ON THE TABLE

I love buying dishes. Given free reign and a sturdy wallet, I would buy more dishes than I would ever know what to do with. Foolish, but it's true. Even though our cupboards are filled to the brim with glasses, mugs, plates, two tea pots, and enough cups and saucers to water an army, it's all I can do to stop myself poking around in junk stores and the back room at Fish's Eddy looking for more--I mean the problem is just that we need bigger cupboards, right??

Sure, there's a real charm to that mix 'n match, jumble sale aesthetic, but lately it's been wearing thin. In a perfect world, or really just a world in which I have one of those job things everyone with nice stuff is always talking about, I would chuck 95% of what's in those cupboards and start fresh. I swear! When I saw these Akiko Graham Slabe plates on Anaïse, I fell hard. They're just about perfect--softly uneven spheres finished with a whitewash of glaze, sturdy, natural but still delicate. Mix in creamy cups, bowls, and a stout little teapot by Höganäs Keramik, and I think I could finally throw in that shabby chic towel and never look back...