Last month I asked on Instagram Stories if you wanted to see a post on our dining room and everyday dishes. I was SO happy to see that you love home décor, too! Literally, only one person said no. So here you have it: our everyday dishes and how I made simple updates utilizing a lot of what we currently own mixed in with a handful of new pieces.
I typically haven’t shared a lot of home stuff on here because I’m usually just focused on planning outfits. But that poll got me so excited, so I’m going to start sharing more home stuff when I can. Yay!
Back in December I got on this kick to up the ante on our everyday dishes. If you ask Matt, he will tell you I’m always looking for ways to upgrade décor, furniture, etc. And this itch for upgrading our everyday dishes was not going anywhere. So after a clean out in the New Year, I made a shopping plan and got to it!
Now, I LOVE myself a good white plate, but for some reason our stuff was just looking a little sad. I didn’t want to replace everything, so instead I upgraded a few things to give our everyday plates some more style.
Our everyday dishes (plates, bowls, and mugs) are part of the Essential collection from Crate & Barrel. Honestly, there’s not much to them; they are just simple and clean. They have a slight curve around the edge to give some depth, and the white really makes food pop. (Okay, it’s not like I’m plating for Food Network here, but I appreciate presentation when I’m not rushing through dinner.)
Since the plates are minimal and white, they literally go with everything. I used to have blue plates because I thought I wanted color, and have been slowly ditching them for years. I didn’t want to go for a square or ornate pattern because I get sick of things easily. Know thyself. My strategy for our everyday dishes has been to keep a clean foundation with the basics that could match anything. Plus, the Essential collection is always at Crate & Barrel. This way, if something breaks, I can just grab a single of it rather than needing to purchase a new full set.
Now that we got all the plain white out of the way, this is where the “upgrade” portion comes in. We’ve been using glasses that had a ribbed effect on them for 7 years now. And while in general I liked how they look, over time the glasses started to get cloudy. I think it’s because over time the soap would build up under each ribbed line despite the going in the dishwasher? Anyway, I wanted a more modern glass that would be casual enough for every day, but also match our fine china for special occasions.
Our house is small, so we don’t have a ton of room to store things. Therefore it’s important to me that I own things that can do double the work. I love these Impressions glasses (also from Crate & Barrel). In case you can’t tell, I’m all about minimalism when it comes to dining. I just like things to be clean! These glasses have imprints around the bottom, kind if like someone pinched in the glass. That gives them a little more of a styled feel without them being just plain old glasses. I also feel like these are a little fancier feeling because of the shape. They are a true cylinder versus tapering in at the bottom. Mine are the “cooler” size but they also come in a lower version and in a juice glass.
To break up all of the white, I decided to get salad plates in an accent color. I think it adds a nice change from the preciseness of the larger white plates. Each plate is a little different from the other, and they aren’t perfect circles. I have the Caspian Gray color but these come in a really pretty blue or a teal/aqua. Over time I want to add in the serving bowl or plate so that our table has more to compliment these.
Okay, now onto flatware. I have been obsessed with the idea of matte silver flatware for so long now. It’s taken me literally 6 months to finally find the perfect set. Our old flatware started to rust, which is what actually set off the trigger for me to upgrade our dining dishes. I wanted to get quality silver so this was the most expensive part of the mini dining upgrade, but we needed them.
Keeping with the modern theme, I didn’t want anything too rounded or curved, and these fit the bill. They are also heavy, so they feel nice. I don’t know why but spending money on a fork that feels super light… I just can’t do it.
Our placemats are old and from Z Gallerie, but I linked a similar square gold set here and below. Our table and chairs are also older from Z Gallerie. I found 2 tables that look almost identical below, and they are actually better prices than what I recall our table cost. I also linked some similar chairs. Our chairs are faux white leather. I had some initial concerns about them getting dirty, but after 7 years they are still almost perfectly white!
Back when West Elm came to style part of my house for a blogger brunch I hosted, they brought in this gorgeous terrarium style candleholder. I loved the simplicity of it above the sideboard and so I bought it directly from them! It’s simple, but the metallic edges work well with the silver of our table, gold flecks in our rug, and the gold of our mirror.
To finish the table I recently purchased this round tray (originally for our coffee table) and added three ceramic vases in different heights. Technically this is the silver tray, but in real life it looks more champagne than silver.
While I totally love the idea of flowers in vases all the time, sometimes I forget, sometimes timing is off, etc. So I really needed something here that would look okay with or without flowers. As you can see, the tall carafe vase has nothing in it. Also a little hack I learned by complete accident: baby’s breath flowers dry out and you can keep them forever, without any water. That’s what you see here! I’ve had those in that vase for so long! Then I just add some greenery when I remember (greenery lasts longer) into the bigger one. That little bouquet in the tiny vase is a dried out table setting from a blogger dinner back over the holidays! Whatever works, people.
So that’s it! Our everyday dishes in a nutshell. I’m trying to have people over for dinner more this year, even if it’s casual. A dinner with a good friend doesn’t need the fancy china. But by adding in just a few styled elements with your everyday dishes, casual dinners can feel more put together with only minimal effort.
Let me know if you want to see more home décor posts like this!
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