As someone with aphantasia, I often think it must be very limiting to have to pick specific configurations of a ball, table, color, etc. I asked my husband (who has hyperphantasia) about it, and he says he can adjust all the details at will, instantly, if he wants to, but.... ...that doesn't change the limitation, does it? Visualizers are essentially making a bunch of assumptions about something rather than grasping the core concept and keeping everything else open to the endless possibilities. When I learned about a year ago that most people don't 'conceptualize' things, it provided an explanation for something I've always felt; relative to myself, most people struggle to grasp core ideas and concepts. The ability to see a picture appears to handicap the ability to see the 'bigger' picture.
I've been wondering this also. It frequently baffles me how people don't make the connections I do between obviously related ideas and concepts. It's incredibly useful to be able to see a 'big picture' like this, both professionally and in personal matters. If our ability to do this is related to aphantasia, I can't help but think the trade-off from not being able to visualize is well worth it. though I think it would be interesting, I don't see the need to be able to reconstruct the image if I can retrieve information about it in another way.
It would be ridiculous to say aphants as a whole are superior to non-aphants. But to say aphantasia creates neither strengths or weaknesses is also illogical. Aphantasia clearly can have both positive and negative impacts on different aspects of life, such as memory, creativity, empathy, and mental health. My point wasn't to say aphantasia is only a strength, but to counter-balance some of the comments in these discussion boards that lament aphantasia as if it was a disability or disease. If there was a 'cure' I wouldn't take it. As a side note: I have no first-person experience of visual fantasy. My knowledge is based entire on descriptions given by non-aphants about their experiences fantasizing/daydreaming during conversations. You don't need to develop Biotech to gain that info, you can just google it. :-)
I am a visual aphant, and I am the complete opposite of you. I'm a barebone minimalist in my late 30s, and keep very few physical momentos, and I would say only an average number of photos. I wouldn't describe your home as 'odd'. Plenty of people have houses that look the way you describe. Especially as they get older, I believe that is the norm. People just like having their memories close at hand, since even visualizers 'lose' visual memories over time. We do share the love of being organized though. I find a deep sense of satisfaction in grouping 'like' items together.
I have visual aphantasia. I have an average memory for upcoming events, but I don't typically have issues with being late, because I have adopted tools like calendars to help me, and use them religiously. I organize and have a system for EVERYTHING. Calendars, task lists, file structures-- you name it. My theory is that not being able to recall images forces aphants to commit more information to memory. By being systematic, we reduce the number of things to memorize.