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?

For example, our table has 6 chairs... they're all different on purpose

Raining I’ve just realised I chose 3 pairs of mismatched chairs as well as pairs of mugs! There must be some sort of pattern here

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

Do you also have a stunt pineapple in your fruit bowl?

We have mismatched mugs. Mostly sets but not matching ones. So two matching espresso, two glass, 6 ale Creuset, 2 lovely Tesco ones and 6 opal ware.

Different ones for different moods.

Oh and obligatory sports direct one for soup ofc

We also have 8 cushions and few are the same, they're all colour coordinated but rather eclectic.

@RainingFrogsAndHats I’m not sure we can assertion people’s outlooks on life by their mug preferences 🤣

Typo with predictive text but you know what I meant! 👌

I only have Le Creuset mugs, they are beeyootiful.

I had loads of random fun mugs that I left when I moved out of home, most of them were gifts too. We now have dull matching sets of mugs, my parents still have all my lovely ones. I’d love to ask for them back but they’d think I was mad years on! I love a good random mug!

Stunt pineapple 🍍🤭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I love my eclectic collection and they remind me of places and people. I appreciate gifts.

I get matching cutlery/crockery a bit more but I think its part of our wasteful society that people want matchy matchy. I've acquired lots of different bits over the course of 10 years since I moved out and been in different house shares- I'm not going to get rid when they are perfectly useable!

I would probably say though my house is nice and newly decorated (at least downstairs) we love quirky and eclectic bits that reflect our personalities.

Houses (especially that are all grey/pink/rose gold) with matchy matchy unimaginative stuff just bought in bulk seem soulless and tacky to me but different strokes are for different folks!

Nor did I before this thread @Cloudyyy, but I kind-of am now!

What gives me joy when I look around my house is things like:
It's clean!!!!! (this isn't an everyday thing I'm able to claim. Once a week at best!)
It's comfortable!
And (I think this is key for me) here's things that show I love and am loved... the plate with DD's handprint when she was at nursery. The cup my grandfather used

I just am not the kind of person who gets joy by looking round my space and thinking "everything matches"

Do you know who Alan Clarke was? You're probably too young. He was a Tory MP back when Thatcher was prime minister (so 70s/80s). He was one of the first to publish his diaries. There's a really famous entry where he's slagging off another MP (possibly Michael Hesaltine) by saying "he thinks he's all that, but he BROUGHT his own furniture".
The implication being, if you're proper posh, you don't buy anything... you inherit everything.

I'm not proper posh. I'm not even posh.

But I guess when I first left home, I nicked some stuff and I brought some stuff second hand and NOTHING matched, but it was MINE. Maybe I've just carried this on through without noticing?

@RainingFrogsAndHats Oh I’m not a very materialistic person if that’s what you’re meaning. I’m not posh and I don’t really like lots of things in the house at all. It’s not about what it looks like to others, it’s about how I feel in my own home. I like my space to be calm, orgnised, matching and simple. I enjoy using beautiful crockery and I like having matching mugs. Does that mean I enjoy life less than you??!

Each to their own. I don’t have any matching mugs and it has never bothered me in the slightest.

Why would cushions need to "match the sofa exactly"? That sounds tacky to me.

Matching everything is a bit 80s and naff, isn't it?

Not my style at all.

If you can find a clean mug in this house you're doing well, let alone a matching one.

Does that mean I enjoy life less than you??!

Dunno. I do love life a LOT, Cloudyyy. I suspect we love life differently. Because, honestly, noticing things match wouldn't enhance my life one iota. But it clearly does for you.
I think people matter to me, and "things" do not. But maybe you'd say the same?

Hey, as long as we both enjoy it, isn't that what's important?

Oh! I have mismatched mugs on purpose. Because they're not for formal occasions (not that we have many of those anymore thinks of wedding china gathering dust in a cupboard) and if one breaks, it's no big deal. Eventually, most lines are discontinued. Besides, they're fun.

YABU I think people who over match items in their homes have no imagination.

*I think it's the difference between thinking life is for living (me) and those who think life is for showing something polished and perfect"

Blimey, people don't half get smug about home decor. Very little in our house matches - but I reckon on the whole I'd rather go for a beer with the OP and her fellow matchy-matchy types than the succession of 'ohmygooood you just have so little IMAGINATION and CREATIVITY! Unlike me, who has a real SENSE OF LIFE, and PURPOSELY chose the most darling mismatched dining chairs'. Such hard work.

Bold fail. See - I genuinely don't care

Yes we’re all different, each to their own!! It’s just funny to laugh at these little loops and quirks sometimes!

All my dinnerware matches. My mugs do not. If they did, I would have missed out on this amazing giant Kuchi Kopi mug.

@multivac 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I am guilty of matching KitchenAid, though.

Also how much imagination and creativity does it take to collect random gifted mugs over time?! 🤣 Possibly even less than the slither it took me to buy some matching ones! It’s really not about who’s better at enjoying life, it’s just a small personal preference!