For those of y'all who "inherited" China kitchen ware

Same, I inherited 2 sets. I use one but I will probably donate the other eventually. Family doesn't understand that I will never be able to afford more than a small apartment so I won't be hosting any dinner parties.

IDGAF, I'll hand that shit to a 4 year old with chicken nuggets and a puddle of ketchup on it. And put it in the dishwasher afterwards. Fuck that shit, I'm not gonna structure life around a fucking plate.

Right we bought our first house, my bf started working as casino management and they would get the casino give aways and he brought home a whole set of China. We freaking went out and got a China cabinet because we just assumed we needed to have one since our parents and grandparents all had it. Well, that China sat in that China cabinet taking up space for like 8 years until we purged the house getting ready to sell. Now we use the China cabinet in our new house to display our fun glasses that we actually use. And I’ve already told my mom I didn’t want my grandparents 20 person set and I don’t want my parents set either. My brother or goodwill can have it. lol

I was gifted Pfaltzgraff stone ware. We use it as every day dishes. They can go in the microwave, oven, dishwasher, etc. they don't like being dropped on the ground, but other than that take a beating pretty good.

I use it to feed my cats.

God, the display cabinet with the "fancy" dishes that never get used has got to be the all time biggest wastes of space.

I use it! If I break one, no biggie. I believe in using things and not saving them for special occasions or “just in case”. If it doesn’t have a use it goes away.

If I go an entire year without using something I donate it or throw it away unless I am intentionally saving it for a specific time that I know it will regularly be in use again. (Clothes one kid grew out of but thr next doesn't fit yet, or that a niece or nephew will eventually grow into, and...that's about it)

My mom inherited a large set of waterford glasses and silver utensils. My dad inherited gold rim plates dishes and more silver. Many thousands of dollars worth of beautiful bullshit purchased generations ago. They use the absolute hell out of it at every possible family gathering and don’t sweat when things get broken. They built a second set of cabinets in their kitchen out of the way to house all the stuff that doesn’t get used often. None of it gets hand washed anymore.

My oldest brother inherited grandma's china. He sold it.

The sentimental part of me wishes he had kept it. We ate every Thanksgiving and Christmas off that china growing up, but the practical part of me realized nobody has the space for it. Nobody entertains like that any more, and he was right to get what he could for it.

My mother's china and most of the silver went missing after we cleaned my father's house out. I suspect my aunt stole it.

Inherited Depression Glass. My wife displays pieces from it in both the China cabinet and custom entertainment system the previous owners of our home left for us.

I’m not sure if we’ve ever actually used it. Maybe Christmas Eve dinner 3 years ago or something.

Trashed 5 sets from my MIL, told her we keep them in a climate controlled storage unit.

Ah yeah, the fine china that nobody is good enough for, lmao.

tossed it

Its trash thats taking up space, putting more thought into it than that will end up with hoarding.

It sits in a tote in a closet under my stairs. I have no room to display it and I'm too accident prone to use it daily. But I can't bring myself to get rid of my nanny's china. 😢

Whenever I spend any amount of time thinking about it, I get genuinely sad. At least 2 generations were told that "China" was fancy & a good investment only to wind up either with bunk junk or children that can't or won't use it. Which I am not blaming the children or grandchildren for this at all, not even a little. But to be that person & spending your life thinking you're doing the right thing, saving this for future generations. . . Makes me pretty sad ya know? Between the China, "crystal-ware" & diamonds/jewelry, it's depressing to think about how many generations are getting fucked by this mindset.

I inherited a set that was meant to sit 6 and I used it as regular dishware after about 2 months. My cat was living her best life eating from ones china saucer and drinking from her matching tea cup. We ate dinner on the plates, used the bowls for cereal...etc. over a decade later and all of the china has either been lost or broken beyond repair.

My wife's grandmother had 3 sets. We sold off 2 to a company that sells them by the piece to people looking to get replacements for broken ones. The 3rd we kept since it was from occupy Japan. It lives in boxes above my freezer.

