Charm and cleaning difficulty tend to travel together more often than anyone likes to admit. A lot of the features that read as cozy, elegant, or full of character were also, quietly, a genuine chore to maintain — something the generation that installed them either didn’t mind or simply accepted as the cost of a nice-looking home.

Gen Z, generally less interested in high-maintenance upkeep for the sake of appearances, tends to see these same features very differently. Here are nine of the biggest offenders.

1. Deep-Pile Shag Carpet

Thick, long-fibered shag carpet defined an enormous share of 1970s flooring, prized for how soft and luxurious it felt underfoot. As Apartment Therapy’s history of the style explains, shag’s decline had a lot to do with exactly how hard it was to keep clean, since the long fibers trap dirt, crumbs, and pet hair in a way that’s genuinely difficult to vacuum out completely. Gen Z, largely encountering shag only in thrifted rugs rather than wall-to-wall installations, tends to appreciate it in small doses rather than as flooring for an entire home.

2. Textured Popcorn Ceilings

The bumpy, spray-applied ceiling texture found in millions of homes hides imperfections beautifully, but it’s also a dust magnet that can’t simply be wiped down like a smooth ceiling can. Any attempt at cleaning risks knocking chunks of texture loose, and repainting it requires a specific technique to avoid making a mess. Gen Z, used to smooth, easily maintained ceilings, tends to see the texture as an ongoing low-level cleaning headache rather than the charming architectural detail it was originally considered.

3. Curio Cabinets Full of Small Objects

A cabinet packed with dozens of small figurines or collectibles looks impressive from a distance, but every single piece requires individual dusting, and glass shelving shows fingerprints and smudges instantly. It’s a real time investment to keep looking as pristine as it’s meant to. Gen Z’s more minimal approach to display objects reflects, in part, a genuine desire to avoid this exact kind of ongoing maintenance obligation.

4. Heavy, Floor-Length Drapes

Thick, lined curtain panels trap dust and require professional cleaning or careful hand-washing that most people simply never get around to, meaning a lot of heavy drapes go years, sometimes decades, between actual cleanings. Gen Z’s preference for simple, machine-washable curtain panels or bare windows reflects a straightforward practical calculation: a window treatment that’s easy to maintain generally beats one that just looks nice from across the room.

5. Stark White Grout Between Tiles

White grout looks genuinely striking against colored tile when freshly installed, but it stains and discolors faster than almost any other material in a kitchen or bathroom, requiring regular scrubbing or periodic resealing to stay looking clean. Gen Z renovators increasingly opt for gray or colored grout specifically to avoid this maintenance cycle, prioritizing a tile job that stays looking decent with minimal upkeep over one that looks best only right after cleaning.

6. Venetian Blinds With Narrow Slats

Horizontal blinds with thin, closely spaced slats do a great job controlling light, but each individual slat collects dust on top and needs to be wiped down separately for a truly thorough clean, a task most people put off for months at a time. Gen Z tends to favor wider-slat blinds or simple roller shades partly because they’re genuinely faster and easier to keep dust-free with regular cleaning.

7. Heavily Textured or Embossed Wallpaper

Wallpaper with a raised, textured pattern adds visual depth and interest to a wall, but the recessed grooves in the pattern trap dust and grime in a way flat, painted walls simply don’t, and cleaning it means working carefully around delicate texture rather than a quick wipe-down. Gen Z’s preference for smooth, painted walls over textured wallpaper is, in no small part, a preference for something that’s actually easy to keep clean.

8. Elaborate Crystal Chandeliers

A chandelier hung with dozens or even hundreds of individual crystal prisms is undeniably striking when lit, but each prism collects dust and needs individual attention to stay sparkling, a task most homeowners tackle rarely, if ever. Gen Z’s preference for simpler pendant fixtures with fewer individual pieces reflects a fairly direct trade-off: less dramatic sparkle in exchange for something that doesn’t require a stepladder and an afternoon to actually clean.

9. Carpet Installed in the Bathroom

Full carpeting in a bathroom, sometimes even up to and around the toilet base, was a genuinely popular choice for warmth in an era before heated tile flooring was common. In a room defined by moisture, spills, and general dampness, carpet is close to the worst possible material choice from a hygiene and mold-prevention standpoint. Gen Z tends to view bathroom carpet as one of the single most alarming discoveries in an older home, full stop.