Bric-a-brac
Etymology
From the obsolete French phrase "à bric et à brac", meaning "at random, any old way." The reduplicated nonsense sounds mimic a jumble, and the phrase collapsed into a noun for the assorted odds and ends themselves.
noun · /BRIK-uh-brak/
A miscellaneous collection of small, decorative, often trivial objects.
What it names
The pleasant clutter of ornaments — knickknacks with charm but little value — as a category worth a word.
Example
The mantel disappeared under bric-a-brac — souvenir spoons, tiny brass animals, a chipped porcelain shepherdess.
Related idea
Bric-a-brac is a collection of small ornamental trifles; a tchotchke is a single such trinket, so a shelf of tchotchkes amounts to bric-a-brac.