I wish I could take it off your hands! Supposedly I’m getting some from my MIL? We’ll see.

My mom was telling me the other day that she really wanted to buy a hutch for my apartment so she could give me a vintage China tea set that my grandma passed down. It’s a gorgeous set, 100%, but it would literally just sit in that hutch. I never have people over and on the rare chance I would, they’re getting coffee/tea out of the Keurig and served in one of my mismatched mugs.

On top of that, my dog’s brain just has the Hamster Dance song playing on full blast 24:7 and I’m afraid she’d slide into home and take down the whole damn thing.

It’s been in a box for 12 years.

Before that, it was in another box the 5 previous years.

In the future, it will still be in that box.

There's a big difference between rarely used and never used. I have a lovely tea set and set of dessert plates from my grandmother that I bust out once or twice a year when I host a fancy brunch for my mom friends. And it feels so special to enjoy something nice with so much sentimental value! We don't have a huge house or anything, but we are lucky to have space to store it when not in use. My parents still host the big holiday dinners with china from my moms grandparents. Its hard to even think about, but I know I will want to have that china and carry on the traditions when they're gone. Sharing food is a major way of showing love in my family, so the objects associated with that are very special to me.

A few months ago, my mother tried to get me to take my aunt's old china that she had inherited from my grandmother. I had technically inherited the dishes when my aunt died but they've been in my parents basement for the past decade. My mother was trying to convince me that I could use them as just everyday dishes. I told her that I have no interest in eating lead from 70+ year old dishes. I also have no use/space for dishes that I will never use. I live in a very small studio apartment and don't even have a dresser, much less a China cabinet to display fancy useless dishes.

They're gonna sit in my parents basement until my parents die and then whoever goes through their belongings (not me... I'm NC and never going back to their house) will either store them somewhere or donate them.

Just because it's inherited, doesn't mean it's worth holding onto. I loved my aunt and I love the stuff she made for me, because it's special. But some random dishes that she owned are just random dishes, as far as I'm concerned.

My Mom passed away right before Christmas last year. At one point my Dad told me that my Mom wanted to give me some of their China and my Dad told her I probably didn't want it. I'm glad my Dad knows me well. He also probably has no need for China, either, so I'm sure he understood.

I got some crystal glasses after my grandma passed and they've just been sitting in a box in a cabinet in the garage. Don't have the space, don't have the need, but it feels wrong to give them away, I guess.

My mothers are allegedly gold-plated trimmed. I'll see what sucker will believe it.

Then I'll test one.

Then either sell them as-is, figure out the value of the gold, then find out if they're worth scrapping for gold or pulling out the gold myself.

We used them once when i was a child.

We didn't get rid of them because they allegedly had value and then bought a massive fucking china display cabinet.

If I end up taking the china cabinet, maybe I'll use it for my d&d minis. Or something.

looks around his office

Fuck, maybe use it for regular dishes in my kitchen and use plain cabinets for food? I guess that would look nicer, even though the wood doesn't match.

I got some from both grandparents. Both sets are at the bottom of a cupboard taking up space.

I don’t need plates with lead paint. I’ll probably buy some nice tableware when I own my own home but I don’t want old stuff that’s rarely going to be used and made with toxic shit taking up space in my home.

We have three sets (including my mom's wedding set she packed in a box in 1987 and it's still in that same box). It hurts my head to think about what to do with them all.

I had a set and sold it. It was worth quite a lot actually. Check it before you trash it!

Used it. Brooke most of it. Down to 3 plates I think. I don't think they like the dishwasher

After 20 years I decided to use mine for everyday use.  Then while trying to find more matching pieces I started having more articles about lead pop up and I eventually just threw it out.

Cat food plates.....

I also inherited a hutch so I painted it black with oil wood stain and it’s in there. I almost never use it so I put my booze stuff in there too lol

I packed it up and sold it at a garage sale, I don’t have room for it and frankly it wasn’t that nice.

