Mismatched With Love

I blame it on “Friends”. Rachel and Monica had that colorful apartment with the colorful kitchen with mismatched chairs. I liked it. It stuck with me; I like the unexpected combination of mismatched “sets” and, after being either gifted or acquiring random plates and bowls here and there, I embraced it.

Instead of aspiring to own a matching dinnerware set (all too often I’ve been tempted to drop several hundred dollars on a flawless and trendy set at Crate & Barrel), I made the decision to mix it up. I’m not going crazy and doing everything mismatchy; my silverware is matched, the salt + pepper shakers, mixing bowls, and glasses are parts of simplified sets, but the dishes being mixed adds a little happiness to my kitchen.

Here’s why:

1. Anyone I’ve ever known who had spent money on a dinnerware set (whether it be fancy china or not) is angry when one breaks. And that’s inevitable, especially when you have kids. I think my mom’s still upset over the one or two or 15 pieces my sister, Dad, and I broke over the years. If one of mine breaks, it’s OK. Really. It’s not part of a set, it’s just a bowl that I picked up because it was on sale and I liked the design of.
2. If you splurge or are gifted a nice dinnerware set, maybe you want to save it for special occassions. This is weird – just own plates and bowls you can use everyday. I like mine because I’m collecting both rough, more durable pieces (like the mismatched Fiestaware pieces I found a garage sale) and the more dainty pieces, like a lacy plate from Anthropologie that maybe my grandma would be content eating off of for Christmas dinner. (I even took a lacy bowl too, so she’ll have a complete “set”)
3. Finally, like comfort food, there’s something to be said for matching your bowl or plate to your mood. Now you think I’m crazy, but hear me out. Mac and cheese after a hard day’s work tastes better out of my big green bowl than the yellow bowl (the cheese blends in), and my peanut butter cup ice cream tastes better out of my Anthropologie heart bowl when I’m in a funk. I can’t explain it, I’m just effected by it. Offering guests to choose their dinner plate kind of makes the meal a little more… customized. Kind of like letting your guests choose their own wine glass. Are you in the mood for a small square blue plate? Or a chunky one with birds painted on it?

It also makes me happy that the collection is displayed on the open shelves that we installed (you can read about that over here and here).

My latest additions have been from Anthropologie and Marshall’s. And I think the Marshall’s finds were really outcasted by Anthropologie due to quality control; the paint on the edge of the bowl is just shy of perfect. I obviously don’t care.

I also must say, it’s really nice to pick up a single new plate or bowl once in awhile, and a much easier expense to stomach if it’s something you just need to have at a moment’s notice.

It’s still a small collection for now, but it’s possible that this could spiral out of control easily.