Do you have good dishes...china, do you use it?

[Snowwark]

A very dear DIS friend (who shall remain nameless...LOL), has told me that in 20 years, she's never used her beautiful china!! Part of the problem seems to be that she doesn't have a proper place to store it, and it's a pain to unpack/pack.

Do you have china? Do you use it often, or just for special occasions?

 

[gina2000]

Geez.....that's too bad! Tell her to ship it to me and I'll use it! LOL

 

[iluvorlando]

Yes, I have good china. Do I use it? NO. But that doesnt mean I won't...we go to the IL's for most holidays so that's why.

 

[Snowwark]

You sure Gina?

 

[mickey65]

I have good china and I use it if I have company. My nanny always taught me to use the good china She use to make me tea and she used the Silver Birch tea cups. I always thought it was so nice

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Well I decided 2yrs ago to collect the "Royal Albert, Old Country Roses, Casual Classics" It is dishwasher safe. Probably need to use the plates more often.
I am drinking my morning coffee from it.

 

[Boots]

Yes I do. The sad thing is I have used it maybe 5 times in 30 years. Part of the reason though is when my mother was alive she always had the "big" dinners at her house. She had three sets of good china. My DD gets one, DS the other, and I will get the third. Actually my DD is getting her entire set of blue willow. She had two sets of every day dishes, one set of fine blue willow china, and numerous other pieces. She had a whole room decorated in blue willow and dedicated to her hobby!

 

[gina2000]

I'm the culprit here. LOL! I really expected people to say that they have china, they love it and use it often. Instead......

Look at the responses so far! What I think it shows is that people don't have the time. When my mom was a kid, you would hire a woman to come in to clean up your dinner parties. Life was at a much slower pace....nicer......more formalities were observed.

It makes me sad because I think it's a lifestyle that I THOUGHT I wanted. But I must not. After it's all said and done, I haven't tried to fit it into my life.

Perhaps the next 50 people will post something different! Let's hope so....this way I can get off my butt and start using the stuff!

 

[Kermit]

I don't have china for that very reason. I've just never felt like buying dining room furniture, and therefore, I have no hutch. We have a room in this house that is supposed to be a dining room, but it's empty. We're thinking about turning it into a playroom.

 

[Mamu]

Yes I do, do I use it?

I use to use it all the time. It's the China I got as wedding gifts many, many years ago. It's packed away with along with my Mothers China.

Now why is this china packed away? I have a sickness for china, dinnerware. I have a set for every season, and a set for every holiday.

I try to stay away from the china and dinnerware part of the stores. I have to tell you there's a magnet in these departments and it's connected to my sick brain. That I actually need another set of china or dinnerware. But OH! do I love the new multi-mix crystal and china sets.

 

[goofy4tink]

I use my 'good' china twice a year...Christmas and our anniversary. My mother just bought me 'good' everyday china for Christmas. Now I have 'really good' Lenox china and 'good' Lenox china.

 

[Snowwark]

I have one set of china, and storage is an issue. I have a hutch/buffet that I keep it in, zipped in china cases but there's not much room left. For those of you with numerous sets, where do you keep it all, not to mention silver chests, crystal...etc.

I was reading an article on homebuilding the other day, and they mentioned that the trend was swinging back to larger dinningrooms, that people wanted to start entertaining in a more formal fashion again. I know I'd like too...especially if I can get someone else to clean up!!

 

[Lynn CC]

I have 3 sets of good china and my Mom just gave me her set that my Dad gave her because she doesn't do a lot of fancy entertaining anymore.

DH had to build a built-in just for my china. I did recently give one set away to someone who had no dishes at all.

 

[Marla Hellwig]

Have a set that got as wedding presents - used it like 6 times in the last 15 years - sad - all neatly stacked in the china cabinet in the living room

 

[WebmasterAlex]

We usually break it out once or twice a year.. the hand washing is a pain!

 

[wdwnutze]

I was given a set of china that my mother got as a wedding gift when I got married. This was a set that I remember looking at when I was a little girl and thinking I would use when I got older. Storage was an issue for the 1st 16yrs I was married but now we have a dining room and hutch so it is on display but doesn't get enough use. I've used it on te holidays but I'm so afraid if I break anything, I can't replace it. I really should use it more often.

 

[DixieDreamer]

I purchased a set of china for myself about 15 years ago. I use it about two or three times a year on the holidays that we are not at the inlaws. It is stored in an antique sideboard in china bags that keep it clean and protected. They are not "displayed" as a consequence though. I have good silverware and glassware as well that I use at the same time. The china has real gold edging and requires hand washing - so I think that is the main deterrent for using it more often - that and we just don't entertain that often (more likely to be a barbeque in the backyard than a formal dinner).

Honestly, I love my everyday dishes too much to go rushing off to fancier stuff. I have heavy white porcelain dishware - similar to those found in a restaurant. It is solid and well designed. Is clean and attractive in it's simplicity - and wears like iron! I have two items that have suffered some chips... so I need to go on the prowl to find a few replacement pieces.

 

[Meriweather]

I have good China.
I didn't buy it, I inherited it. I LOVE it. Chose my dining room colors to match the china.
It is displayed in a china cabinet.
We use it 3 times a year ....and I love using it.
It was brought back from Japan during World War II by my uncle for my mother.
Great sentamental value too.
My mother had all the family gatherings and always used it.

 

[catsrule]

yes, it was DH's moms china. Keep it in a nice china cabinet in the dining room....never use it.

 

[caitycaity]

we have formal china, but we only use it maybe 2 times a year, if that. i would love to use it more often if we didn'thave to handwash! it is displayed in a china cabinet i got from my mom who got it from her mom.