Use it.

Just use them.

I had a couple sets given to me. I used them. My mother freaked out one time about it so I pointed out reality. I'm never having royalty over for dinner, family can't be trusted with anything nice and is getting paper, and if I'm having friends over who judge me for the quality of my dinner plates, they would likely never be invited back.

I have my paternal great-great-grandfather's boxed up.

My mother has assured me I will inherit hers whether I want it or not.

I do not.

Mine is in a box in the garage, i tried to sell both sets on facebook marketplace but no one wanted them.

I use them, lol. Put them in the dishwasher, they survive or they don’t. They usually do!! It’s nice to eat off nice plates, why not. YOLO and all that jazz

When my grandma died, no one took any china. I took two pairs of kitchen scissors, and a set of tiny forks, I remember one relative taking a single mug, and my parents taking a set of drinking glasses they also collected.

Everything else, pots pans and plates galore, cutting boards and shotglasses and more, everything was taken to the local goodwill equivalent.

If you're actually going to use it to eat food off of, be sure you test it for lead first. Most of them are riddled with lead.

I tossed a set I was given a couple of years ago because I had some concerns about it being made with lead paint.

Get rid of it. Most of it is full of lead. If you have some pieces with sentimental value, find a way to display them.

We sold it alongside our dining room furniture, as a cabinet filler. Made a couple hundred extra bucks off of it. Granted, I'm not sentimental at all when it comes to things that aren't of my own choosing.

I sold a set to a collector/wholesaler for a couple thousand dollars. It would have ended up in the trash otherwise.

I checked with all the other family who might be interested in it, for the 400th time, then sold it all to an artist for $150 like 3 years ago. I didn't use any of them as I'd invested in high quality, easy to maintain dishes just before I "inherited" the china. And I didn't like the pattern. It's better to be used or passed on to someone who will use it, imo. You could always keep a tea cup & saucer as a momento if you wanted, or just use them as your daily dishes.

As soon as I move, it’s going on the cabinets to be used. There’s no point in having it sit in a china closet collecting dust.

I got an idea: Call Jewellry artist and ask them if they want it, they make beautiful work with it or use it, live once and and we won't have much use after

I kept the pretty tea cups because I drink a lot of tea. Only one of each set tho. I’ve seen people do art projects with them. Bird feeders, wall art or mosaics would be cute ways to repurpose them

I saw someone use the teacups as planters. Would be cute for succulents.

Goodwill.

I keep it because it’ll come back in style eventually. And it’s pretty.

And here I thought I was the only one who lugged around two sets of Noritaki. I do use the gravy boats during the holidays! 😂

I inherited 2 sets. I kept the cups/saucers from both and donated the rest

12ga shotgun and 100 rounds of trap shells.

I gave it to Goodwill and called it a day. I don't see myself ever wanting to display fine China in a hutch, or even have a gathering where I'd wanna use it to impress anyone.

Gods wept. Yes. My mum started buying me pieces of a China set when I was born for my birthday and continued up until I was 18. I have more or less the full set. It's not the kind of everyday set, so it needs to be stored and used for like special occasions.

Shame, I'm the most anti-social bastard that ever walked the earth. I have it stored at my parents now, but I have no idea what to do with it when they move in a year.

My parents were (thankfully) incredibly practical folks. They just bought dish sets they liked and used them, and when my grandparents died and they inherited their "fine china" my parents would slowly replace any broken piece of the regular dishes with the "fine china". And if the "fine china" wears out 🤷. What else does dinnerware exist for than to be used?

And guess what? Most of that "fine china" says is handwash only...I can assure you that's not true for most of it. My parents just throw it is with the regular dishes and it looks basically the same.

I was gifted (inherited cuz they're 75 and giving things away) a china cabinet with the wedding china. I use it every holiday now. I put it in my dining room.

We have some in a cabinet above the fridge. I think it’s been used once.

