Why are objects restricted to the ground only?

[illgot]

Why are some objects restricted to the ground only? That seems like extra work just to create a restriction which limits player creativity.

There is a toggle for counter surfaces we can turn off, so why bother going to the trouble to restrict items from table surfaces (like instruments or "floor lamps").

It kind of blows my mind all the extra work that went into a restriction that has no purpose.

[sylly]

Why are some objects restricted to the ground only?

short answer? Likely to prevent unforeseen bugs

It probly wasnt any extra work to make these "restrictions". Housing items each have their own sub-class i.e. tabletop, wall-mounted, etc. And each sub-class has a part of the house they can go on. The extra work would come in allowing odd arrangements, like placing overly large floor items on a tiny table. They would basically have to throw out the whole current systems and make arbitrary decisions about how each item will interact with all the other items.

I think the housing systems is very well done with relatively few bugs (while the few that i'm aware of are actually pretty enjoyable). Hope this helps answer your question. Maybe if there were some specific items that you feel shouldn't be restricted to the floor, you could list them out and maybe say how you think they should work. The devs are always looking for ways to improve

[Solarra]

...The extra work would come in allowing odd arrangements, like placing overly large floor items on a tiny table. They would basically have to throw out the whole current systems and make arbitrary decisions about how each item will interact with all the other items.

Not really because the large aquarium has the table-top attribute and can sit on a tiny shelf or a small table (as I discovered when I tried to clip a statue on a small table into the tank and the tank ended up on the table too)

The manor instruments are smaller, but due to being floor only will not go on the stage or any large table which people might use as a platform, which is a real shame. I'm not sure why this is, but the manor instruments are one set I'd like to see changed personally.

[Alien_Gamer]

You have that backwards OP. Setting furniture in the ground is the default for the game engine, they would have needed to create a different function to allow table top items but this would have all been done before the game was released. Making new furniture into a tabletop item or to make it a table top would be as simple as changing a couple modifiers in the database. Every furniture they release they deliberately choose which one it will be and for whatever reason, this is how they made them.