There are many fine sports devised by humans, but my favorite sport is played year round and requires no expensive special equipment. All you need is a belief in serendipity, a keen pair of eyes, a Notes app list on your phone, some white packing paper and an Ikea bag. No one ever needs to tell me to practice. I practice a lot. My sport is hunting plates and bowls to make into mismatched china dinnerware sets. My eyes are attuned to spotting potential prey, my list is for checking what sizes and colors are deficient in my stash, the white paper is for wrapping the pieces because china should never be wrapped in printed newspapers and the Ikea bag is for style.
My devotion to mix and match china started at least 20 years ago at Ikea. An in-store display showed a place setting of pieces from the same solid color matte pattern in different colors for each piece. We are still using our tan dinner plates, charcoal side plates and green bowls. That Ikea experience, tame though it seems now, led directly to me prancing home from estate sales and thrifts with pretty dishes that would eventually become mismatched sets for sale in my shop, if they didn’t find their way into my cabinets.
Lots of vintage sellers have amazing mismatched china dinnerware sets available as full sets, as place settings or as small groups of dinner plates, bread plates etc. It’s entirely possible to click a button and have a set appear at your house. But it’s also fun to build your own set.
Are there any rules?
No. It’s your set of china. You do you. You can collect a set with no two pieces alike. You can mix stoneware with bone china. You can collect all transferware. You can collect all blue transferware. You can collect dinner plates that all match, salad plates that all match and bowls that all match and use those as a set. The only rule is it should spark your joy.
Are some things harder to find than others?
Yes, it’s increasingly hard to find vintage supermarket china. And there is fierce competition for transferware because it is an eternal favorite. Also, many older everyday patterns are either too well used or in small quantities.
What is plentiful?
1960s-1980s “good” china with gold trim is always in abundance. And there are a lot of cast off modern pieces, which is fine to mix in because it’s your china set. You have no rules. (As a vintage seller, I have rules. It has to be at least 20 years old to show its face in my shop.)
What should I avoid?
Many secondhand sets of china have pieces that got reused over and over while others sat pristine at the bottom of the pile. You may have to buy the whole stack, but it’s fine to dispose of worn out plates. Dispose, not donate. Worn out plates are worn out plates. After a years of trips through the dishwasher plus utensil marks, it’s possible the clear glaze is no longer sealing in the colors underneath.
Same story with crazed china. It’s perfect for decorative use, but don’t use it for eating.
If your china has metallic gold, it can’t go the microwave. To maintain the gold as long as possible, it should also not go in the dishwasher.
And some plates are made purely as decor, including collectible plates from places like the Bradford Exchange and Franklin Mint. They are not food safe. Most of these are marked with that info on the back. Sometimes it was marked with a sticker that has been removed, so use your judgement.
What are a few ideas for mismatched china dinnerware sets to get started?
- All one color (white is easiest) but different shapes and makers. If you’ve ever bought white paint, you know there are a gazillion shades. Same for china. If shade variation is going to bug you, this might not be your best choice.
- Solid color plates, transferware side plates, solid color bowls.
- Holiday and seasonal sets: harvest colors for fall and Thanksgiving; mixed wintery patterns and colors for Christmas, Hanukkah and winter; florals for summer.
- Different patterns by the same maker. Extra points for different patterns on the same “blank.”
- Sticking with an era like the atomic 60s or brown 70s.
- Collecting china that was originally given out by supermarkets.
- Finding fabulous bone china florals.
- Floral plates and milk glass bowls.
- Different patterns of diner and restaurant china
What if I love my existing china but still want to play the sport?
Collect a nice assortment of plates to use as wall decor. No room is off limits for putting plates on the wall as art. Even the bathroom or laundry room can be improved aesthetically by adding plates.
Or, collect a bonus seasonal set or tea with friends set.
Can you only do this with china?
Of course not! You can do it with flatware and stemware and anything you want. Your set, your rules.