We have coffee and tea parties. Sometimes we play board games. Sometimes we just sit and visit. It's become a cheap and easy way to see our friends.

If something breaks we don't worry because we decided it was better to make memories than collect dust. We also try to only accept stuff that we really love if it has to be hand washed but if not... it's in the dishwasher and makes clean up super easy.

There's a few folks I am aware of thay will take China and strategically break it for use in jewelry.

They've made a necklace, earrings, a bracelet, and a ring for my wife from a plate of her grandmother's China.

We have the way of the full set, but it lives in my grandmother's hutch...

If you wanted to do that and donate the rest, it might keep the sentimentality

We just use them like regular plates.

I inherited family heirloom tea service and I got some really nice glass door cabinets from Ikea to display it. I also love hosting holidays and stuff and I enjoy collecting it. I'm kind of surprised by how many people are here talking about actively hating...plates? And wanting to destroy them. We eat dinner as a family every night and use plates for that so our stuff is definitely utilized.

My mom has a gorgeous pink glass china set. I actually want to use it for tea parties lol.

I use it like regular dishes. I don't host dinner parties. I do not anticipate the King coming by for tea in my lifetime. So, I don't need fancy special dishes sitting and waiting for special occasions. So I use them, and I think of my grandma every time I do.

I am regularly complaining about how much space it takes up and how it just sits there for years and how we have never and will never use it and how our kids won't want to deal with the garbage we are hoarding simply because someone gifted it to us.

Donate.

I also inherited a China cabinet so it all just sits in there. Once a year I go and knock the dust off it.

we've already stated it very well might become target practice.

I refused in advance. Told my mom I will not be accepting any so she better figure out what to do with it lol

I have what I think is a really nice set in a box. It has been in that box for 20 some years.

I admire mine in my china cabinet and use them for thanksgiving.

I have a display case for it

I’m a millennial that got married young to an older millennial, and I was the last of my friends who registered for wedding china. While it’s cool to have a special reminder of our wedding, my MIL has 5 sets (she’s a horder), my mom has two and two sets of silver, and I’m probably going to end up with my Godmother’s sets of silver, china and crystal. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it all.

So if you're anything like me, if it's not dishwasher safe, it's not getting used.

That said, some fine China actually is dishwasher safe, especially if it was made in the 80's or later. A lot of the major brands - noritake, mikasa, Lennox - make dishwasher safe china. My daily plates are Noritake and while they aren't fine china, they have held up impeccably to 12 years of being tossed in the dishwasher.

If you've got truly vintage stuff from pre-dishwasher days, yeah, a lot of that you have to baby and for me, that's the stuff that gets given to someone who's willing to hassle with it.

But if it's dishwasher safe and it brings you joy, I say use it! We shouldn't wait for special occasions to use special stuff; it was made to be used, not rot in a cabinet. And hell, even the stuff you have to coddle; coddle it or don't, but if it makes you happy to see it, use it. If it breaks or gets damaged, at least it lived a life suited to the purpose of its creation, rather that sitting dusty and forgotten until someone dies, rinse and repeat, forever.

my mom was pretty upset when i had 0 interest in it.

I have 4 sets. Two we use daily. One for all special occasions, and one for when we have a small number of people over. 

I mean I host dinner parties so I use it.     

But sometimes my parties are fill the crystal punch bowl with different type of goldfish crackers and use the serving tray for edibles kind of party. So I'm a big fan of using it, even if it's not the way your grandma would approve of.           

Honorable mention goes to pet food bowl and emergency planter when my cat tipped over a houseplant. 

My sister got my grandmas (and her in laws). I got my moms. My house is an old craftsman with a built in hutch in the “dining room” we never use, so it goes there. We have some decorative light green carnival glass in there that plays off the colors in plates and dried flowers. It looks really nice. Comes out for thanksgiving. Reminds me of my mom. Then goes back into the hutch.

I like it cause my mom’s dead and she picked a really lovely understated pattern with a single flower and gold edges, and I remember her and my grandma going to finish the set when it was on sale.

