Heath Ceramics is that place on Beverly that makes expensive dinnerware. I'm sorry, but it's true: $22.50 for a seven-inch bread and butter plate is well beyond the average person's tableware buying capabilities. (That set in the photo above? The entire kit and kaboodle will set you back $124.21. For ONE place setting.)

Their stuff is beautiful, though. Next month, you'll have the opportunity to trade in your old dinnerware for a discount on Heath's dinnerware. Your old plates and mugs and salad plates will be donated to Skid Row Housing Trust, “an organization that produces, maintains, and manages innovative affordable housing for those in or around Skid Row in Los Angeles.”

From Heath's release:

From Sunday, August 1 through Tuesday, August 31, Heath Ceramics Los Angeles will be collecting dinnerware donations in exchange for 25% off any corresponding piece of Heath dinnerware–i.e. bring in 10 of your own dinner plates and receive a 25% discount on 10 new Heath dinner plates; bring in 8 mugs, receive 25% off 8 new Heath mugs, and so on.

That means their $22.50 “Rim Line” bread and butter plate becomes a $16.88 plate.

The Heath people say, “The collaboration represents Heath Ceramics ongoing support of local community projects, and offers people a way to update or trade in their existing dinnerware collection, while alleviating the guilt of past pottery investments.” If you've been wanting to trade up a motley collection of dishes and have some cash that needs spending, this program is for you.

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