THE INDIVIDUALIZATION OF EVERYDAY LIFE 303
electronics likewise turned living rooms from rarely used representative
spaces into everyday living spaces.^52
Household consumption by no means leveled social diff erences, but
rather fed into pluralization and individualization. In turn, the reproduc-
tion of these two tendencies within generations and milieus created new
social divides drawn along “fi ne lines” of diff erence. Taste and lifestyle—
as social practices—made consumption-related social structures visible
through facets such as brand names, product quality, design, symbolic
elements, and prestige.
The Scandinavian furniture of the 1950s and early 1960s that was con-
sidered to be particularly modern in West Germany, for example, was
mirrored on the other side of the Wall by the GDR’s “602 furniture series”
that came onto the market in 1957 as a modernized, Scandinavian-style
system of the “combinable modular furniture” (komplettierungsfähige An-
baumöbel) originally introduced in 1930. These were “generational ob-
jects,” just like the infamous wall units of the 1970s. While similar trends
for kitchens in the GDR had led to a practical standardization of compat-
ible elements, these same trends were less welcomed when it came to
living room furniture because pieces mostly only diff ered in decor.^53 The
development of the MDW (Montagemöbelprogramm Deutsche Werkstät-
ten) modular furniture system was quite symptomatic of the cultural and
political climate in which the production of consumer goods took place.
It allowed for the self-assembly of all kinds of furniture by consumers
themselves, years before the IKEA concept was introduced in the West.^54
Style trends tended to be similar in East and West Germany: whereas
“functional” furniture was favored in the 1960s, warm fake wood pieces
became more popular in the 1970s, followed at the end of the decade by
a “new splendor” phase in which decorative trims and bull’s-eye glass
panes regained popularity. In the 1970s, furniture began to be seen as
a mark of distinction. On the one hand, quality furniture such as leather
chairs and solid wood pieces were much sought after. On the other hand,
the popularity of functional and provisional furniture was on the rise,
exemplifi ed by the success of IKEA, which opened its fi rst store in West
Germany in 1974. The furniture manufacturer tapped into a trend among
West Germans, namely a rejection of representational interiors.^55 The
IVAR shelf system commercialized the “culture of re-use” and the de-
sire to “do-it-yourself” that were popular among younger generations
of consumers who wanted a decorating style that clearly diff ered from
that of their parents’ generation.^56 The introduction of the BILLY book-
cases in 1978, however, indicated a shift toward functional and minimal-
ist pieces.^57 Thus, in both East and West Germany, consumers developed