my bread & butter... plates

My favorite little tablescaping secret is using bread & butter plates to add to the layers of a place setting. These tiny plates are so fun to collect and pack a punch when layering pretty plates. 

Measuring only about five and half inches in diameter, bread & butter plates are traditionally placed to the top left of a dinner service. What I love to collect are intricate transferware patterns that can mix and match with other patterns in interesting new ways! 

Here are a few that I found in August while on vacation. 

I found a bunch of these hand painted transferware plates in a pattern called “Plantation Colonial” in Savannah, and for fun I set them on French breakfast plates from Williams-Sonoma and a larger blue scalloped plate from Target. It's a different look, for sure!

Here, I paired plain white dinner and salad plates with a delicately patterned little plate. Even thought this wee dish started life with a more formal outlook, it works nicely here in a casual setting with bamboo flatware and a seashell embellished placemat.

Here’s another layered coastal look. 

Alternating colors is also a fun way to use bread & butter plates. 

I just love this red, white and blue color palette. 

Myott “Forget-Me-Not” plates

It’s fun to find at least four of each pattern, but individual plates are sometimes useful too. I love to collect these while traveling because they don’t cost much and are easy to pack. 

A vibrant blue under plate sets of the pattern of this delicate Forget-Me-Not pattern. 

These little bird plates remind me of something I'd see at the Paris Market in Savannah.  

Hand-painted Johnson Bros "Harvest Time"

“Harvest Time” would be lovely at a Thanksgiving table but would also work for a springtime look with a pink dinner plates and green glassware. 

Remember, layering is the key to an interesting table setting, and it's even more fun to give each guest their own unique look. That's when those fun individual plates come out to play!

ciao! fabiana 

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