarah and her 160 plates definitely is.
True frzndaqiri--I originally intended to ask for clarification of whether it's a rented unit. My family used to own a moving and storage company, so that's what comes to mind first. And it's probably due to that experience that I feel so strongly about only owning as much as fits in your home. :)
I have blue/white plates. When you get to a certain age plates will begin to accumulate as older relatives leave this earth but their stuff stays behind!
Although 160 is quite a few, I have found that at larger events more plates than guests will get used so having extras is good for those who somehow lose their plates or put them in the sink and then decide to eat something else.
I also have a large collection of silver plate forks. You can often acquire those for almost nothing as most people want the whole place setting. Unless you are having steak, which isn't so frequent with a buffet-party, most foods can be eaten with just a fork.
I think that if you are the type to have larger parties that stocking up on party stuff and finding a place to store it is not a burden. You already are into the serving dishes etc... so what's a few more plates?
BetterBombshell - I don't own a storage unit (which is supplied by our building and holds Christmas decorations, tools and plates. Even when we didn't have a storage unit to store the extras in, we still made room for them in our home somewhere. Sometimes it was in a garage, sometimes it was in an attic and sometimes... it was in our hall closet. Although others would prefer to hang onto other important valuables, these make the cut for us!
A friend of mine and I figured this out a few years ago when we found clear glass plates at less than dollar a piece. We bought sets and have traded them back and forth for our various parties. I've added in IKEA white plates, and we simply don't have to use disposables for parties anymore.
Yes, disposables are easy, and sometimes recyclable, but there's something about real plates that communicates to your guest that you think they're worth the trouble. It's warm and fuzzy.
I have also picked up those old glass reception sets for .50 each at thrift stores. They give such an Anthropologie look with each plate pressed to look like a dahlia. I have 25 of those and love to pull them out for parties. They must have been a popular pattern back in the day, because I keep finding matching plates at different thrift stores.
I always rent... but to be fair I work for a rental company!!! I love that I have options, plus I know that we are so vigilant with using eco-friendly soaps and bags. For me to clean 160 dishes would take forever and so much water, for my work it is about 10 minutes and I know it saves a ton of water. But if you already own em' then use em'.
I have a *set* for 24 from Crate and Barrel... And I have had it for years. And use the dishes more than I would have thought! (dinner plates, salad plates, dessert plates, cups, saucers, cereal bowls, fruit bowls, rimmed soup bowls, water and wine goblets, juice glasses, ice tea glasses, high and low ball glasses, even footed dessert bowls... All white. (I have a culinary arts background, so love how the food pops against the white plates, love that I can use them for any type of occasion, and have a huge family... I think if entertaining is something you enjoy, then it is worth the money to buy dishes ($ or $$$), the time to clean them, and the space to store them. But I also agree that it is not for everyone. If you never entertain and live alone, then one place setting is more than ample :)
About 10 years go post-holiday I ran into cases of long stemmed champagne glasses for $ .25 each at IKEA. I bought every glass they had left - about 250. Then for every party I threw we had some variation of a champagne cocktail - baby showers, bridesmaid luncheons, Christmas, Thanksgiving - you name it. After all these years I had about 100 left and gave them to a friend since we were moving out of the country. Best party investment I ever made.
I helped friend do this same thing. It is so much cheaper and better than disposable. Then, you just keep sharing them around for parties, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. As to the dishwashing, we just did it in batches in the dishwasher. It was easy enough. And dishwashers are far more water efficient that hand washing all of those dishes.
I love all this...it makes me feel....nantucketish or..londonish!
Firstly, I'd say the 160 aren't always used, so it's not like they're washing the 160 every time there's an event. I know a family that probably would have benefited from buying a huge number of plates and sharing them for all their nicer events rather than getting disposables. If you've got the space and this works for you, go for it.
I'm with akay -- all of our plates, bowls, cups, and saucers are white, but from thrift stores, yard sales, hand-me-downs ... you get the picture. We never have to worry about breaking one and it even kept my Mom and mother-in-law busy for awhile! They look great, and we use colorful placemats and napkins for pops of color.
I have enough for 60, plates plus silverware plus cloth napkins, other friends have sets for 24 or 30 or 48 or more. When we have a party (wedding/graduation/reception), we combine and since we have all white it's easy to figure out who's home it goes to at the end of the party. It saves on disposables, rentals, sanity - and - the only time it hasn't worked is when someone wanted a fancy 'all matching' wedding. For every other purpose pooling our resources has done the trick.
The only sad thing about this article for me is that it highlights how many of us are going straight for Ikea pottery and glass - made in China, minimal design - and thus contributing to the death of our own country's creative industries.
My mother bought 50 red plates 25 years ago. They have been used and reused and are the perfect color to dress up for almost any holiday: Christmas, Valentine's, 4th of July, even Thanksgiving when paired with oranges, yellows & browns). Yes, you need to be in a situation to store so many plates, but if you are, think about the savings in cost, time, and the earth.
With me it is silverware. I have about 15 plates but have on hand about 25 place settings of knives forks etc, thanks to being guided to ebay. This way every one has a good fork and knife to eat and clean forks or spoons for dessert. Corelle is lighter than those Ikea plates and can fit in a small area, would not mind having 50 or 100 on hand myself. Good idea.
philppat - I live in Europe and I have looked at these exact plates at our local IKEA, they WERE actually made in Europe.
Although I totally get your point!!
Dang ellsie22---now I want a bunch of red plates!
If I could give a new homemaker one piece of advice, it would be to buy "real" china and skip melamine/plastic altogether. In the end, it'll be cheaper, and even with kids, I've been surprised at how few pieces we've broken. We decided a few years ago to get rid of as much plastic in our kitchen as possible. The first thing to go was the melamine plates we had because we have young children.
We limited out replacements to vintage American, European and Japanese patterns to lessen any concern about lead or other inappropriate glazes. We now have a cabinet full of mid-century Homer Laughlin Fiestaware; Noritake Blue Daisy; Stetson RCA Whirlpool (which is such an incredibly cool design); Vernonware Raffia; Homer Laughlin Highland Plaid; a full set of Bauer Los Angeles, a set of green-glowing Vaseline glass, and others.
Once we started looking at replacements, it was surprising (and a little depressing) to discover that we'd originally spent more buying new plastic/melamine than we did replacing it with high-end vintage china from the thrift store. On "half-off" days, it isn't unusual to find a stack of 8 china dinner plates for as low as .50 each.
By carefully mixing and matching colors and patterns, its easy to build a large collection for very little money. When we aren't entertaining, I keep only 2-4 dishes of each pattern in the cabinet and store the rest. That way we can enjoy the various patterns on a day to day basis. I don't worry about breakage - even with the kids, it rarely happens.
I really haven't counted, but we have a huge number of plates for the same purpose. They aren't all white though! We have a built in china cabinet in our diningroom (edwardian farmhouse) that holds them all and we use them for potlucks indoor and out, house concerts, and outdoor music events we host. We have a 1930;s sideboard that holds our everyday family dishes (easy for kids to set the table from). WE moved cross country 3 years ago and I agonized over keeping them or donating them but I'm VERY glad we kept them! I HATE disposible plates and napkins.
All of ours came from friends who had cast offs or the local charity church shop.
I may have been that bride! I too purchased 200 plates for my wedding, along with silverware because it was cheaper than renting. These plates have since been used for baby showers, weddings, birthday parties and more. Great investment especially when you share them with the neighborhood!