“Happiness is homemade,” they say. And when it comes in the form of homemade food served in designer tableware, happiness touches all the right senses. Well, after food and ambiance, the design of the dishes is what influences their mood while having their favorite food.
This is why shoppers look more keenly for the designs, styles, and colors of the dinnerware set and how it makes them feel. But the design of the dinnerware is the only thing you should look for when buying a new set for your dining table? While the design and style are some of the factors, it is certainly not the only one you should consider when buying tableware.
Here are the essential factors you should look for when buying tableware to suit your style, fulfill your purpose, and fit within your budget.
1. Purpose of your tableware
Talking about tableware, we are handling a broad umbrella of dinner table settings here. Tableware can be anything from dinner plates, soup bowls, dessert bowls, serving bowls, and casseroles. You can go further and include cutlery for certain menus and mason jars to hold sides such as dry chutneys and pickles.
Deciding the purpose of buying tableware will help you choose the right type.
Types of tableware:
- Serve ware: As the name suggests, serve ware is used to serve food. The set of serve ware will mainly have serving bowls, salad bowls, casseroles, platters. Depending on what kind of food you want to serve, you can choose to serve ware that includes teapots and soup pots as well.
- Dinnerware: A crockery set that comprises plates and bowls used to serve food while dining. You will find a range of designs and materials in dinnerware.
- Drinkware: Glasses, teacup sets, and coffee mugs drinkware includes crockery items that are usually used to drink from. They come in various sizes, shapes, and styles to match your dining room décor and your style.
- Silverware: Forks, spoon sets, and knives, also known as silverware. You can either go for metal silverware or choose wooden cutlery items.
2. Material
Once you have decided on the type of tableware, the next thing you should consider when buying tableware is the material. You will mainly find crockery in Bone China, melamine, porcelain, stoneware, and earthenware.
Now, which one of these materials you should choose depends on how you will be using the crockery. For example, if you are clumsy with handling things, you should consider porcelain cutlery which is break-resistant and perfect for a formal setting. However, if you can handle something less sturdy, you can go for earthenware crockery.
Melamine crockery is a better option if you are looking for something sturdy yet stylish that will fit your dining vibes and your budget.
3. Durability
Who doesn’t like multifunctional crockery at home? And if that’s your goal, you will have to consider durable crockery. For example, porcelain crockery is known to be the most durable, and you can use it in the oven and microwave.
Bone China is the perfect choice for a formal setting for the variety of styles and elegance it offers. However, its design which often incorporates metal, makes it non-microwave dinnerware. Moreover, due to its more delicate material, Bone China must be hand-washed and hand-dried instead of putting in a dishwasher.
Make sure you check the instruction label while buying dinnerware for its usage, care, and durability. This will help you understand if the crockery type you are choosing is better suited for your serving purpose, lifestyle, and care habits.
4. Occasion
Formal dinnerware or casual designs, every Indian home a bit of both. After all, we not only have our friends and family members over dinner but also like to host colleagues and business partners at home.
However, you can decide based on what kind of functions and events you often host at your home. This will help you decide the type of crockery you will need in your kitchen. For example, if you often host fancy dinner parties Bone China or porcelain kitchenware is something you should consider buying.
As for more casual settings you can prefer melamine or earthenware as they often come in bold colors and unique designs.
5. Color and style
Talking about the design, it depends more on occasion as well as your personal taste and style. When you explore kitchenware online or at the stores, you will often find a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and designs. After all, dinnerware in Indian homes could be as dramatic and bold as it can be simple and elegant.
You will find leafy designs to abstract art intricated on your dinner plates and serving bowls that will hold your guests’ eyes on your choice of dinnerware. Mare the color and design of the tableware can boost or break the ambiance of the dining and the whole party.
Thus, when choosing the perfect dinnerware for your home, make sure you consider the right colors and designs perfect for formal dining or casual dinners.
Whether at the office conference or dining table at home, a good presentation always makes the first impression. And when it comes to the delicious food presentation, tableware plays a crucial role. Thus, spending more time choosing the right tableware and kitchenware for your home is always a good choice.
