A lot of places still look like that. When we moved we looked at about 5 houses and 3 of them had either horrible carpet or wood paneling. /shudder
Claustrophobic stuff and overall very depressing.
I mean in their hay day, they looked cool (See like the Incredibles, where they are portrayed to be super awesome).
I think what doesn't help is the wood is so dark coloured, and the horrid orange.
Heck what am i to judge, i'm just a grumpy british person who's progressively being driven mad by ffxi antics, and other crushing issues.
Edit: If i had to describe a nice room orange, then the one i presently sat in is nice. The room has a nice creamy wood flooring, with a orange/blue carpet center piece (non-garish),black leather sofa's and a light that create s orange glow, rather than a white BLAAAHHHHHH.