"The interiors of our houses have become like modernist art galleries, neutral surfaces upon which we hang our lives, flat screens upon which we project the melodramas of our families.

...

Builders of large subdivisions came to realize that they could personalize the impersonal with minor decorative flourishes at the late states of construction."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070622.VANBODDY22/TPStory/TPEntertainment/BritishColumbia/


and apparently, we all fell for it...