The Great Dish Debacle of 2007

Calling all Internets--I need your help. Hubs and I have recently decided to purchase new dishes. There are a myriad of reasons, but the biggest being that hubs hates the way our dishes load in the dishwasher because they're very concave. The one time per month that he loads the dishwasher, it makes him irate. (Calm down hubs, I know that sometimes you load the dishwasher twice in one month. Ok, kidding!)

We didn't register or ask for new dishes when we were married because I had some that we both liked that were rather new. I'd gotten them less than a year before we were married. Besides, we couldn't really find much we liked. We decided when we found some, we'd just upgrade then. Since then I'd been wanting a nice neutral and classic pattern. I entertain often and a nice white would match nicely with all occasions and decor. (I've included pictures, but click the link for the full decor and accessories--oh the accessories!)

Well, one day while shopping at World Market, we happened upon these lovely dishes. The Nantucket collection. If you look closely you can see there is a debossed dot pattern. Polka Dots! White! Classy! Yea!

We decided to shop around a bit before making such a big purchase. Then, when garage saling with MommyO and DaddyO (long story short, they are the grandparents of kids I nannyed for and they love J more than words can describe. They live just around the corner from us so we visit frequently.) they were left with a huge box of Buffalo China, (I found it at Williams-Sonoma) the salad/dessert plate and the cups and saucers. I was so excited they offered it to me because once I monogram it with an "M" it will be the perfect, classy dining piece for all occasions of entertaining.

Getting those pieces brought on the great preponderance (Is that a word? Did I just make that up?) of should I just get the bowls and salad plate and call it a day? (I would still monogram the salad/dessert plates, but that's all). Well, therein lies the problem. The Buffalo China is actually a very creamy white. All of my accent pieces are bright, crisp white.

I ventured on to other options and fell absolutely head-over-heels, completely and madly in love with the Emma Collection from the Pottery Barn.

The Emma Collection is perfect and beautiful and lovely and I must have it this instant! I went to my local Pottery Barn store to view the splendor of it in person. Then my shoulders slumped and I frowned. It's a very creamy white. A perfect and lovely creamy white, but not the bright, crisp white of all the serving and entertaining pieces, etc. that I already own.

I have a few pieces from the Pottery Barn Great White Collection. Namely I'm in love with those big, wonderful soup mugs you see there. However, the rest of the collection is rather huge and far to big for normal dining.

There is also the Pottery Barn PB White Collection, (bright, crisp white) of which I have a few pieces. It's very quaint and cute, but also rather thin. J didn't like how thin it was and I have to admit, although I love the mugs, would my piping hot coffee sizzle right through?

Lastly, we have the Everyday White Collection from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I have several of these pieces and have been quite happy with them. I would do the round pieces and not the square. The square are a bit to modern and trendy for me as I'm a straight up traditional girl. I have the teapot and a couple of the tea caddies. It's also a bright, crisp white.

First, don't get your undies in a wad over the pricing, as I am The Bargainista! I have a, um, let's says "coupon" at both The Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma for a sizable discount. Also, I have loads of Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons (you can even use expired coupons and use one per item that you're buying!) and items there are often on sale.

Now, the issues. As I said, I'm in love with the Emma dishes. They're nearly the same thing as the Nantucket and I'm fairly certain they are made at the same place, by the same people, just stamped with different names and sold at different retail chains. As for the Nantucket, I hope that it goes back on sale the way I originally found it so that it's more affordable. I love the Buffalo China too. It's great craftsmanship, super heavy, and will last forever. Because of reasons noted above, I do not want the Great White or PB White collections. The Everyday White is still a slight option. The biggest dilemma is the million shades of white I'm bombarded with. I don't want to give up all of the accent and serving pieces I've collected because the purpose of those items was that they match the current dinnerware, and would match anything we found.

Is it ok to have an array of whites and creams and make it all look pretty and put together? Will it look mismatched? Should I hold out for crisp, bright whites that I'm in love with? At this point I fear I'm just in love with new dishes even though the ones I sought aren't exactly perfect, or are they? It is possible to collect all of my accent pieces in the Emma pattern, but I still have a variety of serving trays and platters that are the bright, crisp white and are irreplaceable.

Puh-lease give me your thoughts and opinions! As ridiculous as it is, I'm quite perplexed about the whole situation. GFTS-certainly you have an opinion and your mom has a rule about this somewhere. Mrs. S-pull out every Southern bone in your body and tell me what you think! The rest of you-please help to! Really, my husband will be grateful that I have someone else to discuss the matter with as I'm sure he's growing weary of it.

While I'm at it, here are my current dishes. They'll be posted on craigslist soon, any takers?

They're very cute and fun, and I love the mix and match. The only downfall is that they don't really match our kitchen (not that it matters really, but have you met me?) and also don't match every table scape (again, not that it matters I suppose since I could use china, but having a neutral would be nice). I also have twenty-four (yes, 24!) place settings. I couldn't quit collecting all of the solid colors when they went on sale and somehow ended up with a whopping twenty-four place settings (twelve striped, four red, four orange, four blue, four green).