Gold lamps work best in rooms that already have some warmth to them, wood tones, cream walls, anything that isn't stark white and chrome. If your place leans cool and modern, all gray and glass, a gold lamp can look like it wandered in from a different house and hasn't found the door out yet. But in an ordinary living room with a sofa that's seen some life and a rug that doesn't match anything perfectly, gold tends to settle right in, especially once the sun starts going down and everything in the room gets a bit more forgiving.
The easiest finishes to live with are the ones that don't shout about being gold. A worn brass, something with a bit of age or matte quality to it, sits far better in daily life than anything bright or mirror polished. The shiny stuff looks sharp in a showroom and then two weeks later you notice every fingerprint and dust mark under any direct light, and suddenly you're wiping down a lamp like it's a car. Warmer, duller golds hide all that. They also change character through the day in a way that's genuinely nice to watch, flat and almost bronze looking at noon, then catching the evening light and going properly golden by the time you're turning the lamps on anyway.
Where gold struggles is next to other metals that are trying just as hard to be noticed. Put it near chrome, stainless steel or anything very cool toned silver and the two will sit there looking like they disagree about something. It also fights with rooms that already have a lot going on in brass or gold elsewhere, picture frames, hardware, a mirror, because then nothing reads as a choice anymore, it just reads as a theme. One good gold lamp is a detail. Three is a decision everyone in the room can see you made.
Where it works well is against plainer backdrops, a simple shade, a wall in a soft neutral, furniture in wood or linen rather than anything glossy. It also plays nicely with black, in a lampshade trim or a side table, because the contrast gives the gold something to be gold against. In an ordinary room, not a dressed up one, a gold lamp on an otherwise unremarkable side table can end up being the thing your eye goes to without you really planning for that to happen.
The detail that makes a good one worth having is weight. Pick one up before you decide, because a gold lamp with real heft in the base feels like it belongs on the table, while a light, hollow one always looks like it's about to blow over in a draft that doesn't exist indoors.