Part of my binging online content of late has been viewing home decorating videos. I watch, as any collector does, to see what people own. In the old days, I did the same thing with shelter magazines. I would clip out photographs of interesting Pennsylvania furniture and put it in a folder. Anyhow, so I have watched a ton of these and have to confess at my disgust at the minimalists who seem to reign over home dcor. Oh, what a lovely room, yeah, a sofa and a poster on the wall. Heck no! I watched one fellow, whose mother was a renowned European aristocrat/collector, espouse minimalism as the way to live. Less is better, he kept saying. Once again, I say heck no! As a collector, I love to live with pretty things. I use them to entertain with. I go to them, particularly the paintings, when I need a break from the insanity of life. I do not obsess about them, but I do see the value and breadth they bring to my life. I am particularly fascinated by the millennially oriented decorating channel where there is long discussion about furnishing with shabby chic. Okay, I totally get (and once was there) the idea of furnishing with funky parts of things (remember the craze for tractor seats?) in a home; however, I have to admit to being a bit shocked when I saw rather low to middling grade furniture from the 1970s being incorporated into dcor. Okay, so maybe the realization that my lifetime is too new for antiques, but what got me was the outrageous prices being paid for stuff. Oh, this mirror is made out of plastic. It is so light and portable, and it only cost me $500. What?! Somehow the disconnect has been made not only that furnishing is a good thing, but that a high price on cheap is not necessarily a bargain. I think the latter is probably the curse of the antiques market where people will see something of quality and then buy the cheap knockoff or reproduction. I recall when the Antiques Roadshow valued a Baltimore Album quilt very high. For weeks thereafter, we were inundated with calls from people who had generic Victorian crazy quilts and thought they were the same thing. I do not believe that collecting will die, nor do I believe that collectors are made. To me, collecting and showcasing your collection is something that is more nature than nurture. And that gene, despite repeated efforts by the decorator magazines to dump bleach into that gene pool, will persevere. We just need, as collectors, to take a stand that owning antiques and collectibles is not a bad thing. I collect antiques, but I am not a hoarder. I showcase my treasures in my home, but that does not make me a candidate to be on a reality TV show. Show your pride and embrace your collections! Peter Seibert, a native Pennsylvanian, grew up in the antiques business and remains closely tied to auction houses, collectors, and dealers. Professionally, he has served as a museum director and public historian in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Virginia, and Wyoming. He holds a Master of Arts in American Studies from Penn State and has authored two books and numerous articles on decorative arts, interior design, and history.