I splurged on placemats and I have 0 regrets

YA Author Jessica Goodman dishes about where she puts her dishes.

Welcome to Good for the Geezer — a series where some of our favs evangelize some of their favs right to your inbox. Just like OG episodes of the podcast! Want to hear new podcast eps (every Monday)? Here you go!

Today’s edition is brought to you by author Jessica Goodman, whose fifth book, The Meadowbrook Murders, hits shelves tomorrow, Feb 4. This young adult thriller follows two teen girls who must uncover what happened to their two classmates, who were killed in the dorms just before senior year begins. According to NYT bestselling author, Danielle Valentine, The Meadowbrook Murders is “the perfect dark academia read, filled with murder, twists, a jaw-dropping mystery and very privileged people doing deliciously bad things.”

If you’re in New York City, she’ll be at Greenlight Books in Fort Greene tonight, and you can be the first to get your hands on this surefire hit! If you’re not in NYC, she may be on tour in your city soon!

Tell us about your rec, Jess!

I’ve lived in the same one-bedroom apartment with my husband for almost eight years and for seven of those, we never owned a single placemat. They seemed non-essential, an item you somehow accumulated like… a novelty mug! Or a bunch of hair ties. Not something you go out of your way to select and purchase, especially when you have limited available cabinet space (read: none).

New York apartments often require you to prioritize dining or your living room — it’s rare to find a place that can accommodate both. Thus, we eat at a 36-inch round dining table that can comfortably seat two and uncomfortably seat four. Tablescaping the surface never crossed my mind since dinner at home usually means just the two of us wolfing down a 30-minute sheet pan recipe before I politely request three hours of uninterrupted Bravo.

But after so many years of visiting friends’ homes, where they have things like tablecloths (!) and napkins that aren’t paper towels (!), I thought, hey. Maybe our little dining space doesn’t need to be sad and utilitarian! Maybe a pop of color would be nice! Maybe… I can be a placemat person.

My very chic sister suggested I look at the brand Chilewich, which makes woven placemats that are made from a durable 70/30 vinyl and polyester blend and come in every single color you can imagine, but also in all sorts of funky, geometric, and colorful designs that look more like paintings that hang in MoMA than Martha Stewart Living recommendations (though, Queen Martha approves). They cost more than the average placemat ($17-$35) so a set is definitely a splurge, but I figured if they could withstand years of tomato-sauce parties from my niece and nephew, they would work for us.

After expressing such enthusiasm to a group of friends, they surprised me with two placemats in the utterly cool Sampler design, purchased at a home goods store in Hudson, New York for $35 each. I loved them so much, I gave a set of four to friends as a housewarming gift. They later would tell me how fancy they feel whenever they use them.

Over six months of use, I’ve been delighted to find that they hold up so well. Crumbs and flakes wipe off easily, and the website recommends you clean acidic drips and drabs ASAP with 50:1 water/bleach solution. The Chilewich mats are certainly more user-friendly than your run-of-the-mill fabric mats, which make no sense in an apartment that doesn’t have an in-unit washer-dryer. PS. If you’re interested, The Washington Post even has a whole article on how to clean them.

About a bajillion retailers—Crate & Barrel, Sur La Table, Pottery Barn, Food52, etc.— carry Chilewich, but last month, the brand held a sample sale in Manhattan, where they sold slightly off products at a discount. I hightailed it to Work Island and snagged four yellow placemats in the mini version, which better suit our small table (they retail for $17 each, but I got 4 for $40), and I also grabbed two additional Sampler mats in the hopes that we one day upgrade to a bigger table.

Until then, I’m swapping these cuties out every few days, grateful that being a grown-up means getting to use everyday tableware that looks and feels a little bit fun and a little bit fancy… at least to me.

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