Home & Garden Blog » Dinnerware

As if you couldn’t get enough of patriotic events from this past weekend, consider taking on another countries traditions and firin’ up the barbie and breaking out the firecrackers for July 14th, Bastille Day.  Bastille Day is the French national holiday that celebrates the storming of the Bastille in 1789 that is said to symbolize the rise of France as a modern nation.  Complete with parades, festivities and a firecracker-laden Eiffel Tower, there are plenty of ways to bring home the joy and revolutionary spirit back in the States, even if you’re not from French descent.  If you’re looking for a place to celebrate with a large group of people, NYC hosts an enormous Bastille Day celebration on 60th Street in the Upper East side of Manhattan.  Philadelphia has a slightly more sarcastic and less-traditional celebration of Bastille Day, with a re-interpretation of the storming of the Bastille taking place at the Eastern State Penitentiary, where an actress playing Marie Antoinette yells “Let them eat Tastykake!” and throws the locally-manufactured sweet to the symbolic Parisian militia.  San Francisco and Seattle, for the West coasters, is said to have some elegant parades as well.

But if you want to bring a little of the Bastille back home, here are some suggestions of Thomas Schlesser, noted Francophile and restaurant architect, as interviewed by the New York Times:

Dubost Red Laguiole stainless steel flatware from SurLaTable.com: $160 for 20 pieces with storage box included.  Marked down from $199, this is not exactly a steal, but certainly an investment.  A setting includes soup spoon, dinner fork, salad fork, dinner knife and teaspoon.  Four place settings are included in the package, along with a personalized fitted wood storage tray.  Safe for dishwasher, hand dry, the product is made at a family-owned factory in France, thus making it elegant and perfect for Bastille Day, not to mention the patriotic colors.

Cour Normande Ceramic Pitcher from PierreDeux.com, $48.  A rustic piece with an adorable Coq (le francais for “rooster”) painted on the front, this piece says elegance and countryside charm.  Both dishwasher and microwave safe, this is a versatile and useful item for everything from margaritas to lemonade stands.

Have a fabulous Bastille Day, even if you don’t celebrate!

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more French style dinnerware.

Summertime dishware should be just like your summertime clothes:  lightweight, colorful, and durable for all your outdoor adventures!  While everyone enjoys bringing the fancy dinnerware out for the occasional special event or family party, summertime events are a little more relaxed and easy-going: your decorations, dinnerware, and food selections should reflect that.  When your appetite fires up for the weekly family barbeque, or your son has his baseball team over for a clambake, make sure you have the dishware to match the mood!  When you are planning ahead for the inevitable summer parties, don’t forget all the details.  Dishware is a good place to start, but Smarter.com has deals on plenty of necessary appliances, tables, chairs, etc., for the barbeques you have always dreamed of.

Some summertime favorites (and great deals!) from Smarter.com’s Home and Garden section:

Dillard’s Tangerine Fiestaware: $24.00/ 5-piece place setting (each setting comes with dinner plate, salad plate, soup bowl, cup and saucer.

Thrifty and Fashionable: Corelle Livingware Classic Café Black 16-Piece Set with Mugs, Service for Four: $31.99.  Corelle promises a dishwasher, microwave, and oven safe dishware set, and uses the best materials to promise a break and chip resistant product!  What more could you ask for?  The set comes with 4 dinner plates, 4 bread and butter plates, 4 soup/cereal bowls and 4 11oz. mugs.

And if you’re in the mood for something a little more earth-toned, check out the Sango Gold Dust Green 16 piece Dinnerware Set from Boscov’s, featured on Smarter.com because of it’s amazing, 50% markdown price: from $100 down to $49.99!  This set comes with 4 dinner plates, 4 salad plates, 4 soup/cereal bowls and 4 mugs.

While you’re getting the outdoor patio ready for the summer fun ahead, don’t forget some much needed lawn accessories, like sufficient seating and table space.  Smarter.com has great finds on picnic tables, chairs, and decorative ornaments for the yard.  Some spotlights:

Global Industrial Plastic Picnic Table: $169.95

This table is extremely durable and corrosion resistant, an important trait when you think about those unlikely but lethal summer storms.  The table is extra wide, and says it can fit up to 8 people comfortably.  The grips on the bottom of the table make it scratch resistant and stable. Don’t miss this necessary summer investment!

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more affordable dishware.
Discounts on picnic tables.

Enhance your dining experience with this formal dinnerware ensemble. The Royal Quilt 30 piece dinnerware set from Gibson provides service for six.  The set contains plates, bowls and cups  that feature a sculptural quilted patterin in white porcelain.

Here is a zoomed in image of the elegant and graceful design that adorns the sides of the dishes. Beautiful, right?

30 pieces for only $84.99

If you are interested in  shopping for the Gibson Royal Quilt (30 pc. set) - Click here!

To shop for additional Discount Dinnerware Sets -  Click here!

