Modern Day Uses of the Blue & White Porcelain

Mix Contemporary Pieces With Older Pieces

• The key to using blue and white porcelain is to blend the colors with the rest of your interior. In a modern interior, blue and white porcelain calls attention to its ageless beauty with a link to the past; it sets the tone in a traditional interior. Try setting your blue and white pieces in among a group of more contemporary pieces, whether they're pitchers, vases or plates. In general, groups of pieces should consist of odd numbers. For example, gather together a total of two, four or six sleek, white contemporary vases, which can be of different heights, and place a traditional blue and white vase in the middle of them. That juxtaposes the old with the new, setting off both to a pleasing composition.

One Fabulous Piece Makes the Room

• Just one blue and white porcelain piece is a stunning accent for any room, from living room to bathroom. If you have an all-white living room, set a blue and white vase as an accent on the cocktail table. An urbane room has much more interest with something colorful and traditional. Even an all-white bathroom is more captivating with the addition of a blue and white porcelain piece. For example, use a small bowl as a soap container.

Use Collections In Unexpected Ways

• Collections of blue and white pieces from pitchers to plates, boxes, creamers, platters, or cups and saucers offer ingenious uses. For example, group three blue and white pitchers together on your kitchen counter. One can hold spatulas, another wooden spoons, and the third whisks and turners. Or place a collection of blue and white plates in a line on a runner down the center of your table as centerpieces. They'll add color and symmetry and be a conversation starter.

Use the Pattern in Other Ways

• Using traditional blue and white porcelain with modern materials offers interesting reference points. For example, if you hang a group of blue and white plates on the wall, then select chairs with upholstery that mimics the pattern in the plates. Often, blue and white plates have a floral design. Contemporary styled chairs with floral upholstery in blue or white will mimic this design, or select solid blue or solid white that blends with the colors of the porcelain. Extend this to other items in the room, such as all-white or -blue modern dishes, which will echo the color theme from the plates on the wall.

Paint the Pattern on Your Walls

• Another way to borrow the pattern from blue and white porcelain is to copy an element from the piece freehand (or use a projector). Paint the element on an accent wall in a multiple spaced pattern, or as a border around the room. You can also hire a professional faux painter to incorporate the pattern--or even a mural--on your walls. You'll have an interesting, hand-painted wall that echoes your blue and white porcelain.