I think one of the reasons people like to consume so much is because they like to demonstrate that they understand what quality is. It's not a question of possession; it's a question of knowledge. Of wisdom. "I know enough to know that the silk drapes are supposed to fold onto the floor, rather than hang above it." That sort of thing. "I know that 2003 was a particularly good year for this vintage," or whatever. It's about connoisseurship, which is a very interesting concept, and which strikes me as a feeble attempt at actually creating art in some way.
I have a perfectly nice, 1700sf house, 3bd, 1ba, on 1/3 acre in an awesome neighborhood in a great town. I put in hardwood floors in three rooms that had had carpeting in 2011, when I was still not flexing my true mustachianness. I had to re-do the finished basement with tile and new furniture two years ago, after a floor (insurance paid for the whole gut job/mold remediation/redo). My house is pretty darned OK.
However, it's not going to be featured in any design magazines. There are two types of hardwood floor, and the kitchen has pergo. There is no place to eat but the kitchen. We have one bathroom. I could go on and on. Anyway, people keep coming in and *suggesting* improvements to my home. "You could knock down this wall, close off half the kitchen and create a dining room." "You should make the entrance hall smaller and gain some room for the living room." "Here's where the half bath would go."
What. The. Fuck. Yes, I can figure out where the half bath would go. There's really only one place where we could put one. It's not like I need advice on how to spend my money. I just don't *want* to spend it. I've got college tuition breathing down my neck, and I'm not about to start dicking around with expensive renovations.
I have finally just started telling people, "I understand that spending more money on the house would improve the quality. But I have decided to live with lower quality. I'm not going to fix it up now, or over the summer. It's not going to be my New Year's Resolution. I'm going to have lower quality floors, lower quality landscaping, lower quality lighting, etc., than the things I could imagine. I've been to Versailles. I have watched HGTV. I get it. But lower quality stuff is really really OK with me."