I was reading Apartment Therapy and there's
an interesting blog post and question on there: What impressed you about other's homes when you were a kid?
The blogger asserts that s/he felt that those families whose fridge's had ice dispensers "had arrived" and in my father's era, he said that having color TV was pretty darn special. For many of my friends, such as my husband, it was having atari gaming systems, and later the other ones that came down (nintendo and such).
I think i was an odd child. The people whom I envied lived with less. I remember a pair of seniors who lived on our block when I was 9-10 yrs old. They lived in one of the smallest houses on the block, and they had the most minimalist, mid-century modern furniture.
Everyone I knew at the time maligned their way of life -- it was so "spartan" which was said with a sort of distaste for it. Likewise, they were "just so poor" when they were young apparently, that they simply "never made enough to retire comfortably." As far as I could tell, this couple was quite comfortable indeed. But, they loved simple design.
I remember envying the architecture of my friend Laura Ashley's house. It was such a pretty house -- the only one in the neighborhood that was built in the craftsman style. It was very pretty and very efficient -- but I felt that it was so unfortunate at how cluttered the place was.
In fact, my overriding memories of other people's homes growing up is that they were cluttered and/or dirty. I always felt that people had "too much." I always felt sorry for them that they had to live with such clutter.
It sounds so funny, but it is so true. I still feel that way about many of my friends.