Melamine is quite a bit more than lightweight, shatterproof plastic. It’s your go-to portable serveware to pack a picnic or dine al fresco. When you are setting the table for a celebration, melamine feels just like a top notch above disposable paper plates or plastic cups, yet the dishes are playful and cheap to purchase in sets. The actual motive to appreciate melamine? The patterns! The colours! These melamine serving dishes turn the dial up on summertime entertaining in design. — Jen from The Haystack Needle
Huset
Rice Dk Melamine Cups – $31
The shape of those tumblers reminds me of eyeglasses you would find at a French cafe. I love the rainbow of color options. I would mix and match colours at the dining table.
French Bull
Rose Plate – $11
French Bull has assembled its set around melamine — and it shows. This contemporary rose pattern is just one of over a dozen designs for plates.
Anthropologie
Kaleidobug Melamine Plate – $8
When I had space in my cupboards, this really is the melamine set I would want to have. The bold pattern appears bohemian chic.
Jonathan Adler
Jonathan Adler George Washington Divided Tray – $48
I’m usually not a holiday platter girl who gets excited about tasting dishes such as Christmas plates and Easter bowls. However, this Jonathan Adler platter set in their mod USA pattern has a fun patriotic twist to its own design.
Bongenre
Winchester Mandala Winter 12-Inch Melamine Dinner Plates – $65
Bongenre is a great resource to get melamine dishware that does not seem like typical vinyl dishes. Some of these plates would be ideal for a tapas party.
Thomas Roszak Architecture, LLC
Assorted Colors, park Tumblers
These tumblers bring you back to the first use for melamine: packing a picnic! The plan of the cups feels inspired by the plastic cups all of us recognize.
Bongenre
Lemonade Yellow And White Striped Melamine Plate – $65
Color names are occasionally a flawless match. This melamine plate is called”Lemonade,” and it certainly stirs up fantasies of summer.
Gretel Home
Red Roses Small Rectangular Tray – $34
Long trays are ideal in the bedroom, entryway or bathroom to corral items such as keys, mail, jewelry or little odds and ends. This tray organizes in design; it looks like a painting.
Bob’s Your Uncle
A-Z Coasters – $110
This alphabet collection of coasters features images of typography from roadside evidence. This would make a fun, unexpected housewarming gift.
Furbish Studio
Scrimshaw Dessert Plate Set – $35
My favorite place to visit in the summer is Maine. In the lighthouses into the lobster, being from the sea is the best way to spend hot summer days. So I’m loving these Thomas Paul plates that have a classic twist on the nautical theme.
French Bull
Multiplaid Plate Place – $44
These vibrant plaid plates will surely stick out at a location setting. I would place them on a white or wood table so the patterns pop.
West Elm
Schooner Melamine Plates – $4.50
For nautical lovers, these plates are a whimsical spin on the motif. The designs feel ageless.
Jonathan Adler
Positano Melamine Serving Bowl – $28
What a juicy color combination. This melamine bowl is the best dish to serve summer pasta salad.
Gretel Home
Folk Stripe 19-Inch Tray – $58
This melamine tray is quite an eye-catcher; it feels very one of a kind. And the colours remind me of summer berries and plums.
Cost Plus World Market
Ipanema Ikat Melamine Tray – $19.99
This managed tray is a useful serving piece to have available for a cocktail party. But let us call out its best use: a TV tray with a yellow ikat design that will instantly update that plate of leftovers.
Gifts
Fontaine Maury Plaid Blue Boot Dinner Plate Presents
Since everything is more specific if it’s personalized, you may add a little customization to those melamine plates. I was already sold together with the blue gingham design.
Pottery Barn
Talavera Melamine Serve Bowls – $32.50
Here is another illustration of melamine that appears ceramic from afar, thanks to its sophisticated design. It’s both appearance and work rolled into one.
Huset
Ingela P. Arrhenius Melamine Plates – $12
I adore these illustrated plates. They are ideal for a kid’s room, but I want to hang sunlight on my kitchen wall.
Williams-Sonoma
Seashell Melamine Dinner Plate – $14.95
This melamine plate goes against the grain with its more traditional design and shortage of saturated Crayola colors. I love that melamine now comes in fancy designs similar to this.
Bob’s Your Uncle
In Out Tray Set – $28
Here is the ideal tray collection for the entryway table or home office — keep track of what is coming in and what is going out.
Next: Your Spring and Summer Party Checklist