This past Thursday the NY Times Home Section had an article on “Over-Propping.” It described a “prop” as something you don’t actually use, but which you keep because you like what it says about you, your life, or your hopes and aspirations. One example was a vintage (unused) manual typewriter displayed on your desk. Another was a bar or tea cart that represented the sophisticated entertaining you wanted to do.
The article also pilloried large books filled with glossy photos that exist to be displayed on coffee tables. It even attacked cut flowers, which it claimed lasted only as long as the photo-op.
In college my art teacher, Karl Steele, scorned students who planned to furnish their homes in Early American or French Provincial. “You have to live in your own time,” he thundered. But that didn’t stop me from starting married life with a maple spinning wheel that had room for a flower pot in the center.
Now I wondered if I was still guilty of over-propping and mentally toured the house. I excluded genuine art objects, lamps and chairs, and other things that we used. I found that I still have a weakness for creating “vignettes.” In the guest room is a pretty antique oak rocking chair holding a bisque doll and a stuffed cat, which gives the room some "ambiance." No one has actually sat in the chair for years.
In my office there’s the vintage trunk with tattered stickers from long-ago hotels and airlines; I found it at a yard sale. I had always wanted this kind of reminder of exotic places and other times. But it takes up valuable space in a none-too-large room, and can't be used for anything.
In my kitchen is a large glass jar with exotic orange lilies and apricot-colored roses (artificial) that adds color and “ties the room together.” It also takes up counter space and is one more thing to keep clean, especially as it sits near the stove and gets filmed over.
The article said that if you had three or more such items you are “over-propped.” So I guess I am. Now I just need to decide what I'm going to do about it.
The article also pilloried large books filled with glossy photos that exist to be displayed on coffee tables. It even attacked cut flowers, which it claimed lasted only as long as the photo-op.
In college my art teacher, Karl Steele, scorned students who planned to furnish their homes in Early American or French Provincial. “You have to live in your own time,” he thundered. But that didn’t stop me from starting married life with a maple spinning wheel that had room for a flower pot in the center.
Now I wondered if I was still guilty of over-propping and mentally toured the house. I excluded genuine art objects, lamps and chairs, and other things that we used. I found that I still have a weakness for creating “vignettes.” In the guest room is a pretty antique oak rocking chair holding a bisque doll and a stuffed cat, which gives the room some "ambiance." No one has actually sat in the chair for years.
In my office there’s the vintage trunk with tattered stickers from long-ago hotels and airlines; I found it at a yard sale. I had always wanted this kind of reminder of exotic places and other times. But it takes up valuable space in a none-too-large room, and can't be used for anything.
In my kitchen is a large glass jar with exotic orange lilies and apricot-colored roses (artificial) that adds color and “ties the room together.” It also takes up counter space and is one more thing to keep clean, especially as it sits near the stove and gets filmed over.
The article said that if you had three or more such items you are “over-propped.” So I guess I am. Now I just need to decide what I'm going to do about it.
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