Tablescaping DIY, Part 4, Choosing What Plates to Buy, Salad Plates
This is Part 4 in an ongoing series about how to create your tablescapes. You can read Part 1 about developing a theme for your table here , Part 2 about Choosing what Plates to Buy, Chargers, here and Part 3 about Choosing What Plates to Buy, Dinner Plates, here. There are some similarities when choosing different kinds of plates so there will be some repetition in this blog post with the other how-to posts. The salad plate is the most important plate on the table from a design standpoint. It is the plate that is seen all around the table with a repeated exact or similar design and this helps define and illustrate the theme of your tablescape.
There are five things to think about when buying salad plates; size, color, shape, material, and price. Salad plates can be anywhere from 6 inches to 9 inches in diameter. You want a salad plate about that size so that a larger dinner plate will show below that plate with the charger plate below that. This provides a nice balance for the plate stack. When I am looking for salad plates I try to keep in mind the charger plates and dinner plates that I already have so that whatever I buy will match something I already own. I also buy plates thinking about the tablescape themes I am working on and how the plate design could add to the theme. Salad plates are sometimes called luncheon plates when they are a larger size.
This salad plate is just the right size. The dinner plate border shows below it and the charger plate below that. These salad plates are very difficult to find. I found a few on Ebay and a few on Etsy and a few at Replacements, Ltd.. I was lucky to find eight. The back says “International Tableworks, from a genuine hand engraving Bob Timberlake”. They were made in England and the pattern is Timberlake Camp 166.
You can’t go wrong choosing a salad plate in a solid primary or secondary color. You will use them over and over again. They were some of the first plates I bought when I started tablescaping. This is a salad plate made by Fiesta and the color is Sunflower. (The dinner plate below the salad plate is Fiesta as well, in Shamrock.)
My salad plates are pottery, ceramic, melamine and glass like this square glass black salad plate. It really doesn’t matter what the plate is made of and I am amazed at how many wonderful melamine salad plate designs are available now. When I started tablescaping I bought round plates but after a few years I started adding some square plates to my dish collection. We found these black glass plates somewhere in Virginia while we were visiting our son and his family a few years ago. They were made by Luminarc France.
Sometimes a salad plate will be sold as a set of three or four with different designs on each plate. These different designs can add additional interest and fun to the tablescape. I bought these small Halloween plates several years ago, I can’t remember where but it may have been Ebay. They were made by Omniware and there were four different designs in the set. I have always liked them because they have such a classic Halloween style.
I bought these green melamine salad plates online several years ago. I can’t remember where. They were made by Baci Milano and the pattern was called Baroque & Rock. I have them in red also, I like the ruffle design on the lip and rim. On this particular tablescape I added another blue salad plate that was just a bit larger under this green salad plate because I wanted to separate some colors in the plate stack and add a bit more blue to the tablescape. HomeGoods and Dollar stores are great sources for inexpensive salad 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. Salad plates can be expensive, especially the ceramic and china ones. Over the years, when I found an expensive one that I really liked, I bought one or two a month until I had the number I needed. 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!
These melamine strawberry salad plates came from Sur La Table online a few years ago. Online stores often have cute salad plates and I wait until the end of season sales and buy them then.
Depending on the theme of your table it is fun to find salad plates with an unusual shape. I often find them by googling whatever it is that I am looking for, something often pops up. I really love this Santa face salad plate. This plate was part of Fitz and Floyd’s Peppermint Santa tableware series several years ago. I have several pieces of this series that I collected over the years online from different retail sites. It is really the cutest Santa face that I have seen so far on a plate. When I have a special detailed plate like this one I remove them from the table before we start eating. They are mostly for show. I have other salad plates waiting that can be eaten on.
I have had these Fitz and Floyd salad plates for several years. I bought them a few at a time over a few years on Ebay. The pattern was called Autumn Bounty and they were made between 1996 and 1999. I love all the detail, the fruit, the vegetables, the flowers and the wicker design in the center.
For this tablescape I used what is called a tidbit or appetizer plate on top of the salad plate. These plates are usually about 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter. When you are buying salad plates online be sure to read what size the plate is so you know exactly what you are getting. This melamine snowflake plate is sitting on a simple white salad plate. This plate stack was one of my favorites as was the tablescape itself. I found these blue and white small snowflake plates on Ebay several years ago. They were made by Nicole Miller. I really love the shape of these plates and the design as well.
I never buy sets of dishes because I wouldn’t use all the dishes on my tablescapes and it would be a waste of money. But over the years when I found a plate design that I really loved (after I made sure it was all available) 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! These blue seashell plates were some of the first plates that I bought when I started tablescaping and they are still some of my favorite plates. I just love all the starfish and shell details in the raised design. They were made by Bordallo Pinheiro in Portugal and I bought them a few plates at a time on Ebay. I still see them there from time to time. I love the scallop shell surrounded by a rope in the center of this salad plate. Some of their salad plates have a starfish in the center of the plate.
I love the design of these flag plates, it is a simple but strong design. They are melamine and I bought them at Pier 1 a several years ago before they closed their stores. As soon as I saw them I knew I wanted both the salad and the matching dinner plates.
I love red and my kitchen is white with red accents so when I saw these plates I knew I had to have them. The top plate is tidbit size, then a salad plate, then a larger dinner plate that can be used as a charger as well. The plates were made by At Home with Marieke and the pattern was called Sarah. This pattern has been discontinued. I can’t remember where I bought them but it was online.
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 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!