I don’t cook and I’ve never had a big family but I love the idea of a big group of family and friends having dinner in a well-set table. Not just at weddings or bar mitzvahs but especially during the holidays. Someday, I’ll cook that big feast for my friends and family to enjoy and they will be wowed with the tableware that’s right there before their eyes. These are my favorites for Christmas:

Williams-Sonoma’s take on the 12 days of Christmas, definitely more chic than a partridge in a pear tree.

The gold makes it holiday-glam. Gold forest plates from Horchow.

I love these nature holiday plates from Target!

The queen of fabulous tableware Rosanna makes the holiday boho chic with their scalloped boho holiday plates.

Well. you have to have some quirky glasses too. These candy cane shot glasses is a fabulous choice.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Kid’s Thanksgiving Tablecloth

The playful pattern on our tablecloth depicts the first Thanksgiving with an all-American mix of heritage and whimsy. An adventurous turkey illustrates the tale, from the landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620 to the settlers’ cultivating a bountiful harvest. Decorated with colorful appliqués, the cotton cloth is the ideal size for a kids’ table, or it can be layered with our Hemstitch linens on a larger dining table.

A Williams-Sonoma Internet/Catalog only deal!

Price $59.00

Kid’s Thanksgiving Napkins

The colorful embroidered design on our cotton napkins depicts an adventurous turkey landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620. A grosgrain ribbon trim makes them complete. Available in sets of four.

A Williams-Sonoma Internet/Catalog only deal!

Price $26.00

Turkey Day Personalized Placemats

Whether it’s their first, second or third helping, our Thanksgiving placemat can stand up to whatever your kids dish out. Ideal for keeping gravy stains off your tablecloth. Vinyl construction easily wipes clean, leaving plenty of time for another slice of pumpkin pie.

Offered by TheLandofNod.com for $14.95

If you want more discount Thanksgiving Tableware, click here.

Certain dinnerware is best bought in bulk! Not only is it cheaper but for staple items that tend to break or are necessities, why not stock up? I came across this wonderful deal from Instawares that offers Traditional Japanese Sauce Dishes for a great price.

The reason why this particular deal appealed to me is I am a big proponent of condiments. I love sauces and am a dipping queen. I already own some cute sauce dishes that accompany my plate with every meal. Plus with Thanksgiving just around the corner I figure I could use these dishes to hold votive candles, for sauces, perhaps even as adorable little give aways. The point is a deal is a deal and thinking outside the box offers endless options.

Here is what you would get:

• 48 sauce dishes
• 3 inch in diameter

Was $51.36 NOW $26.67 ( you save $24.69)

If you are interested in Traditional Japanese Sauce Dishes from Instawares, click here.

(Also you might just want to check the above link for additional dinnerware deals they are offering; plates, saucers…etc.)

Here’s one of the many things that make me borderline if not completely certifiable! I hate how normal table linens are SQUARE. The reason I have such strong feelings about this matter is because when the place mats are square on a ’round’ table the corners overlap and bothers the heck out of me!

Which is why I have been searching high and low for tableware like the Wedge Placemat Set from Blair.

The placemats keep your table free from dinner time nicks and scratches, crumbs and spills. Enough pieces to cover a party of six, it’s the value-priced way to have extra placemats on hand for those bigger family gatherings or for those impromptu get-togethers with guests. Fully reversible for easy transitional styling.

But my favorite feature of the wedge table placemats is the SHAPE! As you can see they are not square but angled or “wedged” in such a way that the corners don’t overlap but still supply ample coverage to protect your table and set your dinnerware upon. If you are crazy like me these simple style features are the defining difference between purchasing your basic set and buying a wedged set.

Also please note that this style feature applies to mainly round dinner tables.

Price $34.99 (for six)

If you are interested in purchasing the Blair Wedge Placemat Set, click here.

Over the years, dishes are bound to crack, cups are bound to break, matching saucers go missing..

What was once a full set of pristine dinnerware is now a motley crew of mis-matched plates, glasses and assorted coasters. Ha! At least that’s what my cupboard looks like. I can’t be the only one, can I?

Well I thought to myself, time for a new set of dinnerware. Need to refresh the cupboard with fresh troops. And this time around since I know from experience that things will break or go missing I am going to stick to solid colors and no themes! That way when the new set starts to dwindle it will be easy to buy a new set that will match the last.

I have decided on white, I like white. It’s clean, it’s universal and it’s classy. Check out this great deal I found at Cooking.com.

Corelle Square dinnerware features sleek squared shapes with rounded corners and flared rims which fuse seamlessly with the traditional rounded centers. The result is a totally fresh, yet timeless look—versatile enough for every day dining as well as for entertaining. Corelle Ultra dinnerware has all the legendary properties of durability and versatility as the original product line but now with a heavier weight and feel that some people prefer. (Source: Cooking.com)

In addition to being a beautiful and quality set, here comes my favorite part - namely the price!

Was $82.99 NOW $64.95 (you save $18.04)

PLUS COUPON ALERT:

Use coupon code:  C95925 to receive shipping costs of only $5.99 regardless of size of order.

To purchase the Corelle Scandia Dinnerware Set from Cooking.com, click here.