My Inherited China Set

I’ve never really shared the story of the china set I inherited. The one that I have used in quite a few of my tablescapes, including my very first one. The one that gets pulled out every year during the holidays, and honestly the china set that I believe is what started my love for tablescapes in the first place! You’ve seen it so many times here on the blog in different tablescapes throughout the years, and I may have mentioned it being inherited, or a hand-me-down, but I’ve never quite shared just how it came to be in my possession. So today I’m sharing the story of how I inherited my china set.

Usually, they only come out for formal occasions, because of their platinum band, this china set always lends itself to feeling extra fancy to me. Although, I don’t know if it’s their look, or how they feel (a bit fragile), or how I received them, that makes me cherish them the most!

So let me share with you just how these beautiful plates came to be in my possession!

I was 21. Newly married, and in our first apartment, when I got a phone call one day. It was my Aunt asking me if I was interested in having her china set, because she no longer wanted to hold onto them after 25 years, and only using them maybe twice.

I will be honest. I was a bit naive. I had no clue what an actual china set was, except for what I had seen in the movies, and by the time I got married, women weren’t flocking to Macy’s to register for the latest in fine dining, never mind a twelve piece set of china. In my head I pictured tiny flowers painted along the border of the plates, or some gold etching which was a bit too refined for my taste. I replied hesitantly to my aunt on the phone “sure?”, and she must have heard my reserve, so she told me I could come and take a look, and if I didn’t want them then off to Goodwill they would go!

I thought well what could it hurt to at least go and give them a once over? When you are newly married, you will pretty much say “Yes” to any sort of hand-me-down, however this one came in the form of over 100 pieces.

I will never forget the night we drove down to my Aunt and Uncle’s apartment. It was raining, actually pouring, and my husband just kept asking “What is it we are going to look at again?” and why did I drag him out in this typhoon. I told him I wasn’t exactly sure. Something about a china set, and that she would much rather pass it on to a family member, then see it end up in a Goodwill, but go it must.

We got there, and there were 6 boxes waiting for us inside her front door. SIX! Everything was perfectly wrapped and packaged, in it’s own sleeve with bubble wrap for extra protection. Judging by the condition of the packaging it already felt 10x more expensive than anything else we owned, and my curiosity was totally peaked!

She began to explain to me how she picked it all out when her and my uncle were engaged to be married almost 20+ years from then. From the dinner plates, to the matching stemware, and even a matching tea pot and cups with saucers. I was totally intrigued, and instantly began dreaming of lavish dinner parties we could now have with eight matching place settings, and stemware and serving platters to boot!

I looked at my husband, and he looked back at me utterly confused, and without hesitation I confidently exclaimed “I’ll take them”! I wasn’t exactly sure, and didn’t really know then why I wanted them so badly, I just knew it in my bones – these plates were going to be part of my story. You can imagine the thrill in my husbands voice when he asked me on the car ride home why I said yes, but I just shrugged my shoulders, and replied “They’re just plates”. Meaning how harmful could a few boxes of fine china really be?

So from one basement to the next, in storage they sat. And when it came time to move from our first apartment to our next, I made sure those 6 boxes got handled with care.

From our first apartment basement, to the storage shelf in the garage at our next apartment, there they sat. And you better believe every time we got to spring cleaning, the question came up to whether or not we needed to hold on to these 6 boxes of china we had only used once since we received them.

But let go, I would not. I just couldn’t seem to justify getting rid of something that I cherished so much in my heart. I don’t know if it was receiving such a cherished hand-me-down that kept me holding on to them all those years. Or the feeling of having something so much fancier than I ever was. They reminded me of past era’s when formal place settings were put out for dinner on grand dining room tables, much like you would see played out in scenes from Downton Abby.

Then, one rainy afternoon, a year after we had moved into our first home, and the plates came too, I had just started blogging, and a blog tour “Christmas table hop” gave me all the gumption I needed to dust off that pretty china set. Up from the basement came all 6 boxes, and for a solid afternoon I took out each and every piece and set my table. My kids, who were toddlers then, played on the floor at my feet, as I soaked in all the beauty I had created on my table that day, and everything seemed to come full circle.

I’ve had these plates now for almost 15 years, and I’m happy to report that they have been used, and cherished, and celebrated with just as much off the blog, as they’ve appeared on the blog. They’ve lead me down the path of creating tablescapes, which I love, and even bigger opportunities which have come from chasing that passion, which I can’t wait to share with you all very soon!

For now, the story of my inherited china set, and how some plates ignited a passion for me to express myself creatively through tablescapes.