More is More, or I've Seen the Light
After my grandparents passed away, my brother, sister, and I inherited the house. At first, we considered bringing in the people from Sotheby’s to determine the value of items, and handle an auction. But this was too much trouble for any of us. So the house sat in situ for a year. After enough time passed, we decided to leave everything as it is and make the house a time capsule. This seemed logical, as none of us like change, and the task of going through the enormous amount of different collections was overwhelming.
American Victorian hanging library lamps are found in every room. These lamps were made in the 19th century before the advent of electricity. They are incredibly ornate and covered with crystals, carvings, and colored glass. Strangely, we never noticed them, until we counted them (15 lamps). Growing up, they were like telephone poles. They are so ubiquitous that you don’t notice them. Now, I agree they are a little scary “old lady/Liberace”. But I brought one home and put it in my bedroom. One is okay. 15 are obsessive. Clement Mok suggested I put all of them in one room, which I agree would be kind of cool, but dangerous. The lesson here is that just a little bit of fanciness goes a long way.
