Staples, standards, sure things — call them what you will. But every hardworking china cabinet (or closet or cupboard) needs a few great basics to fill in the blanks in your stash of dinnerware and tabletop pieces.
Basics need not be boring or lacking in character. But they also should be versatile enough to carry you through the upcoming holidays and well beyond, through dinner parties all year long. Here are our picks for outstanding essentials.
— Karen Klages, kklages@tribune.com
Super bowl
We like the idea of a low centerpiece, done up with colorful (and inexpensive) produce (red and green apples, artichokes, lemons and limes), arranged artfully in a gorgeous bowl. Made of hand-woven banana fibers, this earthy 7 1/2-inch-tall PJAS basket with base blends nicely with earthenware and stoneware dishes and offers a fine counterpoint to fancier porcelain.
Cost: $12.99. IKEA, 750 E. Boughton Rd, Bolingbrook, 630-972-7900, or 1800 E. McConnor Pkwy., Schaumburg, 847-969-9700
Mug shot
For many men (and women), those dainty china cups (which fall out of your hands and hold very little joe) simply don’t cut it. White mugs with some character (and a sensible handle) are basic essentials. Our choice? The Swirl White stoneware mugs from Mikasa.
Cost: $10.15 each Macy’s, macys.com for stores; $9.99 at mikasa.com
Just desserts
Don’t have dessert plates to match your dinnerware? Or are you tired of your pattern by the time pumpkin pie rolls around? Mix it up with a set of dessert dishes that stand on their own. We liked these pretty pressed-glass Amelie plates (glass mixes well with porcelain, stoneware, anything).
Cost: $10 each. P.O.S.H., 613 N. State St., 312-280-1602, poshchicago.com
Glitterati
Not your ordinary pair of candlesticks, this glass trio has the sparkle thing down pat.
Cost: $40. Smith & Hawken, 800-981-9888, smithandhawken.com
Editor’s Choice: The Best Candle
We like pure beeswax candles for all occasions. They have no petroleum content and are smokeless and dripless, and the natural honey color is as basic as white, but gads warmer. These were made by Streamwood-based beekeepers Jeff and Cheri Reader, whose hives are in Schaumburg. (They’re $8 for a pair of 8-inch tapers, $10 for a pair of 10 inchers at Abbey Brown Soap Artisans, 1162 W. Grand Ave., 312-738-2290.)
Getting saucy
Sculptural, creamy white, a sauce boat/gravy boat/candy dish/flower bowl to covet. Originally designed in 1952 by (soon-to-be 101-year-old designer) Eva Zeisel and resurrected in 2005 along with her other Classic Century pieces.
Cost: $47.95. Crate and Barrel, 800-996-9960, crateandbarrel.com
