<p>I see no need for everything to match. It is much more sophisticated to have things that harmonize, as a delightful elderly lady in the china department at Shreve, Crump and Lowe told me decades ago. :)</p>
<p>Consolation, what is your opinion of Wedgewood Rosedale? It was my wedding china, but I’m not a china person, it only gets used a handful of times a year (I have Denby stoneware for everyday). My tastes have evolved since I was 21 and I wonder if it’s a little too twee.</p>
<p>Yeah musmon2! I have Minton’s Belle Meade, I still love it! I bought Villeroy and Boch’s Toscana for everyday 3 years ago and it has held up well so far. There was a V&B outlet that was closing, they had it on sale, offered a coupon in a local paper and when I arrived at the store, this pattern offered a “buy 1 place setting, get 1 free” until it sold out. I was thrilled! When I show my husband how much money “I saved”, he just shook his head. I bought a service for 8 and regret not buying 12 place settings.</p>
<p>Oh, I have some Rosedale my aunt gave me when I was a girl. I’ve been stalking it on eBay because I want to get some more. It’s so pretty.</p>
<p>My wedding china is another Wedgwood pattern: Curzon, which Mr. Quotia picked out… Of course, It’s been discontinued but I have lots and haven’t lost a piece in almost 20 years, so it’s all good. I love those round Wedgwood teacups.</p>
<p>For everyday, we use the Chinese blue and white rice pattern dishes. They chip like crazy, but they’re cheap and you can find them in any Chinese market. Plus, my grandmother used them for everyday, too, so they remind me of her.</p>
<p>PG, I think “a little too twee” hits the nail on the head. Looks like a child’s tea set to me. No offense, Quotia. :)</p>
<p>I think you should sell it and buy something you like now. Just don’t limit yourself to current patterns, because IMNSHO most of them are very bland. I would always advise buying 12 dinner plates. Actually, for a nice basic set up, I would get rid of the set and get 12 dinner plates in each of two or three patterns you like and 12 salad/dessert plates in a comparatively neutral pattern that harmonizes with all of the dinner plates. You should be able to get serving pieces that harmonize with everything, too. Then you can start actually using it! :)</p>
<p>OK…the Royal Doulton I’m using for everyday is St. Moritz. It is English porcelain and is a discontinued pattern, I believe. My mother bought it and never really used it. It is plain white…and we have been using it for ten years…it still looks brand new. </p>
<p>My “good” dishes are Lenox just 12 dinner plates, the cream color with the gold rim. I can mix and match it with just about everything else I own. </p>
<p>I have serving pieces and small plates and such coming out of my ears! My mother collected dishes,her hoarding! I have blue buffalo china, a small amount of Franciscan apple, and a complete set (including serving pieces) of white and blue Old Britain Castles by Johnson Bros ( which also mixes well with my white RD porcelain set).</p>
<p>Was just in Scandinavia and rekindled my love of Flora Danica</p>
<p>[Plate</a> 25 cm](<a href=“http://www.royalcopenhagen.com/en/shop/details/1/dinnerware/129/flora-danica/632/plate-25-cm]Plate”>http://www.royalcopenhagen.com/en/shop/details/1/dinnerware/129/flora-danica/632/plate-25-cm)</p>
<p>I want to just own one plate and put on a wall. Looking on eBay.</p>
<p>Depending on how I intend to use the dishes, I decide how many to buy. I have at least 24 place settings of Thanksgiving and Christmas dishes. Some sets I have only as many as I can seat at my table plus two for breakage.</p>
<p>This is my favorite pattern:</p>
<p>[minton</a> cockatrice green | eBay](<a href=“minton cockatrice green for sale | eBay”>minton cockatrice green for sale | eBay)</p>
<p>I also have these (and a few others I couldn’t find pictures of):</p>
<p>[wedgewood</a> runnymede | eBay](<a href=“wedgewood runnymede for sale | eBay”>wedgewood runnymede for sale | eBay)</p>
<p>[wedgewood</a> cobalt florentine | eBay](<a href=“wedgewood cobalt florentine for sale | eBay”>wedgewood cobalt florentine for sale | eBay)</p>
<p>[wedgewood</a> chinese flowers | eBay](<a href=“wedgewood chinese flowers for sale | eBay”>wedgewood chinese flowers for sale | eBay)</p>
<p>[coalport</a> countryware | eBay](<a href=“coalport countryware for sale | eBay”>coalport countryware for sale | eBay)</p>
<p>[coalport</a> flower of tibet | eBay](<a href=“coalport flower of tibet for sale | eBay”>coalport flower of tibet for sale | eBay)</p>
