I don't know, Susan, but I think its hard to generalize. One of my childhood memories from the 1960's and 70's is of my aunt always complaining that my uncle wouldn't let her hire an interior designer because it was too expensive, and she fussed endlessly about how her house just wasn't nice enough. I might add that she had beautiful, understated taste and didn't need the least bit of assistance, but for her it was a symbol of upper-middle class status to be able to hire a designer. OTOH, my mother once hired a designer and we ended up with the most appalling avocado green silk sofa and harvest gold floral easy chairs. I spent years of my adolescence trying to get her to ditch or recover these dreadful, pretentiously trendy pieces and stick to her own, much more minimalist Scandinavian aesthetic.

funny, we are German so we had a couch and chair set that had teak accent arms, curved style, and offwhite with green fleck wool covering. For years it was in the formal (aka unused) living room and so was never a priority to change. When my parents downsized, they now had that furniture in their apartment living room which is the main living space and also right when you walk in. She would occasionally look at furniture stores and would always come back saying she didn't see anything she liked better. Finally last year spurred on by her hatred of her husband's recliner she went to Lazyboy to find a new one for him and she fell in love with not only a new more updated recliner for him but also a couch with footrests, and 2 funky patterned chairs. She also splurged on a coffee table with a top that can be raised to dining height which fits with their more casual lifestyle. When she had everything, her comment was "why did I wait so long?" Did it cost her some money? Yes but the other furniture she had lasted through 30 years, 3 homes, and 2 husbands (LOL, she bought the furniture when she was married to my dad and then had it with my stepfather for another 20 years). I think she got her moneys worth. And her apartment doesn't look like an old people museum. BTW, she was able to sell the teak set for a few dollars, not a lot but there are people who still love teak.

Yes, most of my mother's and aunt's furniture was Danish mid-century modern teak, which I still love even though it isn't my personal style. It's held up quite beautifully in a retro aesthetic. My mother and aunt were Norwegian, so their family style (except when decorators interfered) was very Scandinavian modern minimalist, with neutral natural fabrics and beautiful lines. I love furniture that is well designed enough to stand the test of time.