General Discussion

...above the fireplace was a raised floral embellishment in gold leaf. ?! And there....
there were more on the wall! Wth?!!!

I have no problem telling you I love gold: 22k, 23k, 24k. Tthat gorgeous orange-yellow reflection on 24k surfaces facing each other. (maybe 23k, too?) Except it's quite soft, so like (Subcontinent) Indian 24k wedding jewelry is worn very carefully then put away.

My sis, and I joke about finding 14k, and 18k gold boring. Why?

Well, we happened to decades ago live like 1/2 - 3/4 mile away from the original location of The museum of the American Indian at the then southern end of Washington Heights. We were kids, tweens.

It was there that they also displayed some of the gold pieces of the Aztecs, Mayan, and maybe Incas, too. Those were ?22k, 23k, maaaybe 24k. So we grew up looking at the way more saturated color of that gold. Gorgeous items!
They also had some of the cool stone carvings.

But, anyway, the gold looks awful there in the WH!
Blargh!