It's in a Rubbermaid container in my basement. It's not my style, I have no desire to use it, and I prefer to display art and Lego instead.  No idea what I'm going to do with it.

On the rare occasion we do host holiday parties that have 10+ people we ALWAYS use paper plates.

The problem isn’t the set, the problem is you not using them. Just start using them. If they brake or chip, oh well. If you hate them, donate to good will. 

Go to goodwill or any thrift shop. There is tons of fine china sold for extremely cheap. Nobody wants it anymore. Just waiting until my wife lets me donate ours.

I will hand down my French made Batman glasses from McDonalds to my son.

It's just all sitting in a box in the basement closest for five years.

Gave it to the niece. Let her deal with that crap.

I donated it

Throw them away. They are not worth much. Or just gift them to others

I use it as intended. Don't really display it.

I have mine back to my mother 😂 I said I’ve got 3 kids under 5 and I have no business owning china. We do paper ware in this house. She was pissed bc now she’s got 2 sets lol oh well! I’m done taking in things I don’t want just because they belonged to a dead relative

I didn't inherit it per se. My parents bought china kitchenware in a Chinese store back in the mid 00s. It looks very pretty, but I'm too scared to go anywhere near it

It's sitting in a cabinet. Haven't used it in years.

I use when the people that gave it to me come by. :)

I like hosting so I actually use them kind of regularly

I was lucky enough to buy a house before prices went crazy. I host about 10 dinner parties a year. My China gets plenty of use.

But if you aren't hosting dinner parties, it is plates and bowls and cups. USE THEM. You don't need some special occasion to use a nice plate. Just enjoy using the nice plates

Some of y’all are thinking about this all wrong!

Gladly accept that “fine china”, just be prepared to sit on it for about 40 years.

For example: a “current trend” is to buy pre ww2 era kitchen hutches and pantries, especially the European imports. Even repainted, and restrained pieces sell for big bucks. In some cases the more wear, the better!

While “Depression Era” glass, probably what you’re most likely to find in those hutches isn’t really worth much for now, give it 40 years and grandma, or great grandma’s stuff will sell for big money.

It basically just comes down to the nostalgia factor and diminishing supply.

Logically we all know a 67-68 corvette is a dinosaur compared to a 97, 07, or 17 but they sell for about the same price as a brand new one.

Emotional attachment plays a huge factor in the value of a given item.

I mean, right now it's in storage cause we had to move in with my mom and she has plenty of her own crockery but we did inherit a set from my MiL and we used it. At first my husband was really worried saying he didn't want to accidentally break something but I reminded him there was no point in keeping dishes we can't use.

Straight to the Church charity shop.

I have a set in a box in the attic. I couldn't bear to see it go to Goodwill, but its gold-rimmed and not microwaveable or dishwashable for everyday use, and I sure don't have room for storage cabinet.

You can sell it. There are companies that buy - esp complete sets of China. Go online and start doing some sluething. Take a picture of the bottom of a teacup or plate to get the seal/stamp/manufacturer's info. some patterns are popular and some are worth more than others. You can also decide which to keep and then sell the rest at a flea market or swap meet type of thing.

View them as the boomer's version of beenie babies and you'll know what to do.

Break that shit and throw is on the garbage. It’s delusional old people trash.

I use it on holidays. When not in use it’s in boxes on shelves I can’t reach without a full ladder.

I really like mine I inherited from a friend of my mom after my mom showed her pictures of my dining room. The woman said her old china was the perfect edition and when she passed I got it. I’d never even met her. My mom showed up one day with boxes and told me the story.

She was right, it was absolutely perfect and I love it. If I didn’t love it I would have donated it or put it up for sale at a consignment shop.

We use it. We have kids so it's slowly clearing itself out 😁

It's in my garage?

I don't know what the fuck to do with it. I'm confident that if I get rid of it the angry ghost of my mom will come and fuck up all my stuff.