<p>[coalport</a> blue willow | eBay](<a href=“coalport blue willow for sale | eBay”>coalport blue willow for sale | eBay)</p>
<p>[spode</a> blue room | eBay](<a href=“spode blue room for sale | eBay”>spode blue room for sale | eBay)</p>
<p>These are some of the patterns I’ve always liked but don’t own:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.haviland-limoges.com/collections_en.php?col=liste&ssf=Jardin%20Fleuri&frame=fichecollec&collection=Imp�ratrice%20Eug�nie]Haviland”>http://www.haviland-limoges.com/collections_en.php?col=liste&ssf=Jardin%20Fleuri&frame=fichecollec&collection=Imp�ratrice%20Eug�nie]Haviland</a> - Manufacture fran</p>
<p>OK, you win the obsession of the day prize :)</p>
<p>I’m busy babysitting a Flora Danica plate on eBay. Will know within the hour.</p>
<p>consolation: Beautiful! Have you yet reached the point you are looking for the 19th c originals of some of your patterns? Maybe you have 19th c sets?</p>
<p>alh: no, thank doG, I haven’t. Although I could start indulging my love of fanciful 18th and 19th century pastille burners and potpourri holders. :D</p>
<p>ihs: good luck! Flora Danica is on my list!!</p>
<p>Hope your kids like dishes, consolation! My mom died and left me with six or seven sets of dishes, and tons of flatware…sterling (which is gorgeous…and really the only thing I wanted in the lot), two sets of silverplate, and at least six sets of 12 place settings of stainless. Yikes!</p>
<p>Wow, you are obsessed! :-). I’m content with my twee - if anything, I’d consider selling it, as I don’t even really feel I have a need for it in my life. But I know my H would object. Still and all (still in all?), it’s a dust collector in our house. And having multiple sets would feel like clutter to me!</p>
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<p>Oh I agree it’s twee. My tastes run toward twee, as a general rule. :D</p>
<p>I love many of the patterns you linked. I have some of the blue and white Spode, including a lovely cake plate.</p>
<p>I also adore Mottahedeh, though I can’t afford it.</p>
<p>My mother has a lot of china, like an extensive collection of Lu-Ray Pastels that is just so pretty. What I really love though, is the turn-of-the-century French game set that was my great-great-grandmother’s.</p>
<p>No luck on the Flora Danica today. Could not bring myself to bid $400 for one salad plate, as beautiful as it is.</p>
<p>When I get one, I’m going to hang it on a wall and take it down once a year to eat my birthday cake off of it. I will be the only one allowed to touch it :D</p>
<p>There was a whole lot of Lu-Ray in H’s family vacation place. I loved it. When he and his sibs started renting the place out in the summers, my main concern was that the Lu-ray not be left to the mercy of the renters! Luckily, my SIL packed it up and put it in the attic. The colors are so charming.</p>
<p>thumper, my mother has easily four times as much china as I do. :D</p>
<p>The master de-clutterer and minimalist in me is twitching at the thought of all those sets of china sitting in one house! I would HAVE to donate / sell / get rid of some!</p>
<p>In hindsight, I wish I’d gotten something like the Coalport Countryware that could go equally well for everyday and for special occasion, so I could have just had one set. China falls into the category of - things that I think look pretty, but I don’t really need to own to admire. So I’m glad you do, Consolation!</p>
<p>I may not be a minimalist about collecting but I am a master de-clutterer. No one has a house neater than mine. I have antique porcelain on display in cupboards. Other than that, all the china is out of sight in the neatest storage area imaginable. I use this china everyday. I rotate seasonally. When I entertain, I keep track not only of menus but what the meals were served on. It certainly isn’t necessary to have lots of dishes and it may be frivolous, but it definitely adds to the quality of my life. It gives me pleasure, my family pleasure and at least some of my guests pleasure. They have told me so. :)</p>
<p>Hey, if it makes you happy, that’s good enough for me! No one needs to justify! </p>
<p>I have a philosophy of having at least one empty drawer / space in every room. Seriously. It’s something zen-like, I think. And even though I’ve lived in my house for 21 years, I want to feel uncluttered enough that I could pack up and move at any time. It’s weird, I know. I do have a “formal” living room and dining room and they are very pretty, but very unused.</p>