My husband and I do not own any matching towel sets. We have in the past, but over the years various raveled towels have been dispatched to the SPCA, then replaced with random independent towels, or collections of identically-sized towels, as opposed to Towel Sets, which have matching towels in all sizes.

The pads in our four patio chairs don’t all match either, though there are two disparate matching pairs. Neither matches any of the patio table cloths, and none of the above match the patio umbrella. The patio furniture, excepting the umbrella, is a complete set from our past, the only one we have ever owned.

Inside, the master bedroom is the most put together room, in that the headboard matches one of the bedside tables and one of the chests of drawers. The other table and chest don’t match it or each other, nor does the bookcase. The matching items were purchased shortly after I graduated from college.

Random bookcases pretty much characterize our entire condo, as we own quite a few books, although half as many as we did pre-move, with a third of the remaining ones still boxed in the garage. We purchased a very nice large bookcase for the living room and have ordered a new sofa, but the room also accommodates three family heirlooms, storage for 400 CDs (mostly) and DVDs, audiovisual entertainment electronics, an electric piano, and a hatstand, all moved from Massachusetts.

Our condo does not look like a Pottery Barn showroom, yet we find it amenable to the eye. Most of our possessions are old friends, recalling stories of our family at a glance. The decorative items are all personally meaningful, and many are mentally engaging. Nothing is falling apart, as we have replaced items as needed; I have a particular aversion to aging sofas and mattresses.

For me, the primary satisfaction is in continuing to use items that are useful, rather than discarding willy-nilly. I like thinking of myself as eco-friendly and frugal. I wonder if I would feel the same way if I were to win the lottery? It’s a rhetorical question, since I’m not buying tickets. If I became a rampant discarder, would I still be the same person?