What to put on a Welsh dresser

[bakehimawaytoys]

I have bought an antique pine dresser which will be turning up in a couple of weeks.

It has the traditional plate rack at the back so that you can display decorative plates, and hooks for cups.

I am torn about what to put on display. My normal plates are incredibly plain, just white, and I want to get something more decorative for the dresser. Ditto cups on hooks. Our current mug collection is of the "free with my Frosties" or novelty gift variety 😒

Options seem to be:
Buy a new set of attractive plates and cups to display
Buy a mish mash of vintage plates and cups - perhaps on a colour theme eg blue and white?
Buy a vintage set from a charity shop or eBay

Anything I haven't thought of? What would you do?

I don’t have cup hooks on mine , I have a lot of stuff on it though ( a lot ) I’ll take a photo tomorrow if you would , like it’s a bit dark now
some Emma Bridgewater , some coloured glass , some plates I picked up in TK Maxx , some jugs, a cheese plate , basically a bit of everything !

Found one , it’s only a small section of it , but you get the idea
I forgot about the shells !

I think a mish mash looks the best, but I would recommend putting things on it that you actually use.
Otherwise you will just have gained something new to dust!
My dresser, just has family photos and knick knacks, but that's just because there is no room for it in the kitchen.

Definitely a mish mash!

Dont rush to fill it up all at once- take your time collecting bits and pieces that you really love.

Mine is currently in the play room and holds all the art and crafts stuff. Probably not what you're after 🤣

I have one. It’s n addition to plates salt and pepper dishes and casserole dish on display we also have a wee pile of baby vests, assorted dummies, about twenty star of the week/good work certificates, a permission slip I forgot to sign and need to remember first day back at school, spiny glass of colour pens and pencils and a dinosaur sellotape dispenser. There’s also assorted envelopes and important letters that need to be kept as well as last years school photos

Whatever you do with yours it will look better than mine.

My dresser is quite large and in the kitchen. No cup hooks.
Top shelf has antique blue & white bowls with large rim - great for stews etc, we do use sometimes and rotate.
Middle shelf has antique blue & white dinner plates, not matching top set but again are used occasionally.
Dresser surface currently has Ikea glass cake stand (with freshly baked cake in it!). Large fruit bowl, jug which sometimes has flowers in it, another couple of wooden bowls.

Odd candle, incense sticks, some photos, wine glasses too large for cupboard, few other odds and ends are doted on the surfaces too.

I would have a look around a couple of charity shops and see if anything catches your eye, our local one has some wonderful stuff otherwise spend a fortune and go all Emma Bridgwater design.

I have on mine:
A nice hanging plant
A big jar of dinner candles
Vase of dried flowers
Couple of photos in frames
Le creuset pots

H1Drangea, do i spy a Crown Derby cat on your dresser, if so snap!

Mine doesn't have hooks either. Vintage Moss Rose China on the top and various knick knacks on the shelves. I'll get round to painting it one day.

I have Big cookbooks & 2 large wicker baskets at each end to keep the books upright (full of kids painting/claywork stuff, but you can't really see what's in them unless you are 7ft tall) on the top, serving plates that get used occasionally upright on the plate grooves at the back of the top 3 shelves, some mugs that never get used but look pretty on the top shelf, big & little teapots, bits that go with them, toast rack, egg cups on the next shelf down, plates, bowls, glasses, tea plates, salad plates, pasta & soup bowls on the bottom two shelves plus a few smaller cookbooks.
It's all white crockery apart from some with pale blue on it, mixed with glass - also have a couple of glass jelly moulds on there & various sized jugs for milk, gravy etc...
In December, the blue stuff goes away in the cupboard underneath where the big dinner plates, wine glasses etc.. live & some of the other bits, replaced by Christmas crockery which is mostly red, green & white.

The bottom 2 shelves & some of middle shelf is stuff that gets used either every day or at least every week.
The rest has to get stripped down & washed every month or so as it gets really dusty.

DM has pretty jugs and tea pots, nice portmeirion plates etc. it's a lovely mixture of gifts she's received over the years.

We had one and I displayed coloured glassware on it.

@fitflopqueen yes I have a few crown derby ornaments …cats , a wren , a dolphin , a real mix !

Definitely go with the mishmash, picked-up-over-time, things you love approach.
Mine has a load of inherited blue and white pottery and 18th century glassware (sounds posh but is mostly chipped), mixed with Lego figures, interesting bottles I dug up from the garden of a past house, slightly (actually very) failed bits of ‘art’ from DGC and DH, and all the random pieces of ornamental crockery DSD has gifted us. There is also generally a cat sitting in judgement upon us on the top.

I see yours and I raise you:
Various crockery I like
Coffee pot full of knitting needles
Various Lego creations
Pebbles
A plastic penguin
Multiple egg boxes (mainly empty, the one with eggs in is in the lovely dish I use for eggs but no other bugger unpacks them)
The stereo (we're old)
Heaps of CDs (see above, apparently)
At least one dead lightbulb
Packets of seeds
A spray bottle which no-one claims ownership of
Photos
Jar of batteries waiting to go to the recycling
Clothes pegs
Some fairy lights (to bathe the above in a warm twinkly glow)

@BobinogBobbleHat Hahaha they are lovely but they become an absolute dumping ground. Mine was up cycled by a friend and neighbour in a gorgeous green colour but I’m needing it re done because I changed my colours to sky blue in lockdown. I don’t know why my phone changed the PINT glass of pens to spiny glass of pen. There’s also a ton of raid fly spray lurking there and a packet of calpol tablets I never noticed before (raiding it for a wineglass now!!) I still wouldn’t be without mine.,

I have serious dresser envy. I have no business being on this thread but will enjoy dreaming.

It’s fine. Just get one. You can dump all your crap on it too 😂

Oh where do you get a dinosaur sellotape dispenser?My life will be incomplete now I have heard they exist.

I contemplated one but decided to, for my sanity, stick an extra sofa and armchair in the dining room instead so I can escape from Do Re Mi (on Prime) and Roblox on the ipad! I don't have space to indulge all my desires.

@Narwhaleahoy you clearly do not have a clumsy cat! I can’t imagine my sturdy cat making it to the top of my dresser, let alone not knocking off and breaking everything!

We inherited our dresser from PIL (they're still very much alive btw, they were just getting rid of it!). It was a very orange pine colour so we painted it white and changed the drawer and door knobs for mismatched ceramic ones. No cup hooks on ours, on the back it has arty espresso cups and saucers, a vintage plate with an anatomical heart overlay (bought for me by my lovely friend because she knew I'd love it) and various clay things made by the dc. On the top of the base part it has a carved wood trinket box, a carved wood incense box, a stained glass rainbow thing, a crystal healing wand and some framed photos. Across the top it has a string of wooden bunting

I absolutely love this! Your hen-shaped egg dish in particular! This is where I hope to end up over time, lots of individual lovely things. Thanks for showing it!

That's a good point, it'll be in the kitchen so should be easy access but I don't want a bunch of dusty serving plates on there! My house is filthy enough already...