Social Identity, Status and Furniture

I have written about comfort and its context, referring to work by Galen Cranz. Here is another quote from Cranz' book, The Chair, which relates furniture to social identity:

And the home is the place where people communicate their social identity. This is connected not just to income but to what work one does for a living, how one chooses to spend money, one's educational level, travel experience, family and religious affiliations. Such status was once revealed in public by one's dress and accent; but increasingly over the last two centuries, starting with the Dutch, it has been expressed by how one furnishes the home--how much and what kind of furniture, the quality and symbolism of fabrics (draperies and upholstery), carpets, paintings, sculpture and other art work, sporting trophies, travel mementos, musical equipment (including stereos and CDs), books and now, TV, video and computers.