You may not think you know Normann Copenhagen, but chances are you'd recognize a few of their classic pieces. (Remember this peeler? Or this tea egg? Or these fun beater whisks?) Fans of modern design also know that you can find Normann Copenhagen pieces at stores like Horne, Huset, and The Modern Shop, but the brand has its own online webshop as well where you can peruse and purchase the full beautiful line.

The price of silver keeps rising. What's a southern girl to do if her pattern will never be completed? Go to eBay, of course. Sterling looks better with age, like you've had it for a while and you know how to use it. But the prices on eBay aren't really any better than anywhere else... unless you aren't afraid of monograms.

You see the picture, so I don't need need to explain what this is, but I'm going to anyway. A standing knife. I repeat: a standing knife. In other words, a knife that doesn't leave a mess of peanut butter or jam or cream cheese all over your countertop. The future is here, people. 

Q: My husband and I have made do with a measly set of cutlery for far too long and we're finally ready for some lovely cutlery. We've been looking for something fairly plain, but with a wee bit of flair, and haven't had any luck. Do you or your readers have ANY fabulous leads for us?

Q: I live in a 1950's ranch with knotty pine cabinetry. We just got new dishes and they're much heavier than our old dishes. It got me wondering — how much weight can these old cabinets hold? Is there a rule of thumb? The cabinets are one long unit with three shelves and a wooden back. 

Sent by Jen

A beautifully set table is a lesson in balance, the shaping and bringing together of both the practical and the decorative. Our tabletop and dining posts this year focused on that delicate balance, with recommendations on everything from our favorite no-fuss serving dishes to pretty polka-dot table linens, from classic carafes to gorgeous gold flatware. We also had a shopping guide to colorful dinnerware, a roundup of nautical-inspired tabletop, and a few creative ways to display all your tabletop collections! More

Q: I am looking to buy a good quality pair of chopsticks for my boyfriend for Christmas. We don't use them for cooking, just for eating (mostly noodle dishes). He has talked about wanting some ceramic ones, but I have been reading that wooden ones might be the way to go. More

Q: I've been searching for some baroque-looking plastic cutlery, and am coming up empty handed! I'm looking for something similar to the images below in clear or black, and I'm in need of large quantities. More

In my everyday flatware drawer there are plenty of salad forks and small spoons. Next there are a fair amount of knives. But the regular forks and the soup spoons are down by about half from my original set. Why? Because unless I'm having a dinner party, and sometimes not even then, I seldom set the table with the full set. So the salad forks and small spoons rarely leave the drawer and therefore don't risk being accidentally tossed or lost like the forks, soup spoons and knives. More

Isak Dinesen famously said: "The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea." While these nautical-inspired tabletop pieces won't replace a wind-blown afternoon out on the water, they'll recall images of knotted ropes, preppy sailors, and anchors ahoy—something to tie you over until the next time you're seaside. (They're also perfect for a themed party!)

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