i have mismatched plates, bowls, mugs (fiestaware-ish)……..and all my friends end up choosing a favorite coffee mug for some reason??! They ASK where “their mug” is, if it’s in the dishwasher:-) it reminds me of a friend each time i have a cup of coffee!!

I have also purchased sets of silverware from Value Village. I choose a theme - flowers - and tried to get a whole set when I could. That stuff held up to everthing. When I got married, it felt like such an indulgance to have matching silverware (though it’s two sets that I didn’t pay more than $30 total for).

PS: Where do I get those friends that courteously demand to replace broken items and magically send them a few days later?

The jars are dishwasher-safe and very durable. When any jar breaks, I can just grab another jar of Classico sauce when it’s on deep discount at the supermarket. Plus, I have absolutely no sentimental attachment to these “glasses” because they’re mere jars.

I really, really enjoy home canning as a hobby, and also as a money-saver when summer produce is cheap and abundant. So using mason jars as everyday glasses reminds me of one of my favorite activities. A final plus: they all match.

I’m also mulling over all the suggestions you gave me for my floral sofa dilemma to figure out which will best fit my budget and other constraints. I’m actually excited about it, instead of dreading it! Decorating used to be so discouraging. I only got good results when I could buy all new (which has happened only once), or by accident (like the kitchen). Thanks for your ideas!

I also pick up small pieces during my travels, both domestic & international… Hilton Head, Scottsdale, China, Hong Kong, Morocco, Turkey, Hungary, Guatemala, etc. So, my dining experience is often a reminder of a wonderful trip across the world as well (& no, I don’t buy anything that has a destinations name printed on it). Ironically, I have a 1 gallon+ soup serving bowl w/ matching smaller soup bowls from Morocco, and 6 matching tea glasses from Turkey.

Keeping a mishmash collectionalso allows me to pick up some great bargains at the antique flea market here in NYC, church bazaar, or at antique shops anywhere.

As for my glassware, I have the mishmash in this area too, and hate it when someone gives me a set of matching glasses. I add them into my collection 1 at a time, as I break others (I could never ask a guest to replace a broken glass).

Oh, but did I mention that for Christmas, I have matching holiday ‘everything’ from place settings, to flat ware, to plates, to serving plates, and so on (not all in the same pattern though). Why do I feel the need for symmetry at Christmas & no other time?

Frankly, I think if Erin had known that her comment would be picked apart like this, she probably would have taken more care in how she worded that part of her post, but THAT WASN’T THE POINT OF HER POST. Most of us can infer what she meant, but she even spelled it out when she replied to Jane, “…I tell them it’s unnecessary, and they still insist on doing so. I’ll even explain that I like shopping for random, interesting glasses.” Is it really necessary to continue the nitpicking that has nothing to do with the post? Perhaps it’s not your intent, but it just comes across as awfully condescending. Even Miss Manners generally waits until she’s asked for her opinion on an issue of ettiquette before weighing in with her opinion.

I like the mismatched glasses idea. My current wine glasses are a beautiful set, bought for me piecemeal over the years by a dear friend - so I’m not about to make a change to mismatched right now.

But the dinner plates I use most often are indeed mismatched - ones I’ve picked up on trips to Spain, Italy, and France. Good memories with every bite! (And they are all patterned - maybe not the best to show off the food, but I don’t care.)

My gosh, what sort of parties do you have? (wink?)

Ro, I actually have never dyed anything, although my sister has. She likes to use the washer. You could always save a load of similar-colored items to wash right after the dye job. My sister has also used a large pot of water on the stove, which she does not recommend, because then when you try to carry it over to the sink it is very, very heavy and hot and dangerous!

I have to agree with the earlier poster and say this is probably a bad idea. Of course etiquette guides tell BREAKERS to offer to replace a broken item, but, as the “breakee,” actually pursuing getting a broken drinking glass from a friend in any manner could inadvertently look tacky and inhospitable in front of guests.

If something like a dish or glass on your table gets broken or damaged at a dinner, you do your utmost to make your friend feel like it was no big deal, and you wave off any effort to replace it. But making “suggestions,” however well-meaning, will only further embarrass your friends and make them feel obligated to dig around for days for some perfectly bohemian-yet-functional glassware per your casually-dropped instructions. And you better believe they won’t forget the time they dropped a cup at your house and were invited to restock pursuant to the “family policy on when guests drop a cup.” You can defend the practice, but you can bet the breaker will feel insulted and tell friends about it.

Glasses and dishes frequently break when you have dinner guests. It happens, and guests shouldn’t be made to feel responsible for replacing it, even if they beg the host for the opportunity to make it up to you. (This is in part why people shouldn’t register for china beyond their means to replace.) If the breaker brings the host something to make up for it, fine, but an “action plan” is a bad idea. People are better off with inexpensive dishes, and with maybe considering the occasional broken item part of the cost of entertaining.

I guess my only complaint is how expensive the dish set was. I, also, am a big fan of corelle wear, based on the fact that I’m using a set my grandmother bought years and years ago, and they are still going fine! The basic idea of buying basic dishes, from a long standing company, is a wonderful founding idea, of course.