Cheap and Beautiful
By Michele Foley
If neither your budget nor your psyche is prepared for a total overhaul, you can still freshen up the table.
CHOW wanted a kitchen/dining room makeover. We’re not talking about major appliances or furniture—just the new look that flatware, stemware, plates, and table linens bring to a place. We gave ourselves a budget of $1,000 and found many surprisingly inexpensive, well-made, great-looking products. We put together a list that ranges from splurge ($$$) to steal ($), but when we say splurge, we don’t mean you’ll blow your entire budget. You can choose one item from each product category and still not spend more than $1,000. If you go with all “splurge” products, then you’ll only be able to get settings for four. However, if you mix and match or go all “steal,” then you’ll be able to afford pieces for eight to twelve people.
See other stories:
COUNTER MEASURES 
Ten ways to green your kitchen
HOW THE OTHER HALF COOKS
What’s in the best families’ kitchens
Flatware
Forget silver, even the funky mismatched antique kind. It’s not dishwasher safe, it needs to be polished, and you’ll ruin it if you use it every day. Instead, look for stainless steel with substantial weight. Numbers like 18/0, 18/8, and 18/10 on the product description refer to the proportion of chromium to nickel in the metal. Chromium gives the material its strength, and nickel gives it its luster. Do not buy flatware that falls below the 18/8 mark, or your forks and knives will rust and bend. And avoid plastic handles, because they’ll eventually fall off.
Mango Flatware
MoMAstore, $70 per set
Flatware can be as progressive design-wise as furniture, fashion, or lighting, but the more unusual the aesthetic, the higher the price. For the cutting-edge stuff like this line from Finnish-based Nanny Still, shop at museum stores or high-end housewares boutiques like TableArt.
Perpetua Flatware
Oneida, $269.99 for a service for eight
The benefit of buying from big flatware companies like Oneida or Gorham is that they guarantee they will continue certain patterns forever. They also offer discounts when you buy multiple settings. Although most patterns they carry are a bit scalloped for our taste, there are a few, like the Perpetua line, that suit us.
Atlas Flatware
Pottery Barn, $89 for a 20-piece set [ed. note: no longer available online, but available directly from select stores]
Larger stores like Pottery Barn and Cost Plus offer affordable 18/8 and 18/10 stainless steel sets; the disadvantages are that patterns may be discontinued and sets may not include serving pieces. With the money you save, though, you’ll be able to swing a few settings of real silver from a discount outlet like Silverwarehouse.
Stemware 
Plates 
Textiles
See other stories:
COUNTER MEASURES
Ten ways to green your kitchen
HOW THE OTHER HALF COOKS
What’s in the best families’ kitchens
Stemware
There comes a time when drinking a glass of Merlot out of a coffee mug is no longer fun. But no matter how much of a grown-up you are, you’re still going to break wineglasses. So don’t spend a lot on them. Particularly when working within a tight budget, $10 a glass is as extravagant as you should get.
Riedel Wine Series
Amazon, $39.68 for a set of four
Higher-quality stemware is light and thin and makes a bell chime when you tap it with your fingernail (versus a dull rap-rap-rap). Riedel is a favorite, and it has an affordable Wine Series line. Target offers Riedel in a variety of shapes and sizes, all under $10 a glass. Also check out the Riedel-like Connoisseur collection at Cost Plus: less than $7 a glass.
Bodum So Long
Bodum, $9.95 for two
The emergence of stemless wineglasses is good news for a budget. Depending on the shape you choose, these can double as juice glasses or even cocktail tumblers, and they’re less prone to being knocked over. The Bodum So Long series is delicate looking but dishwasher safe, and made from scratchless, durable borosilicate glass.
Ikea Svalka Glassware Series
Ikea, $4.99 for six
If you’re particularly clumsy, it’s not a bad idea to buy really cheap glasses for everyday use, like Ikea’s Svalka stemware. The series even has separate pieces for red, white, and sparkling wines. Hitting discount stores like Ross and Marshalls will also turn up good finds.
Flatware See other stories:
COUNTER MEASURES
Ten ways to green your kitchen
HOW THE OTHER HALF COOKS
What’s in the best families’ kitchens
Plates
When it comes to plate shopping, how formal you are will determine how much money you spend. We say this because plastic—yes, plastic—is in style again. You’ll hear it called melamine, and it’s made into plates with colorful, wonderful patterns designed to mix and match. However, if you’re the kind of person who wants everything to look perfectly uniform, or would feel seriously weird about serving filet mignon on plastic plates, then shell out for porcelain or earthenware (ceramic).
Look for sets that can be used with many different textiles or with pieces you already have (we don’t think everything has to match). It also doesn’t hurt to check with the manufacturer to see if it offers replacement pieces on discontinued patterns.
Welmade Fine Bone China
Unica Home, $85 for four pieces
Once only spotted at Grandma’s, china is now unfussy and dishwasher safe. Bone china is the most durable, with a creamy base color, but it’s made with a labor-intensive process (mixing bone ash with clay), so it’s pricier. The Welmade lace pattern crockery is bold, with the traditional lace-trim motif over the entire plate.
Classic Century Dinnerware
Crate and Barrel, $252.95 for a 20-piece set
Large housewares stores like Crate and Barrel carry neutral styles that make great foundation pieces. The sensuous earthenware Classic Century Dinnerware from the “mother of modern,” industrial designer Eva Zeisel, is one of our favorites. A CHOW staffer had it on her bridal registry.
Thomas Paul Gothic Dinner Plate Set
Velocity, $61.60 for eight plates
Designer Thomas Paul is credited with helping resurrect melamine dinnerware from the 1950s and ’60s. Cheaper and picnic friendly (but not microwave safe), the lines often only feature plates. So make sure your selections look good with monochromatic pieces you may already have: We paired Paul’s Gothic plates with a cheap mug and bowl from CHOW’s test kitchen.
See other stories:
COUNTER MEASURES
Ten ways to green your kitchen
HOW THE OTHER HALF COOKS
What’s in the best families’ kitchens
Textiles
Since buying the perfect dining room table is out of the question on this budget, disguise the one you have with runners, place mats, napkins, and tablecloths. Things to consider: whether you want the linens to be the backdrop or the focus of your table, whether you’re inclined to iron, how often you eat at the table (and use cloth napkins when you do), and whether you want special occasion or workaday.
Tång
Lotta Jansdotter, $12–$48 per piece
All-natural linen and cotton fabrics, used by wonderful textile designers like Paula Smail and Lotta Jansdotter, are more expensive but feel more luxurious than synthetic ones. Due to limited quantity and detailed handiwork, expect to pay at least $100 to outfit your table. You will have to iron these, and dry cleaning is recommended to avoid shrinkage.
Spring Place Mat
2Modern, $60 for a four-piece set
Use materials other than fabric (like wood or wire) to add texture and save money and effort. These place mats from notNeutral have a birch veneer finish and feature white line drawings of butterflies and flowers. They sponge off easily. The company offers five other similar designs that look great mixed together for casual table settings.
Ciudad Table Linens
Pier 1, $3–$4 per piece
For everyday use, go for linens made from a polyester blend. They don’t wrinkle, won’t fade, and are lots cheaper. We like having a stash of solid colors at our disposal for different moods. Pier 1 offers napkins and place mats in loads of shades. (The company also sells cute, inexpensive twig place mats.)
See other stories:
COUNTER MEASURES
Ten ways to green your kitchen
HOW THE OTHER HALF COOKS
What’s in the best families’ kitchens