I have to admit, I tend to look first & foremost for recolours of Maxis items, and then for recolours of meshes I already have. I try to be careful not to get too many high polygon meshes into my game.
I've been doing that lately too.
I like new meshes, but I have so much stuff in my downloads folder now that I just can't justify a new mesh that has one object/article of clothing attached to it unless it's spectacular. Particularly if it's say, a kitchen chair with a 2-3 comfort level or a not so comfy, yet surprisingly expensive piece of living room furniture.