I Have Kids. So Why on Earth Did I Choose White Dinnerware?

There are certain purchasing decisions you make before children that become slightly questionable once children enter the picture. White furniture. Cream carpet. Anything described as “dry clean only”. And, arguably, beautiful white dinnerware.

Because dinner with kids isn’t always the beautifully styled family moment the homewares catalogues promised us. There’s pasta sauce. There’s curry. There are knives and forks being dropped. Plates get carried to the sink by children whose confidence significantly exceeds their coordination. And somehow, no matter how big the table is, someone will manage to knock something onto the floor.

So when the Corelle Bella Faenza dinner set arrived looking beautifully white, delicate and decidedly grown-up, my first thought wasn’t necessarily about its embossed floral detailing. It was: how long will these survive in our house?

The Dinnerware That Looks Far More Delicate Than It Apparently Is

This is where Bella Faenza becomes interesting. It has the appearance of the dinnerware you might pull out when people are coming over, with an embossed white-on-white pattern that makes it feel considerably more special than your standard everyday plate.

But Corelle says its Vitrelle glass is three times more durable than traditional ceramic tableware and highly resistant to chips and cracks. It’s made using three layers of tempered glass, yet the plates themselves are surprisingly thin and lightweight.

And that combination makes far more sense in a family home than I initially expected. I don’t really want two sets of dinnerware anymore: the nice plates we’re terrified to use and the everyday plates that look as though they’ve survived several small wars. I want something I can put on the table when friends come over on Saturday night and then put Vegemite toast on for the kids the next morning. This feels much closer to that idea.

Can We Talk About the Cupboard Situation?

Possibly my favourite feature has absolutely nothing to do with eating. They stack. Properly.

Corelle says Vitrelle takes up around half the space of traditional ceramics, and if your kitchen cupboards have somehow become the final resting place for an inexplicable collection of mismatched bowls, novelty mugs and containers whose lids disappeared sometime in 2022, you’ll understand why this matters.

They’re also light enough that getting several plates out at once doesn’t feel like a strength-training exercise. More importantly in our house, they’re easier for the kids to handle themselves. Whether giving children easier access to the plates is actually a parenting win remains to be seen.

Pretty Enough for Christmas, Practical Enough for Tuesday

This is probably where Bella Faenza makes the most sense to me. The embossed detailing means you could easily dress these up for Christmas lunch, birthdays or having friends over without them feeling like basic everyday dinnerware. Because they’re white, you’re also not committing yourself to a colour or trend you’ll potentially hate in two years.

Then everyone leaves, Tuesday rolls around and they’re straight back onto the table. They’re dishwasher and microwave safe, can go into the fridge and freezer, and Corelle says they’re suitable for a preheated oven up to 175°C. The non-porous glass surface is also designed to be easy to clean, which is considerably more important to me than any dinnerware being described as “elegant”.

Elegant is lovely. Dishwasher safe is a lifestyle requirement.

And Apparently White Plates and Children Can Coexist

I’m still not suggesting that putting anything remotely breakable into the hands of children is risk-free. My children possess abilities that I’m fairly certain no laboratory durability test could adequately replicate.

But I like the thinking behind these. They’re nice enough that I don’t feel the need to hide them when people come over, lightweight enough for everyday family use and designed to resist the chips and cracks that eventually make so many dinner sets look tired.

Corelle also says the range is made with up to 80% recycled glass and designed for longevity. There’s something appealing about buying one set you intend to keep using rather than repeatedly replacing chipped plates or maintaining separate “good” and everyday collections.

And perhaps that’s the biggest test of supposedly family-friendly homewares: not whether they can survive one beautifully styled dinner, but whether you still reach for them when it’s spaghetti night, somebody is already complaining about what’s for dinner and one child has decided a plate is apparently something that should be carried one-handed. We’ll see how they go.

Corelle Bella Faenza 12 Piece Dinner Set has an RRP of $139, with pricing supplied from $83.40, and is available through Big W and Global Kitchen Brands.

Editorial note: Product was supplied to Parenthood360 for independent editorial consideration. Receipt of product does not guarantee coverage, and all opinions are our own.