Mourning the Loss of Bric-a-Brac: What Was That, Anyway?
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Bill Primavera
When my wife and I were lucky enough to buy our first home at a young age in a halcyon world, we were in our mid-20s and the very epitome of eager beavers, always up for something new and exciting. And did we ever meet such a challenge!
Not only did we become very young homeowners, but along with that, we assumed the positions of landlords of an accessory apartment and the owners of an antiques shop. The shop, in the charming historic neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, was on street level, we lived on the second floor and the top two floors were rented out to another family as a duplex apartment.
The antiques shop was heralded on the street with a genuinely antique sign that had been repainted to announce “Antiques, Bric-A-Brac & Other Treasures.” All well and good, but what exactly was bric-a-brac supposed to be?
Long before the days of the internet, I researched that bric-a-brac is “a miscellaneous collection of small articles commonly of ornamental or sentimental value.” We were all in and prepared to sell articles of sentimental value, if not to us, then to their past owners.
I very quickly developed an almost unnatural attachment to old things that had been touched and cherished by other people before me. It was almost as though former owners had left their energies embracing these artifacts. I could feel it.
Now, many years later, my wife and I live with reduced space in a spanking new condo. Our space has shrunk from 4,000 square feet in our former colonial home to our current 1,780 square feet. But that space is open with high ceilings and it seems as though decorating it in bric-a-brac would interrupt the open flow.
We still keep some of our cherished possessions, but by creating smaller groupings of things. Where everything is sleek with clean lines and open space, an overabundance of bric-a-brac would interrupt the flow.
Our living room features one wall with a fireplace and bookshelves on either side. That is the place now where groupings of books are interrupted for editorial interest by highlights of bric-a-brac such as old 19th century ginger jars, an old doorstop (an iron statue of George Washington) and Staffordshire dogs to keep us company.
Everything is nicely placed and spaced in a way to give the impression of purpose for each piece, rather than just a spattering of stuff. That’s what makes the difference between order and chaos in one’s living environment.
But in full disclosure, I sometimes miss the clutter of bric-a-brac when we literally lived within an antiques shop where a bunch of old china and glassware would be moved aside on our big, round dining table, so that we could make room for dinner guests. Ah, the impetuousness and innocence of youth!
Bill Primavera is a realtor associated with William Raveis Real Estate and founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc., the longest-running public relations agency in Westchester (www.PrimaveraPR.com), specializing in lifestyles, real estate and development. To engage the services of The Home Guru and his team to market your home for sale, call 914-522-2076.
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