My sister and I scoured our parents’ house for stuff. We tried so hard! But we missed a very old family Bible that Dad rescued before the estate sale. And the weirdest thing was after the house had been cleaned out, my sister found my mom’s original WILL in a drawer under her vanity. We had literally taken the drawer out and turned it upside down, there was so much junk in it, so we know the will wasn’t there all along. We can only think that someone from the estate sale company stuck it there. Thank goodness we found it, because having only copies we had of the will was making probate more difficult.
5 Likes
Maybe one of Blossom’ kids will develop a latent interest in porcelain and random serving pieces?
thanks for the chuckle!!!
3 Likes
Speaking of random pieces of china, one of the wedding venues my kid considered used a hodgepodge of such fancy plates to set large farm tables in the garden. They likely shop second hand places for those plates!
10 Likes
We have a restaurant in our area that uses mismatched fine china. They happily take china no one wants. I think it’s a great idea.
11 Likes
I was able to sell some china place settings a few years ago to a local girl who was having a barn wedding and needed mismatched plates. After she used them I saw her post all of the dishes (she probably bought from lots of different people) on Facebook for sale as a wedding china package.
7 Likes
This is a great idea! I have some of my moms dishes I may throw on Marketplace - I’ll market them as a cheap event solution!!!
5 Likes
I’m sorry for your loss. I went through this a year ago when my dad passed away unexpectedly. My parents had downsized to a condo but it was 3500 sq feet and it held a lot of stuff. I can relate to so much of what has been said on this thread.
My siblings didn’t want anything so it was left to me to clean out - quick sale, too. I basically lived there for 3 weeks- arranged truck loads of stuff to be picked up, bringing stuff to my home to put on the curb ( every last piece taken ) and throwing so much out- also gave much to the person buying the place.
As streamlined as I am at home and as much clean out I had been doing during the pandemic it was an eye opener to me to just get rid of as much as I can now. My kids will not want this stuff. My parents had large family portraits- no one wants them - I wrapped them and dropped them off at a sibling’s house. I think this next generation has the right idea- less stuff!
And yes to @thumper1 suggestion for putting China in the dishwasher.
3 Likes
I presided over the estate sale for my in laws several years ago, I came home fired up to sort my house out and get rid of stuff. Granted we still had my mother living with us so I’ve also had her stuff to sort through, but sadly I am nowhere near done, though have accomplished much, including developing a ‘no more stuff’ attitude.
On the fine china, the one sad thing is that all the pretty silver rims make it less convenient to use for every day stuff as you cannot microwave.
3 Likes
We kept a set without metal just to microwave. But that means another stack of plates!
I think we got conned by the wedding industry into registering for formal and everyday wares. My friend was smart enough to buy only one Danks set. The white and blue stripe classic design never goes out of style.
When we got married in 1985, we didn’t register for fine china because MIL said we could have one of her two sets. Didn’t realize she meant after she was gone (she passed away late 2020).
This is Wedgwood service for about 20 with all bells and whistles. We love the pattern. Ran some test pieces through the dishwasher on delicate with no problems. Even though there’s no metal, I still wouldn’t put them in the microwave. Don’t use every day, but do use them for nice dinners. It makes H happy and reminds him of his mom.
Edit to add that we didn’t take much from the packed-to-the-gills house. H’s sister was a saint sorting through everything, letting siblings take what they want, selling or consigning items of value, and donating the rest. The house stayed in the family and didn’t need to get completely emptied.
H took a beautiful planter that matches our LR colors/style. I later found a price tag for $6.97 from Walmart. We had a chuckle about that. But still love it. I suppose “nice” is very subjective!
8 Likes
That is so pretty. When I looked it up, it was being sold for $2-3000 . I didn’t take the time to see how many pieces included in each set.
1 Like
We specifically did NOT register for any china or Crystal. We got both anyway.
Same with us - we did not register for crystal, silverware or china - since we didn’t want it. then for every occasion for many many years my in-laws bought me crystal, silverware, and china that I did not want.
My mom added crystal and silver to our registry without us knowing because “we didn’t have enough”!
Believe me…I would have had plenty of dishes without the Lenox plates we got. And as many of you have read in other threads…I HATE the Orrefors Crystal we were given. Never used most of it.
We have my mom’s Sterling and we love it. And we use one set of her Royal Doulton (St. Moritz) as our everyday dishes.
I inherited twelve sets of dishes when my mom died and twelve sets of flatware (Sterling, silverplate, stainless…multiples of each). We gave most of it away. Kept the one set of dishes…and two sets of Sterling.
We went to a new upscale restaurant in DC pre-Covid. The food was great and they used mismatched dishes for each table setting. Can’t recall if flatware was mismatched too. Seemed fun and eclectic, like the vibe of the place.
3 Likes
@HImom , What restaurant? We visit the DC area to see son and his wife and they like to go to nice restaurants in DC.
Sorry, can’t remember, as S’s GF chose it. It was famed for tomahawk steaks. Will try to ask her if she remembers the name. No idea if it’s still in business either.
I use my gravy boat every Thanksgiving, and if there’s a prime rib occasion, but other than that never!
1 Like
The GF says it was this place. We enjoyed it and liked walking around the area after dinner.
https://stanselmdc.com/#utm_source=Google%20My%20Business&utm_medium=Website%20Button