A few years ago, my husband and I began looking for a china cabinet. We needed something with big glass doors that would protect its contents and harmonize with our existing furniture, that wasn’t a 1930s reproduction of a piece of Rococo case furniture, wasn’t something we would have to assemble ourselves, and wouldn’t cost as much as a new car. We’d been meaning to do this for years, and it was only when it became clear that our ceramics collection was on a high-stakes collision course with our cats that we got really serious about it.

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There are numerous human markers to consider in the context of a domestic setting: gender, age, culture, geography, and style among them. Think through each one, and you might envision spaces personalized with various mementos, or a particular color palette, depending on the demographics of its primary inhabitant. But if asked to sketch a typical living room with limited instructions, many of us would start with a rectilinear sofa and some chairs, then add a coffee table, a television set, and perhaps a pair of lamps on a set of end tables. Art over the sofa, small decorative objects, and books might complete the scene.

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