Ceramic cups

A ceramic cup is one of the things you touch every day, which makes it one of the easiest places to bring a little extra character into the kitchen. At Dims Studio, the ceramic cups are handpicked from Anna + Nina, Bloomingville, Bloomingville MINI, Rice and Creative Collection, with everything from bold text cups to soft fruit and flower motifs. Here you get an overview of types, motifs, sizes and brands, so you can find the ceramic cup that suits your morning coffee ritual.

What is a ceramic cup?

A ceramic cup is cast and fired from clay and usually glazed on the inside and outside, making it dense and easy to keep clean. The glaze is also what gives ceramic cups their characteristic colour and finish, from a matte, earthy surface to a glossy, shiny glaze. At Dims Studio, the vast majority of cups are in stoneware, a dense and sturdy type of ceramic that withstands daily use in the kitchen.

Types of ceramic cups at Dims Studio

The range spans from cups with a clean, solid-colour look to cups with text, animals and motifs that make morning coffee a little more fun.

Text cups with attitude

Anna + Nina is known for cups with a message, and the same goes for our range: cups with text like "Workaholic", "Drama Queen" and "Liquid Love" give the cup personality before the coffee is even poured. They're an obvious choice if you want to give a cup that says something about the recipient, or simply want a smile with your morning coffee.

Animal motifs

From Anna + Nina you'll also find cups with animal motifs like corgi, French bulldog and leopard print, while Bloomingville and Bloomingville MINI offer a calmer design language with single blocks of colour. Animal motifs are a safe choice if the recipient has a particular breed or animal that means something to them.

Flower and fruit motifs

Rice and Bloomingville MINI deliver cups with soft, organic motifs like cherries, flowers and four-leaf clovers. They suit a kitchen where you want a touch of colour without it becoming too graphic or bold.

"Mor" and "Far" cups

Bloomingville's cups with the text "Mor" and "Far" (Danish for "mum" and "dad") are some of the most straightforward in the range: a simple, personal detail that's easy to give as a gift or use yourself if you just want your own fixed cup in the cupboard.

Type	Examples	Brand
Text cups	Workaholic, Drama Queen, Liquid Love	Anna + Nina
Animal motifs	Corgi, French bulldog, leopard	Anna + Nina
Flowers and fruit	Cherries, flowers, four-leaf clovers	Rice, Bloomingville MINI
Solid-colour cups	Calm, simple colours	Bloomingville
Personal cups	Mor, Far	Bloomingville

Sizes: espresso cup, coffee cup and everyday cup

Size matters a lot for which drink the cup best suits.

Espresso cup

An espresso cup is the smallest type in the range, made for a single, concentrated cup of coffee. Our leopard motif from Anna + Nina is also available as an espresso cup, so you can match the small cup with the regular coffee cup in the same motif.

Coffee cup and teacup

Most of our ceramic cups are in the classic coffee cup size, suited to both coffee and tea throughout the day. See the full range of coffee cups and teacups.

Oval and moulded cup

Rice's oval-shaped cup with a four-leaf clover motif stands out from the classic round shape and gives a different feel in the hand, while still working well for everyday coffee or tea. At the same time, the shape makes the cup a little eye-catcher in the cupboard, even when it's standing alongside the other, more classically shaped cups.

How to choose the right ceramic cup

If you're unsure which cup suits best, you can start from these recommendations.

Situation	Our recommendation
You want a cup with a smile	A text cup like Workaholic or Drama Queen from Anna + Nina
You or the recipient has a particular dog breed	The corgi or French bulldog cup from Anna + Nina
You want a calm, solid-colour look	A cup from Bloomingville in a single, muted colour
The cup is a gift for mum or dad	The Mor or Far cup from Bloomingville
You want a softer, more floral look	A cup with cherry or flower motifs from Rice
You drink espresso	The leopard espresso cup from Anna + Nina

The brands behind our ceramic cups

A few brands recur across the range, each with their own take on what a ceramic cup can look like.

Anna + Nina

Anna + Nina is the brand that takes up the most space in our range. The brand is known for cups with text and attitude, plus graphic animal and pattern motifs like leopard, and goes for a playful, contemporary look that stands out from the classic.

Bloomingville and Bloomingville MINI

Bloomingville delivers calmer, more solid-coloured cups, including the personal Mor and Far cups, while Bloomingville MINI contributes more playful motifs like flowers, ideal if you want a bit more colour in the cupboard.

Rice

Rice designs cups with soft, organic motifs like cherries, flowers and four-leaf clovers, plus an oval cup shape that stands apart from the classic round cups.

Creative Collection

Creative Collection contributes a smaller range of simple, everyday-friendly cups that fit in well if you want to add to an existing collection without too much pattern.

Ceramic cups for everyday, guests and gifts

How the cup will be used is often what determines which look suits best.

For everyday

For the cup you use every morning, a sturdy stoneware cup from Bloomingville or Creative Collection is a safe choice, because it withstands both the dishwasher and daily handling without the motif wearing off too quickly.

For guests

If you're setting the table for guests, it can help to have a few more eye-catching cups on hand, for example Anna + Nina's text cups or Rice's flower cups, which get conversation going and give the table a personal touch.

As a gift

A ceramic cup is one of the most popular gifts in the range, because it's personal without being expensive. Choose a motif or text that suits the recipient, for example an animal cup for a dog owner or a Mor or Far cup for a parent. See more ideas under gift ideas.

Colours and glaze

The glaze is a big part of what makes each ceramic cup unique. Some of our cups, particularly from Bloomingville, have a solid, matte or slightly glossy glaze in muted shades that suit a calm, Nordic kitchen. Others, like several of Anna + Nina's cups, have a more detailed, hand-painted finish, where the text or motif is painted directly onto the glaze. Because many of the cups are handmade or hand-painted, you'll often see small, natural variations from cup to cup, even within the same series, which is part of the charm of ceramics compared with machine-made porcelain. This variation also means that two cups from the same series are rarely a hundred percent identical, which many customers experience as an advantage rather than a flaw.

