Give Food the Spotlight: The Right Tableware Can Make any Meal a Celebration
Tableware is more than just dishes and utensils you use for eating – it's a key element in setting the tone for any meal, whether formal or casual.
The right tableware can elevate even a weeknight dinner into something special, transforming your dining experience. It adds a touch of elegance, enhances food presentation, and creates the perfect atmosphere for memorable meals at home.
From refined sets for special occasions to everyday pieces, choosing the right tableware requires an understanding of the different styles and materials available. In this guide, we’ll explore the key factors to consider when selecting dinnerware to suit your taste and lifestyle.
Material
What type of material works best for dinnerware? This depends on what you're looking for. Do you want dishwasher-safe dinnerware for everyday use or something special for holidays? What about a versatile set that can be used for all types of occasions? Different materials have different characteristics that make them more or less suitable for certain occasions.
Bone China Tableware
Bone china is a form of porcelain renowned for its great quality and refinement. It is made from a combination of bone ash, kaolin, feldspar, and other fine materials, which are then burnt at high temperatures to form a strong, translucent material. The bone ash is what gives the porcelain its distinctive ivory colour and durability.
Considered the finest of all dinnerware, Bone china tableware features a light and outstanding appearance combined with incredible durability and chip resistance. Its smooth and shiny finish makes it simple to clean. These qualities make bone china dinnerware suitable for both everyday use and special occasions.
Stone Dinnerware
This is a form of ceramic dinnerware manufactured by combining clay and other natural ingredients and firing them at high temperatures to create a robust, dense material.
Stone dinnerware has a unique, rustic charm and is available in a number of earth tones and finishes, ranging from smooth and glossy to matter and textures. If you are looking for a more organic and natural look for your tableware, stone dinnerware could be the option for you.
Often thicker and heavier than other types of ceramics, stone dinnerware has a solid feel and is more resistant to chipping and shattering. It's also exceptional at maintaining heat, making it ideal for serving hot dishes directly from the oven. Microwave and dishwasher-safe, stone dinnerware is ideal for everyday use.
Porcelain Dinnerware
Although porcelain dinner sets are far lighter in weight than their stoneware counterparts, they don't compromise in durability. Made of fine kaolin clay and fired at extremely high temperatures, porcelain dinnerware is very strong and is generally dishwasher, microwave and oven-safe.
Keep in mind that styles with metallic decoration can't be placed in the microwave!
Porcelain features a lovely white, almost translucent finish and can be sculpted into delicate, elegant forms. This makes it a popular option for formal, luxury dinner sets.
Earthenware Dinnerware
Earthenware dinnerware sets feature a nice hefty feel and a thick, rustic look, making them ideal for casual meals. They are generally less expensive than other types of dinnerware and also less durable and more susceptible to stains or chipping.
Earthenware tableware comes in various earthy tones and designs, and its porous nature allows it to retain heat well, making it perfect for serving warm meals. Its rustic charm and affordability make it a favourite for those who prefer a natural, relaxed style in their home decor.
Size and Shape of the Pieces
Check the size and shape of each item within the dinnerware to ensure that they are suited to your eating habits. You should also consider measuring the size of your cupboards, dishwasher, and microwave to ensure that the tableware fits.
Keep in mind that plates featuring broader rims offer a reduced eating area, which can be great if you are looking to reduce food portion sizes.
If you want more area for larger servings of food, look for plates with narrower rims. Rimless, coupe-style plates are available and they have a tiny slope from the outer edge inward, causing the sauce to pool in the centre. If this irritates you, goes for flat surface plates.
When it comes to bowls, you'll have to decide between shallow soup bowls (also called pasta bowls, low bowls, or soup plates) and deep cereal bowls (also known as rice bowls).
Cereal bowls are more informal than soup bowls, but their bigger capacity allows greater versatility; they can be used for serving small salads, pasta, grains, soups, and stews. The problem with deep bowls with steep sides is that they force you to hold your spoon at such a steep angle that it feels like you're diving into your soup.
When you eat cereal in a shallow bowl, milk may slosh over the rim. Soup bowls may be too shallow for a bowl of Cheerios and are better suited to stews, spaghetti, salads, and risotto.
Style
If you're not planning to get two different dinnerware sets for casual and formal occasions, then goes for a style that works for all occasions.
Look for something durable enough for everyday meals but still elegant enough for entertaining. While decorative patterns can be fun, they may go out of style over time. For this reason, we suggest opting for a timeless, simple design without busy patterns.
If you love colourful dinnerware but are unsure about making it your main set, you can always add more vibrant serving pieces and platters to complement a basic set, especially if it’s white.
Mixing and matching is a great way to add personality. Keep in mind that you can also use bright glassware, placemats or tablecloths to enhance a simple set.
When in doubt, white dinnerware is always a reliable choice. It's a classic option without patterns or colours that might become outdated.
What Should be Included in the Set?
There's no right or wrong choice here – it's all about finding what suits your needs. A typical dinnerware set often includes essentials like starter or salad plates, dinner plates, bread and butter side plates, shallow bowls for pasta or soup, round bowls for cereal or noodles, serving bowls and platters, cups and saucers, and mugs.
Some sets come as complete boxed collections, others by individual place settings, while some are sold as open stock, allowing you to mix and match pieces to create a personalised set.
To figure out how many place settings you need, think about how many people will use the set daily, how many guests you typically host, and the storage space you have for extra pieces.
Jenny Kakoudakis likes to blog about travel. She launched award-winning Seasons in Colour in 2014 and the luxury interior design blog All The Pretty Homes in 2024.
When she is not chasing criminals out of the financial system (her day job), she gets planning her next adveture abroad.
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