After 30 years or so of using mismatched this and that (from Ikea, to Crate and Barrel, to Fishs Edd)y, I took the plunge and put together service for 8 from this brand at BBB:
Nevaeh White® by Fitz and Floyd®
Didn't do mugs, as I've got a nice collection of mugs, and they're only used for the 2 of us.
I got 8 (9 of everything, actually) dinner plates, salad plates, shallow soup bowls, luncheon plates, appetizer plates, little dessert/app bowls. For the stuff that I know I'd never use at a dinner party, I took 5 of those; for example, cereal bowls, and I got zero coffee cups and saucers.
One of the reasons I wasn't looking at sets is simply because they all seem to come with something I don't think I'd use. Coffee cups, weird bowls, whatever.
Of course, if you're serving high tea or brunches, your needs are certainly different.