Donated it. I felt bad for a minute, followed by a tiny pang of regret when she died a few years later. It was just clutter we were never going to use. 

Selling or to Goodwill. I've never wanted that crap.

I didn’t keep it. I’m a minimalist. They can keep it or get rid of it.

My mom gave me my parents “set.” We moved so much growing up and they actually used them at thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. So I got three salad plates, five dinner plates, a single chipped bowl, and one teacup and saucer. She was so offended that I didn’t want them. I threw them out last year. She was adamant I could order replacements, but I didn’t want to.

I was given my grandmother’s China shortly after purchasing my house, since my parents were downsizing out of their old house. I didn’t even know it existed until it was given to me, since it was kept tucked away in storage by both grandparents and parents. I stuck it in the garage attic and promptly forgot about it for a few years. Found it, donated it, and that was that.

Sell it or store it to sell later. I don't understand people who just trash stuff like this. If you don't want it, sell it.

I have a set that's daily use and a nicer set for special occasions. Why spend money on some shit from IKEA when there are tons of fancy sets either free, inherited, or dirt cheap so you can feel like an aristocrat every day but not actually have spent money?

I drink my whiskey from tiny little teacups. Thanks, Grandma

If it’s a burden to you take it to an antique/picker store. Plenty of people look for replacements for broken pieces in sets. If you have no use or sentimental attachment to it be done with it.

I have a China cabinet and use it for special occasions. And sometimes on Thursdays. I like it. It’s pretty.

It’s in boxes in my parents’ basement right now (12-place full service of noritake ware from the 1950s, bought in japan and NEVER once used. I was the only relative who wanted it) until my fiance and I buy a house… hopefully some time in the next couple of years. Took a lot of the living and dining room furniture from my grandmother’s house when she passed too and that’s all also sitting in that basement. Thrilled at the prospect of giving this stuff life again, or maybe for the first time- all my life I NEVER saw anyone sit at my grandmother’s dining room table (always the kitchen or porch) and my mom can’t even remember more than three meals around that table. I can’t wait to host dinner parties with all the stuff that she didn’t want to use because it was ‘too nice’

It’s in our china hutch for now. My MIL gave me her family’s stuff since I was the first “daughter” she had. I appreciate the gesture, but my god it is a hideous print that I will never use with guests. I let my 7 year old use it for tea parties.

I have two sets. One set, gifted from my favorite great aunt when she sided, I display in a cabinet in my dining room and the other set I use for Friendsgiving. It has a winter scene on it and originally belonged to my great-grandma in the 30s. It’s super gaudy and I LOVE it.

It's all toxic anyway. Trash it.

My wife got a bunch of China from her mom. I use it all the time and feel VERY FANCY. Not sure what the big deal is but I do say “cuppa tea” a lot more now

I would like to inherit Japan or Europe kitchenware. China is 99% certainly low quality

I serve dinner for 3 ppl these days and those 3 people aren’t eating at the same time as each other either.

We have 3 sets of fine china, one set of Christmas dishes, one set of “fiesta ware”, one set of every day dishes.

What on earth were their lives?? I don’t even have one friend to invite to dinner let alone 36 to use all of these plates. Insane to imagine what their idle time was like, socializing and dining around tables en masse

My idle time is eating a burrito bowl while driving a kid to sports

Also sitting on a set of actual silverware in a heavy wooden box that has a key. Not sure it will ever get used, but because it was passed down by my grandparents who passed I just let it sit on a shelf never to be used 😭 what do

I have a few bits I keep on display because it’s pretty. A few odd bits that I use daily. And a few bits that get used semi regularly.

The rest we got rid of. No one wanted it and what are we going to do with three sets of silverware and four sets of china? I do occasionally miss some of the things and have regrets but realistically I took what I can use and can store. We all did. Most of it even my grandmother didn’t want lying around her house long before she died.

I have mine in a China cabinet that I bought (not inherited) I use the China and the silver (inherited) when I have nice dinner parties. It's lovely.