That’s funny, in (upper-class) UK society “your grandma’s old stuff” would be at the top.
Here’s an old British insult: he had to buy all his own furniture.
pdts
Cars are a good example. In the US (and Japan), heaps of chrome exterior fittings = luxurious. In the UK (and most of Europe), heaps of chrome exterior fittings = tacky.
I distinctly remember the first time I visited a Jeep dealership which sold US-market vehicles (which was in Oman, strangely enough*) and saw a bunch of Grand Cherokees with faux-gold badging and wheels. Gold. Gold! I thought I was going to vomit.
*Gulf specification vehicles were basically the same as US-spec vehicles at the time, only with less emissions equipment and uprated cooling and air conditioning.
Whaaaaa? Who in the US thinks that shit is luxurious? If I saw a car with gold wheels, I would think it is SUPER tacky.
Well, there’s “grandma’s old stuff” and then there’s Antiques. My grandma, thank goodness, had all sorts of crap stashed away for me when I got my first place, but I suspect it was the IKEA analogue of the sixties. 
A luxurious American bathroom does not include a bidet.
Alot of what Americans consider good service would be rude & insulting in Europe and vice versa. Waitstaff constantly hovering (or god forbid bring out the check without being asked) would be considered borderline harrasment in some countries (like France). Another example would be the whole “Service with a Smile” thing and faux friendlyness. I think that was one of (many) problems Disney ran into when Euro-Disney opened.
What you call good service I call creepy. 
This is a real culture clash here – I’m not talking about antiques. I’m talking about grandma’s tatty old stuff, some of which will be antiques but most will be ratty and falling apart.
If you ever go to a properly upper class or upper-upper-middle class house in the UK, you’ll be astonished at how everything is ratty and falling apart.
Such is considered luxurious.
pdts
There’s a joke in Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels where two burglars who have been hired to steal some antique guns from a member of the landed gentry observe that their mark must be really poor “Since they can’t even afford new furniture”, as they’re tiptoeing through an English country manor full of antique furniture and objet d’art.
Personally, when I think “Luxurious”, I’m thinking of something like an English Gentlemen’s Club, with big, high-backed leather reading chairs, wooden panelling on the walls, a well-stocked library, trophies and old guns on the wall, photographs of prominent members from before WWII, and discreet waiters bringing excellent meals and a selection of fine brandies, scotches, wines, and ports to your table as you discuss “The Africa Situation” with Atkinson from the Foreign Office.
Inevitably, of course, you’ll bemoan the fact that you can no longer just send in a gunboat.
About an abstract thing now, I find the American freedom of speech (enforced by the Constitution !) a damn great luxury.
Yeah, shame on Europe and its tradition of rigorous censorship. :dubious:
Wow. That’s…yep. Culture clash, indeed. I think maybe our exchange answers the OP better than all of our attempts to explain it intellectually!
Dude, you have no idea of how France is on that. Say the “wrong” (but factually true) thing on some TV show, and you can get almost fired, as proven recently by what happened to journalist Eric Zemmour.
Quite right - I hate all this “Is everything all right with your meal?” crap. And refilling glasses? I can do that myself, thank you! In one (otherwise excellent) restaurant I took the wine bottle out of the ice bucket to top up my glass and the waiter practically grabbed it out of my hand to pour it himself. That’s just not necessary.
You can’t relax and enjoy a meal and conversation if waiters are hovering all the time. In my ideal restaurant, the waiter will be a discreet distance away but will instantly come over if I cast a meaningful glance in his direction.
That *may *be a legal thing. I know I almost got a wineshop owner in legal hot water once by picking up a bottle during a tasting and pouring myself a little more. She did the bottle grab, apologized and looked around furtively, then explained that their license only allowed employees to pour alcohol. Weird laws.
Not to mention differences among various classes and social groups. In a marketing class I had in college, the professor pointed out that upper income consumers tend to prefer understated furniture; not necessarily minimalist, but rather cleaner lines, and lower gloss surfaces, with high-quality materials and construction. Lower-income consumers tend to prefer furniture with a lot of ornamentation, with higher-gloss materials surfaces, because they think it’s what wealthy people have.
Compare the furniture at Pottery Barn, Norwalk, Arhaus or a higher-end retailer with Vinnie’s Discount Factory Liquidation Warehouse Furniture Outlet. In the furniture listings on Craigslist in my neck of the woods, there’s a lot of “feeyancy” Rococo and French Provincial furniture being sold in the blue-collar suburbs, and more simple but higher-end furniture in wealthier areas. (Believe it or not, the Rococo and French Provincial stuff sells fast.)
Same thing with “old money” and “new money”. Go into an old-money house around here, and you’ll find well-worn Persian rugs, and old furniture from venerated brands like Kittinger and Stickley. In a “new money” house, it depends on how rapidly the money was acquired, but you’ll encounter the Rococo/French Provincial style far more often. The Netherlands minimalist look is something that’s isolated to urban lofts.
I might have posted on this in the past, but those of Mediterranean heritage (Italian-Americans, Greek-Americans, immigrants from the Middle East) and Indian immigrants tend to have tastes that lean towards the very ornate. I wonder if that’s the same back in the Old Country?
In the US, grandmothers are known for having frilly, foo-foo tastes, and furniture that is often more decorative then comfortable. Your “grandma’s old stuff” is likely to be something like this.
You’re just not understanding how it goes amongst the UK upper strata. Furniture is something functional – you don’t buy it, and you don’t think about it. You take those drawers and you use them until you die or they collapse.
pdts
For some reason I got reminded of this: Obligatory Monty Python reference.