To not want mismatched mugs?

[Cloudyyy]

Just a lighthearted one really, but why would people buy random mugs as gifts? I can’t undertand wanting a mug bag doesn’t match anything else. All of my crockery must match. Are other people hoarding mismatched mugs and cups at home?? Are people doing this on purpose? Also cushions! Why would someone buy a random cushion for someone’s house that doesn’t match anything else? This happens all the time in my friendship group. Shouldn’t cushions match the sofa exactly? Can’t stand it!!! AIBU?

what happens if your DH uses your preferred one before you?

This has never happened, will never happen. He’s well trained.

I have 8 x Very Hungry Catterpillar mugs by Portmerion simply because they are fabulous. The rest is a big old mish mash. I like bone china for tea, and chunkier mugs for coffee. So long as they are the ‘right’ size (not too big, not too small) and the right shape for tea or coffee then I’m happy.

My dm and fil break a mug every. Single. Time they visit. EVERY time.(really pisses me off). So that's why mine are all mismatched.

@bentnecklady I love your mug cupboard. Mine is similar but with fewer glasses!

How do people serve hot drinks to visitors in these mismatched cups?! Is it pot luck who gets which vessel or is there a system of favouritism? Are here people out there serving coffee to their guests in Sports Direct mugs??? 😱 Are these people also serving meals on random plates?

I have some that 'match' (well they are part of the same Scion collection but with different print each) I tend to use when I have guests. The rest are all individual ones I use for me - no need to match anything when just one at a time is used...

Life is too short to have boring mugs.

I have to say I love my eclectic collection but I do draw the line at a Sports Direct mug.

Years ago my grandmother had a tea set where every person had a different design, but all gorgeously ornate with gold trim. You got a matching plate, saucer and cup but everyone’s was different. I loved it!

Are here people out there serving coffee to their guests in Sports Direct mugs

Are you joking? That one's mine! Bori bff but short story behind it is that we moved abroad when our kids were two years old and the morning of the move Id been packing till like 1am and I was getting up at 6 to finish it (and sleep was a fairly rsre commodity anyway, what with the 2yo twins) and the only mug left unpacked was the Sports Direct one so I had my tea in that. Once I realised it's aboit 750ml of tea right there I knew it was too valuable to leave behind so it ended up coming with me in my hand luggage. Ive tried to find a nicer looking substitute but they're all too small.

@toomuchtooold

You can get a 'pint of tea' mug at Clinton's which holds - you guessed it - a pint of tea if that's any good to you?

Dammit Ive just come back from holiday in the UK...

😂🤣 Yes but isn’t the tea at the bottom all cold?! Good grief! Do you also spread pâté over an entire slice of toast before beginning to eat it? 😂🤣🤭

We were given a pair of glass from our wedding that each holds a bottle of wine, but I've never heard of a pint of tea the very thought is having the same effect on me as listening to a fountain

PMSL at the Sports Direct mug. I'm sure there's one upstairs we use as a pen pot ....

Non-matching matching mugs

I never thought that giving single mugs was not a good gift! However, I think I have only ever given them to people who have mismatching mugs. I have a lovely rspb series of mugs, but also mismatching ones.
I suspect, from reading Kate Fox’s ‘watching the English’, that it might be a class thing. But also perhaps how you are brought up?

You see I used to have matching mugs
And they’d break or go missing and I’d replace them to break or go missing or left in the garden

So I actively decided it wasn’t going to happen any more. We would embarrass odd cups and I would stop caring and getting annoyed by broker stuff.

Some people don’t own a cup. I have lots. I don’t care if the guests think it’s odd.

I watch them in their houses getting stressed over missing mugs and smile.

AND do you want to to own what else i do???

I purposely go over the £10/£20 petrol by several pence!!! On purpose every time. I refuse to set myself up to fail.

I have about 50 mugs all different. Dh and I buy each other mugs for every Christmas, birthday, mother's and fathers day. I buy random mugs that I see that I like. Having all matcjing mugs is boring!

I’m not ashamed to admit I have a mug tree with “show mugs” , they match the colour of the kettle, toaster and microwave, they are not to be used.

This made me laugh. I have a whole dresserful of stunt Denby dinnerware. Only gets used for visitors. DH is massively accident prone, it really isn't worth the risk to let him near it 🤣

To have the scatter cushions match the sofa exactly is a bit of a style faux pas and screams unimaginative bargain basement type sofa places where you appear to get loads and loads of cushions but they’re actually in place of the back sofa cushions.

Contrasting (and some times clashing) colours, prints and different textures in keeping with the rest of the room are much more stylish.

How do people serve hot drinks to visitors in these mismatched cups?! ... Are these people also serving meals on random plates?

Honestly OP, this made me hoot! You'd have forty fits if you came round to mine. (Actually I'm pretty sure you wouldn't as it's clear you're talking about your preference in your house but...)

It's made me think about the Christmas sort-of-party we have each year. Mulled wine, mince pies, other festive food, you get the idea. About 20-30 people in the house over the course of an afternoon/evening. (I say that, I noticed last year an increasing number are turning up on the dot and staying till the bitter end).

Mulled wine is served in mismatched mugs, teacups from a matching tea service, coffee cups also matching, a couple of mismatched cups and saucers and some glasses with handles which came from somewhere.

Tea and coffee if desired are served from a teapot which doesn't match the tea service, and coffee pot ditto.

Food is served on a frankly magnificent array of plates, dishes and saucers accumulated over the years, some significantly older than me.

I'm sure there are people thinking 'blimey I couldn't handle this chaos in my house' but they do all seem to enjoy it. It's a bit of a talking point who gets what. Regulars know what they like ('spiced apple juice in a green coffee cup please'), and new acquisitions are noted.

BUT! I do actually sympathise very much with the difficulty of being given stuff. What harmonises the mayhem in my mug cupboard/dresser/kitchen in general is that DH and I chose it all (well, okay, mostly me) and love it all. That's the thread which ties is all together and it is tricky sometimes when someone thinks 'ooh Freezer loves crockery' and gives something I wouldn't generally give houseroom. (Of course sometimes I love it. ).

In conclusion I think this is an 'ill thought out gift' issue not a 'matching mugs' issue.

Full disclosure: currently banned by DH from buying any more crockery (coffee pots a particular weakness) due to lack of space.

Maykid - Years ago my grandmother had a tea set where every person had a different design, but all gorgeously ornate with gold trim. You got a matching plate, saucer and cup but everyone’s was different. I loved it!

Was it called Harlequin? my MIL has a set. Two sets actually ... she used them regularly until 18 moths ago when she went into hospital/home. They were VERY popular in the 1950s, apparently.

OP YANBU. DH and I have been renovating our new house for over a year. The only thing that keeps me going is fantasising about buying six identical new mugs and just sweeping out all my old mismatched and chipped ones straight into the bin!

Full disclosure though, I absolutely treasure all my mismatched inherited and gifted servingware.