Go back for the Lenox. It's really tough! You'll get tired of it before it gets tired of you. :)

That's what you get for buying Martha Stewart stuff. The prison orange plates need to be handwashed in the toilet, just like Martha did when she was incarcerated :-)

I'm not familiar with these plates, and the price points. But if you have to replace the MS 5 times from wearing out in the DW, would they be cheaper than the Lennox? Or would the Lennox still be a better deal?

You may want new ones in a few years anyway.

That's outrageous! My formal company dishes are handwash, but they're cheapass and gold decorated, so could discolor, and there are too many to fit the DW anyway (I only use them when feeding multiple dozens).

Pure speculation here, but if the oranges and reds won't hold up to a DW, I'd be worried about putting food on them. Those colors used to always come from cadmium. For food safety, they shouldn't anymore (okay on the outside of a pot, but not a the food side of a plate). If they're not well enough glazed to hold up to the DW, however, I'd worry about whatever it is leaching into the food. They're really cute, though.

Have you looked at Tracy Porter? She has some casual, eclectic patterns, reminiscent of majolica. I would guess that the Martha Stewart is a take off of the mixed dishes they have at Anthroplogie, but those tend to run high. Horchow.com is having a big dinnerware sale right now, and might be worth a look-see.

Villery and Boch have some nice patterns and do very well in the dishwasher. I've got three or four different patterns that I mix and match and they look brand new after years of going through the dishwasher.

Another nod to Villeroy & Boch. After using Corelle white throughout the child rearing/teen years, I thought V&B would be too fine to hold up to everyday use & DW.

I got them for our lakehouse where they get lots of use by company & kids in the summer. On occasion they've struck against the stone countertop which would have surely chipped stoneware and remained unscathed. Have been running through the DW for 7 yrs. and the pattern colors remain clear & true. All that and they still look special when I do want to set a nice table for guests.

We use Lenox for our every day dishes (butterfly meadows now but for years we used the pearl platinum fancy ones for every day). They are hardy little dishes... use your Lenox and enjoy! Lenox also has a 1/2 price breakage replacement program in case something were to break...

If the bowls are earthenware that may be why. Very low-fire glaze, non durable clay. If they get too hot the surface can develop cracks.

I'm a very confirmed Crate & Barrel person when it comes to dishware. I still have some amazing white pasta bowls from Hutchenreuther that I bought there and have used forever.

They have every color and style and the prices are reasonable for the quality. I'd take a look there.

I put everything in the dishwasher that's not made of wood, including cookware, even china & crystal. My dw does such a great job I can't see any benefit in not using it.

Thanks for these suggestions. I'm returning the MS set today and will keep looking. This is the fun part. I am trying to get over my assumption that real china is too fine for everyday use. That half price replacement plan from Lenox sounds good, I didn't know about that. Is that a common practice in the fine china world?

weissman: funny!

Martha has help. (Most of) the rest of us have to do our own dishes. I agree that's ridiculous that those dishes are hand wash only, and honestly I think the store where you bought them should have given you the heads up. There are many items I decided not to buy from Pampered Chef because they're hand wash only. Sorry, but I don't feel "pampered" when my hands are in rubber gloves and hot water. (Also, I put almost everything in the DW, including my china and Waterford crystal, that have gold rims on them. Never had a problem.)

I'm sure that's disappointing, as it's more than just the colors you need to make work: the dishes have to fit nicely in the DW, bowls and cups should stack nicely when put away, etc.

When you find a set that you like, I'd buy just one or two sets and live with it for a few days to see how you like using it. I did that with new flatware to make sure we liked it before buying a dozen place settings.

Lenox is not a brand especially known for color.

Here's the page for C&B sets

Here is a link that might be useful: Crate & Barrel dishware sets

I had my dishes made when I was married in 1992 & they're still beautiful.

However, as addicted to red as I am, I was thrilled when my mom gave me her 1978 Fitz & Floyd Total Color Cinnabar dish set. This is, of course, discontinued now, but easily available on eBay frequently. I snap up pieces so if I break one (it happens!) I won't be so sad.

Fitz & Floyd moved way too far into figurines and junk china to me, but this Total Color series remains extremely durable for an inexpensive china. Don't know what they do now.

Have you looked at some of the really pretty stuff at Target? I'm not a Target shopper so I can't speak knowledgably, but some of the things they show on TV are so pretty!

I googled them, and those are some cute, cute dishes!
But would they never be used in my house. I wouldn't use them 'cause I wouldn't want to see them sitting by the sink for a week 'til I got around to washing them.

I say keep looking.

I just looked at that Fitz/Floyd Total Color seies on Replacements.com. They have some of the Cinnabar pieces. I've filled in china and crystal pieces from replacements with excellent luck. I just wish that site had a better search function. Unless you know the exact pattern you're looking for already there really isn't an easy way to window shop on there.

You are so right about the patterns! I've also purchased from Replacements.com, but only when they popped up with a piece that's hard to find. The different soup, cereal, and salad bowls, for example. I'm still looking for a gravy boat and saucer, not just saucer.
Total Color and Total Color Spectrum are the same thing. Both come in round and octagonal, which are lovely. The neat thing about the Total Color stuff, is that many of the colors complement each other and look good together. They make several different creams that look good with the cinnabar, raspberry and/or plum. Really with most everything. There's a pale yellow which looks lovely with the different greens. Really neat stuff.

I couldn't help myself. I started collecting the plum. shhhh

I just saw an ad somewhere for Noritake. I should have paid more attention, because they were featuring something red.

I have villeroy & boch porcelain for 20 years. Knock on wood- only one bowl bit the dust- DH says he creased it.
Everything goes in DW
I alo put my fine china in DW

I guess I'm on a mini-mission to find a really pretty, colorful set of everyday china. In the meanwhile our white-whatever dishes will do.

I was at Macy's today (returning the Martha Stewart dishes). I looked at the Lenox Chirp pattern again. It's really pretty with a nice blue edge on some of the pieces, sweet little birds and branches. I noticed a lot of the patterns they are featuring are sweet, flowery and old fashioned, rather than angular or modern.

About replacements, I can't randomly search all the millions of patterns and pieces they have. I appreciate the business because I have been able to fill in, and even sold things to them. It's a good business, but I just wish there was a way to explore and look at all the different patterns without having to board a plane and visit their facility in person.

Sure. A quickie because I've gotta lv for work. I'm sorry my cell doesn't show how lovely these colors actually are.

They're by Jensen Turnage pottery in Virginia. One of them has since died, so I don't think I'd ever find a replacement piece again.

I got place settings for 10, because at that time DH's family = that many. Along the years at craft shows, etc., I picked up pieces such as a tea pot & cups, a berry bowl, tureen, covered butter dish, some soup bowls with ruffled edges, etc., all in varying shades of the greens and grapes.

The grapes on the cup (Note my handy dandy box-o-wine here on my desk) are actually a very dusty mauve-ish color. These feel good in my hand and I smile every time I get one out of the cupboard. DW safe, cat and DH safe.