Her Standards Are So High That Everything She Has Is Nice

Apparently, I am expensive. People are starting to notice.

But I am still misunderstood.

Over 10 years ago, someone told me, ‘Everything you have is nice.’

It took years of curation to come to this point of culmination that I was living my dream. I was wearing black slippers with beautiful hardware that they commented on as it elevated any casual outfit. This was my first purchase as an 18 year old living on my own. 

Siri, queue ‘Fancy’ by Charli XCX.

Lessons in Polish from my Cousins

Growing up, I had a male dominated household. Even my stepmum had this masculine energy of running things and making money. When it came to looking for feminine inspiration, my cousins were there to guide me. 

There were a couple of them who were only children and others had several sisters. They taught me about periods, hygiene, and how to show up as a polished girl. However, they would ask me about dating and all things boys haha. 

At one point, my cousin who was exceptionally (what we would call) spoiled – she is an only child yet is super humble about everything her parents had worked hard to give her – shocked me. 

I was watching her get ready to go for an event and she pulled out all the stops. Her bag was a fabulous designer, makeup was amazing quality, and even her planner was top aesthetic goals. Pens that spilled out of her bag and cute highlighters were all aspirational. They were all things my stepmum would say, ‘You don’t need that,’ even though we could afford it. 

The Revelation: She Was Not Precious With Her Things

What surprised me was that she was not precious with her things.

I was stunned. 

For years, my stepmum was all about ‘guest towel energy’.

We only use these towels when we have guests.

We only use these dishes when we have guests.

We only use these shoes when we go somewhere really nice.

On and on.

The Day Our Mindset Shifted

Then one day, she pulled out an especially remarkable set of silverware we hardly used (predominantly for guests at our lavish feasts and parties). She asked, ‘Why don’t we use this ourselves?’ 

Flip like a switch. Our mindset shifted and we started using our nice things regularly. I also got told by others that my things were of exceptional quality and I did not care about trends. 

Parents noticed, since I was little, and made comments to their children, spreading the message to me. Everything about my life, I got this a lot from childhood friends and their parents. Thus creating a butterfly effect that I promulgate in my own life. Leading by example, of course. 

My cousin had only nice things that were expensive. There was not an overconsumption nightmare-abundance-palace level of things like my other cousins had, but a reasonable existence that filled up her room to not want for nothing. 

By the way: I had other cousins who were spoiled and had everything cute and expensive, but their mum never let them touch these things. They remained sealed in their original packaging in storage to regift to someone else which is insanely weird. 

When High Quality Meets Daily Use

Since everything she has is nice, her standards are higher. How she expects things to work, the level of presentation, the immediate knowledge that high functionality costs a bit more, but is worth it to last forever. 

Her items were not busted or worn out at all. I simply saw her as beating her items up as if I were to be precious if I owned them. She used her high end tools as I would treat the things I used regularly. 

However, since being precious with items you know you are going to use are a state of mind, you always regard your things higher. You also value your hard work more along with what effort it took to acquire them. You have a proclivity for a certain standard of living, so you get used to what you have. 

Because your items are so high quality, they can afford to have lots of usage and get scratched, because they are so high quality that it takes a lot for them to get scratched. They might be so well made that they last a lifetime and that is why we are paying premium prices in the first place. 

Love It. Use It. Live Your Life In It.

Even if the items you purchase are not expensive, gather the most attractive, cutest, aesthetically pleasing, and/or glamorous version of the item you want and love it. Use it. Live your life in it. With it. 

When I step into homes that are too pristine, it drives me crazy. I love seeing blankets and cushions on the floor where people are sitting to see that someone is enjoying spending time at their coffee table. 

A book that is open mid-page with weathered edges, or an immaculate piece of china with a chip in it to show that it is in circulation makes me feel a bit more comfortable. Tarnished silver. Dents in gold. It is the equivalent of seeing a notebook with stickers all over it. You know someone made their mark on it (literally) and loves it.

