The $1.50 Dollar Tree Dishes So Good I Bought the Whole Set (They Look Nearly Identical to a $380 Williams Sonoma Collection)

I love the classic look of Apilco Tradition Blue-Banded Porcelain Dinnerware —simple white with a slender blue rim—but can't justify the cost. It's nearly $35 for a single dinner plate. I was thrilled to discover a similar style of ceramic dinnerware for $1.50 apiece at Dollar Tree. The bowls and plates look surprisingly polished in person and are worth buying if you want the French bistro look for less. Though porcelain is more durable, it's also far more expensive than ceramic, and I'm prioritizing affordability.

Dollar Tree Blue-Rimmed Dishware

• Price: $1.50 per dish

• Why I Love It: I love the crisp white-and-blue bistro look without the hefty Williams Sonoma price tag or the fear of using them every day with kids.

​Why I Love Dollar Tree's Blue-Rimmed Dishware

The Dollar Tree collection includes dinner and salad plates, bowls, and cups. I don't need any more cups, but I'm hoping to put together a set with the rest. I love how the simple design features a clean, saturated blue border that frames whatever you're eating, from a quick weeknight pasta to morning scrambled eggs . There's nothing trendy about them, which is exactly why they appeal to me. They're timeless.

The resemblance to the Williams Sonoma collection is also pretty remarkable, but there are important differences. The Apilco dishes are made in France from high-fired porcelain, and Williams Sonoma describes them as restaurant-quality. They're also microwave, dishwasher, freezer, and oven-safe up to 570°F. At $1.50 apiece, I'm certainly not expecting my Dollar Tree dishes to match that level of quality or craftsmanship.

Check out the dishes on slide number six in the Instagram post below.

But what I am getting from Dollar Tree is the reason I fell for these dishes in the first place: a crisp white-and-blue French bistro look. In a house where dishes get carried to and from the table by kids, stacked in the sink after dinner, and occasionally meet an unfortunate end on the kitchen floor, that's a trade-off I'm very happy to make.

Part of what I love is how easily they work into what I already own. I can easily pair them with plain white serving pieces, some of my old enamelware, or mismatched blue-and-white thrifted dishes , and it all still looks pulled together. The pieces are also sold individually, so I can buy extras of the things we always need more of (bowls, always bowls) instead of ending up with pieces we rarely use.

At $1.50 each, a 12-piece set of four dinner plates, four salad plates, and four bowls costs just $18. Buying the equivalent Apilco pieces would cost $379.40 (21 times the price!) at Williams Sonoma. Of course, these aren't the dishes I'd register for or hand down to my kids someday—do we still do that? They're the kind I'd reach for every day. I love that I can use them, stack them, and let my five-year-old carry them around without holding my breath. That's exactly the kind of deal I'm looking for in this stage of life.

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