How to match cups with the rest of the kitchen

If you want a cohesive look in the kitchen cupboard, you can start from the colours in your other tableware and textiles. A solid-colour cup from Bloomingville in the same shade as your towels or tea towels gives a calm, put-together look, while a text cup or animal cup from Anna + Nina works best as a single eye-catcher among more neutral cups. If you already have colourful plates or bowls from the range, it can help to choose a cup that plays on one of the same colours, so the table hangs together without feeling too uniform.

Most of our stoneware ceramic cups can go in the dishwasher and microwave under normal use, but it's always a good idea to check the instructions for each product, as it can vary from series to series. Hand-painted details and text can fade slightly over time with frequent dishwasher use, so if you choose a cup with finer details, hand washing can extend the life of the motif. Avoid placing a cold ceramic cup directly into a very hot oven or vice versa, as large temperature swings can cause the cup to crack over time.

How to build a collection of ceramic cups

Many of our customers collect several cups in the same style or brand over time, so the breakfast table gets its own look. If you want a calm, cohesive look, you can stick to Bloomingville's solid-colour cups in related shades. If you'd rather have a more eclectic and personal look, you can mix a text cup from Anna + Nina with a flower cup from Rice and a Mor or Far cup from Bloomingville, so each cup in the cupboard has its own story. That way, the cup cupboard becomes almost like a small collection, where each cup was chosen or given for a reason, rather than a uniform set bought all at once.

Ceramic versus other materials

Compared with glass and plastic, ceramic has the advantage of holding heat better and not becoming unpleasantly hot to the touch on the outside, while also being heavier in the hand and therefore feeling more solid. Where a glass shows the drink through it, a ceramic cup is opaque, which makes the motif on the outside the whole experience, both visually and by touch. Compared with porcelain, which is often thinner and more delicate, the stoneware cups in our range are slightly heavier and more robust, making them a natural choice for daily use, where porcelain is more often used for finer occasions. The extra weight also means the cup stands more stably on the table and is harder to tip over than a light plastic cup.

How to store ceramic cups properly

Store the cups standing up with the handle facing out in a cupboard, where they won't knock against each other when the cupboard door is opened and closed. If you stack the cups on top of each other, place a piece of kitchen paper or cloth between them, so the glaze doesn't get scratched over time. If you have cups with finer, hand-painted decoration, for example the text cups from Anna + Nina, it's a good idea to give them a little extra space, so the text doesn't wear from rubbing against the neighbouring cup.

Popular motifs for different personalities

Because the range is so broad, you can use the motif to match the cup to the person who will receive it. A text cup like "Workaholic" is an obvious fit for a colleague, while "Drama Queen" is the perfect teasing gift for a good friend. The animal cups with corgi or French bulldog are a safe choice for a dedicated dog person, while the soft flower and cherry motifs from Rice suit a recipient who prefers a calmer, more romantic look. If in doubt, a solid-colour cup from Bloomingville is always a safe and neutral choice that fits regardless of taste.

Frequently asked questions about ceramic cups

What is a ceramic cup?

A ceramic cup is cast and fired from clay and usually glazed, making it dense and easy to keep clean. It's typically used for hot drinks like coffee and tea.

What ceramic cups do you have at Dims Studio?

We have a wide range from Anna + Nina, Bloomingville, Bloomingville MINI, Rice and Creative Collection, from text cups and animal motifs to calmer, solid-colour cups.

What's the difference between a regular cup and an espresso cup?

An espresso cup is smaller and made for a single, concentrated cup of coffee, while a regular coffee cup holds more and suits both coffee and tea throughout the day.

Can the ceramic cups go in the dishwasher?

Most of our stoneware ceramic cups can handle the dishwasher under normal use, but always check the instructions for each product, as it can vary from series to series.

Is a ceramic cup a good gift?

Yes. A cup with a motif or text chosen for the recipient, for example an animal cup or a Mor or Far cup, is a personal gift that gets used every day.

Can I find a cup with a particular animal?

Among others, we have cups with corgi, French bulldog and leopard print from Anna + Nina. If there's a particular breed or animal you're looking for, it's worth checking whether it's in the range.

What does it mean that a cup is stoneware?

Stoneware is a dense, sturdy type of ceramic fired at a high temperature. That makes the cup robust and suited to daily use, including dishwasher and microwave under normal use.

Can you use a ceramic cup in the microwave?

Most of our ceramic cups can handle the microwave under normal use, but always check the instructions for each product before heating anything in it.

How do I stop the motif on the cup from fading?

Hand-painted details and text can fade slightly over time with frequent dishwasher use. Hand washing is gentler and can extend the life of the finest details.

Can I mix several brands in the same cup collection?

Yes, that's actually one of the most popular ways to style ceramic cups. For example, combine a text cup from Anna + Nina with a flower cup from Rice for a personal, put-together look on the breakfast table.

How do I store the cups so the glaze doesn't get scratched?

Place the cups so they don't knock against each other in the cupboard, or put a piece of cloth between them if you stack them on top of each other. This is especially important for cups with finer, hand-painted decoration.

What's the difference between ceramic and porcelain?

Ceramic is a broad term, while porcelain is a specific, fine-grained type of ceramic that's often thinner and lighter. The stoneware cups in our range are a type of ceramic that's heavier and more robust than porcelain, making them well suited to daily use.

Which cup suits a colleague?

A text cup with a neutral but entertaining message, for example Workaholic from Anna + Nina, is often a safe choice for a colleague, because it's personal without being too private.