apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We have this problem too, with the dishes we got for our wedding from Pottery Barn (Sausalito). We didn't even think about it, just opened the boxes and put them in the cupboard... and then couldn't close the door. We went back to PB and they weren't surprised at all (and sold us some smaller "salad plates" that are still huge and we use most of the time) - apparently they don't care that their dishes are too big for standard cabinets.

Our solution was to keep the salad plates and assorted bowls in the cabinets, and the large dinner plates, which we rarely use, are on a corner stand-alone shelving unit from Ikea. It sits right by the table, so it's still convenient.

We weren't keen on open shelving, especially since we have two cats and their hair seems to get everywhere.

If they hadn't been the only dishes the hubby and I could agree on, we might have considered returning them. But, alas, such is the case when two strongly opinionated people try to buy housewares together. We like the way they look... they just aren't as practical as I'd hoped.

we have this problem, too! like kls, the everyday dinner plates on our wedding registry (denby white) turned out to be just a tad too big for our cabinets. we like them still, so we have them in our cabinets...but the door won't close. it looks a little bad, not a huge deal for us. oh well :) never thought of returning them. we're in the process of giving our kitchen a face lift (no new cabinets, though). maybe we'll try to think of a better solution then. we also have cats so i'm not loving the idea of open storage, but that may be what we have to do for the plates.

i'm sorry this is off topic, but where did you get the print on the shelf? i think if i owned it, it would make me smile every day. it would make me happier than a bird with a french fry.

This is something I've had to take into account in designing kitchen cabinets, to the point where my office now makes 12" interior dimensions a must.

I noticed the same problem recently too when I moved into a new apartment.. I have fiestaware.. and the dinner plates just fit..

* I also love that print.. :-) where is it from

Hi guys. The print is from Etsy seller dazeychic, and you can buy it here.

It's kind of surprising that most manufacturers make dishes that don't fit in standard cabinets. I had a really hard time finding smaller-sized china, but I ended up with a Rosenthal pattern that was introduced the 60s (just recently discontinued) when dishes were scaled smaller. I really like them, because they also don't take up much space on our small dining table.

However, I inherited some Waterford china from my mom that's larger, so it lives in a jelly cabinet in our kitchen.

Another thing: make sure your wine glasses fit in your stemware rack. I bought some glasses and a rack *together* and didn't realize they wouldn't fit!! Poop.

My dishes are slightly squared, and since they don't stick out as much as rounded plates, they fit perfectly in my cabinets.

ack! I thought I was the only one with this problem. Ours stick out the teeniest bit from our cabinets. It's not enough to notice when you're looking at the doors, but enough to remind me to be careful when I shut them (so as not to chip the doors).

I grew up spoiled because my father was a cabinet maker and we had custom built ones. I just never thought about it.

American dinner plates used to be 9", and European dinner plates are still 9".

But American plates have swelled to 11", and believe it or not, that translates to 50% MORE PLATE on which to pile our food.

I've been searching for new dinnerware with 9" plates but haven't had much luck.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could somehow get the idea to American dinnerware manufacturers that we don't want bigger plates OR to be fat? I can understand restaurants having bigger plates, but can't we have normal-sized plates at home, so we can eat normal amounts of food and still fit into our jeans?

This makes me want to write a letter of protest to someone!

I'm afraid I have no solution, but WHERE did you get that little thingy (is it a plaque?) that says "Today I will be happier than a bird with a french fry"? I love it!