The Connection Between Quality of Things and Quality of Life

I am making this correlation off the top of my head – this is not studied in science or fact that I know of. The nicer your things are, the more you care about your things. You end up caring more about everything around you and what you are capable of, because you have seen what quality of life nice things bring you. 

This typically applies if you sought out and purchased the item yourself.

Once, I was talking to someone about how we had a similar lifestyle. Then, they made the mistake of feeling some kind of way when they visited my blog. They saw that everything I had was expensive and felt like we had nothing in common anymore which was a lie they told themselves. 

Simply having expensive, aesthetic things does not mean you are not relatable or cannot spend time with people who might not be on the same level of spending as you. It actually hurt my feelings that someone judged me by my taste when I knew for a fact that they would be thrilled to be in my shoes. 

The Dark Side: When People Distance Themselves

Having nice things is an indicator of status sometimes. This is the dark side of the moon in this case. Sometimes, this might mean people want to distance themselves from your lifestyle or your lifestyles are so similar that you can immediately get to know each other, because you already made it clear that you two are on the same page.

Status is not everything, especially in the United States. Here, status is centred a bit more around money and how you’ve built yourself using it. In older nations, status is more reputation, your bloodline, and how close you are to the highest governing authority. Whether it is named by prestige or actual power. 

This also happened to me when I was once dating a guy who worked a steady 9 to 5. He did well in the white collar world and we remained friendly after our breakup. I moved in with a very rich man and he dropped off some of my artwork. 

After dropping off my items, he drew a line saying we cannot be in each other’s lives anymore, because my new lifestyle is so different. He said, ‘You are on another level and we just can’t talk anymore.’ 

‘What Are Some Fancy Places?’

I have so many of these stories. When I moved to a new state, I asked coworkers for restaurant recommendations. I literally asked, ‘What’s a good place to grab a bite?’ They said out loud, ‘Hmmm….what are some fancy places?’ What. 

First off, I think fancy is a disgusting word. I never use it. It does not exist in my vocabulary. I prefer saying ‘finer’ if it really comes to that point. But everything in my life is nice as it should be. Is water wet? It is not worth mentioning. But it does come to people’s minds when they do not live the same way. 

‘Gia Would Love This Place’

Another event occurred last night. My sweetheart was out with his friend and walked into a beautifully lit, expensive restaurant. Once he stepped in, he immediately thought, ‘Gia would love this place. It’s her vibe.’ 

The look on his face was so rare and funny, I felt he knew he was amongst a certain tax bracket. I looked up the place online and smiled feeling loved that he knew me so well. He said how excited he was to take me there. He himself has immaculate taste, and I felt so seen and lovely. 

People Can Just Be People

It has always been confusing to me that people cannot just be people. I pride myself in being able to talk with absolutely anyone, because we are simply trying to get by. Making homeless people in a third world country laugh to making rich people in Los Angeles laugh. It is all the same. 

There was a study done that once you make $75,000 annually, you essentially have the same problems as a millionaire. This is how I see the world, and I felt so rich when I was making $50,000 a year. 

This shows it is not about the money, but how our perspective comes to light when it comes to valuing people, things, and our concentrated efforts toward what we think is high quality. 

Stop torturing yourself with mediocrity. Enjoy your everyday life.

The way we treat our possessions reveals how we treat ourselves. When you invest in beauty, durability, functionality—you are declaring that your daily existence deserves excellence. Not someday. Not when company arrives. Right now.

This is not about price tags or designer labels. It is about refusing to settle for mediocrity in the spaces you inhabit most intimately. A well-crafted object, loved into its patina, tells a story of someone who believes their ordinary moments warrant extraordinary care.

People will project their own limitations onto your choices. They will feel intimidated, excluded, judged by your commitment to elevation. That discomfort belongs entirely to them. Your cultivation of beauty is not an indictment of anyone else’s path.

What matters is this: you wake each morning surrounded by items that spark joy, that function flawlessly, that make you feel worthy of the life you are building. Whether that is a $10 mug that fits perfectly in your hand or a $1,000 coat that will outlast a decade of winters.

Stop saving your best self for special occasions. You have a date with life. Every single day.

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