You don't have to buy a matching dinner set to make a table work. Start with the pieces you reach for most, then think about what belongs alongside them.

Start with the way you eat

If most meals end up in a pasta bowl, start there. Add side plates for bread, toast and sharing dishes. If you like putting food in the middle and letting everyone help themselves, give the serving pieces room and keep the individual place settings simple.

Keep one thing in common

Colour is one way to tie things together, but it isn't the only one. A similar curve, material or finish can connect pieces that aren't an exact match.

Our upcoming Tokyo Brunch plates and bowls are designed to sit together, with Japanese-inspired curves and hand-finished reactive glazes. The green and white give you two colours to work with without making every place setting identical.

Mix across the table

Try white pasta bowls with green plates, or green snack bowls alongside white plates. You can keep each type of piece in one colour and let the contrast happen between them.

That makes it easier to add to what you already have. You don't need to change everything at once. A few bowls or side plates can give an existing table a different feel.

Think about what will be on the table together, too. The bowls you use for a quick lunch don't all have to come out for a dinner with friends.

Let the glaze do some of the work

Matching doesn't mean identical. Our reactive glazes move, pool and settle during firing, so each hand-finished piece comes out slightly different.

Those differences are part of the table. You can stay with one colour and still have variation, or put green and white together for more contrast.

Buy for your table, not a photograph

Start with enough of the pieces you use every day. Then add the things you miss when people come round: a few more side plates, bowls for snacks or a serving piece for the middle.

When Tokyo Brunch launches, the plates and bowls will come as singles, sets of two and sets of four, so you can build the mix at your own pace.

Questions about mixing dinnerware

Do plates and bowls have to be the same colour?

No. White bowls with green plates are one way to mix our upcoming Tokyo Brunch range. Or keep the plates and bowls the same colour and use the snack bowls for contrast.

Can I mix new dinnerware with pieces I already own?

Yes. Start with a colour or shape you like in your existing pieces and choose something that sits well beside it. Try a single piece before buying a set if you want to see them together.

What is different about mixing reactive glazes?

Even pieces in the same glaze vary slightly. The finish gives you differences within one colour as well as between colours.