Tablescaping DIY, Part 3, Choosing what Plates to Buy, Dinner Plates

This is Part 3 in an ongoing series about how to create your tablescapes. You can read Part 1 about developing a theme for your table here and Part 2 about Choosing what Plates to Buy, Chargers, here. There are some similarities when choosing chargers and dinner plates so there will be some repetition in this blog post.

The dinner plate is really the most important plate on the table from a practical standpoint. You can do without a charger and you can do without a salad plate but you need a dinner plate. My tablescapes tend to have at least three plates in the plate stack, a charger, a dinner plate, and a salad plate but if you are just starting to tablescape you can start with just a dinner plate on the table and still create a perfect tablescape.

There are five things to think about when buying dinner plates; size, color, shape, material, and price. Dinner plates tend to be about 10 1/2” in diameter. You want a dinner plate about that size so that a larger charger will show below the dinner plate and a smaller salad plate won’t cover the dinner plate completely. This provides a nice balance for the plate stack.

I don’t buy sets of dishes, I buy individual items. If I bought a compete set I feel like I would be wasting my money because I don’t use a full set of dishes on the table ever for my tablescapes. When I buy individual pieces I can mix and match hundreds of different combinations.

I bought these yellow dinner plates on clearance at Sur La Table online several years ago. They were part of their Fresh Squeezed Lemon Collection.

When I first began tablescaping several years ago the first dinner plates I bought were plates that were solid colors so I would have basic colors that I could use to start with, red, white, black, green and blue. I go back to these colors and use these plates over and over when I am creating tablescapes. This is a red Fiesta dinner plate, I have several of these plates in different colors and I use them often. This red dinner plate is actually part of our every day dishes set.

I think this black dinner plate came from HomeGoods several years ago.

Later I started adding dinner plates to my collection that had unusual lip and rim designs to add interest to the plate stacks, and dinner plates that had an overall design that would pop when the salad plate was removed. As I added these dinner plates I tried to keep in mind the charger plates and salad plates that I already had so that whatever I bought would match something I already owned. I also bought plates thinking about the tablescape themes I was working on and how the plate design could add to the theme. One thing for you to keep in mind, if you plan to always use a salad plate, the center design on the dinner plate will not show until you remove the salad plate. The salad plate design is key to helping define the theme of the table if your table has a theme. This black and white plate is called Miss Blackbirdy, you can see the black bird in the center of the plate. The creator was a Dutch fashion designer and artist, Merel Boars.

This yellow and white ironstone plate came from Pier 1 several years ago, the pattern was called Chloe. It is a smaller dinner plate, probably about 9” across and it could be used as a dinner plate alone or a salad plate on a plate stack.

I like to find dinner plates that have unusual rim designs because they add interest to the plate stack. I seem to gravitate toward plates that have a symmetrical pattern around the rim, I just think it looks better. It seems odd when only part of a design shows, something seems missing. I found these white dinner plates at HomeGoods several years ago. They were made by Fitz and Floyd and the pattern was called Oakdale White. HomeGoods and Dollar stores are great sources for inexpensive dinner plates. If you live in an area that has thrift stores and garage and estate sales, they can also be great sources for inexpensive plates too. I have read about tablescapers who buy glass plates at a Dollar store and then draw on them or add fabric to them to create a new design. Check on Pinterest for information about how to do this, I am not crafty and I have never done it but they look great!

When I started tablescaping I bought round plates but after a few years I added some square plates to my dish collection. These Fiesta plates come in both dinner and salad plate sizes and I really like their basic design. They can add an interesting shape to whatever else you are creating on your tablescape.

Depending on the theme of your table it is fun to find unusual shaped dinner plates. I often find them by googling whatever it is that I am looking for, something often pops up. This white shell dinner plate was made by Bordallo Pinheiro in Portugal and I bought them on Ebay.

I never buy sets of dishes. But over the years when I found a plate design that I really loved (after I made sure it was available in all sizes) I slowly bought matching chargers, dinner plates and salad plates until I had the number of place settings that I wanted. Sometimes this took me a few years to accomplish depending on the availability of the plates. I often bought plates a few at a time on Ebay as they came up for sale. Some I am still looking for! This three plate set of blue shell plates was made by Bordallo Pinheiro in Portugal and I bought them on Ebay a few at a time over several years.

This three plate set of red Christmas plates was made by Bordallo Pinheiro in Portugal and I bought them on Ebay a few at a time over several years.

My dinner plates are pottery, ceramic, glass and melamine like this turquoise plate. It really doesn’t matter what the plate is made of and I am amazed at how many wonderful plastic dinner plates are available now. These turquoise melamine plates came from HomeGoods several years ago. They were made by IL Mulino New York.

This orange plastic dinner plate is one of my favorite Halloween plates. I bought them several years ago online at Dillards.com and they were called Summer Oasis Zoie Vintage Dinner Plate. Keep in mind what the washing requirements are for the dinner plates you buy, some are hand wash only, and you need to be aware of that.

If you are lucky, you may have inherited a set of china from a relative. This was my Nana’s Haviland passed down to me from my mother. I cherish it and I try to use it on a tablescape a few times a year at least.

To see over 260 different tablescapes that I have created please click here. If you are on Facebook, join my new Tablescape and Table Settings Ideas Facebook group for lots of tablescaping inspiration! Just click on the Facebook Search box at the top of the page and type in Tablescape and Table Settings Ideas or click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2553689988183392

If you live in Southern California join our Facebook tablescaping group Southern California Tablescapers BTS Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/440356398581157 We are planning a gathering for tablescapers in January in the Los Angeles area..

Don’t miss the Tablescape How-To tab at the top of my blog for DIY tips and tricks.

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week, please check back!