Kaismom asks a good question.....where do you put all that messy media stuff if not in the living room? Thankfully, the TV has given up the throne as the most important electronic device in our homes. I grew up with it firmly ensconced on its living room throne. That meant no real visitation could go on in that space. Then there came the stereo, cassette player, 8-track player, CD and VHS and now DVD and TiVo and BluRay, and thumb drives and the biggest thing of all, which I think has finally knocked the electronics and all those WIRES out of the living room, THE COMPUTER, THE TABLET, THE E-READER, and we have a new need. At our house, we do not have a home office. Instead, we have a STUDY. I mean, we are both retired. We do not work, except on personal projects. And we read. Holy cow, do we ever READ! And since we have no need for a second bed, unless it is a daybed, we turned our #2 bedroom into a STUDY. PERFECT place to put all our electronics. And that included the flat panel TV. The charging cords for the cell phones, the tablet, the GPS even, the DVDs, the CDs, and I figured out how to play my DVDs on the computer screen, which now doubles as a TV. They are even building the monitors these days to moonlight as a TV when the old tower or separate OS is junked. So I'd say, move all that STUFF out of the living room. If it is possible, make the LR into your guest room. We shall do that, if it looks like we might need to have guests stay over, by mounting french doors to close it off. Usually a LR is the most spacious room in the house. And it is frequently not on the traffic pattern one uses in the mornings to get ready for work. I give myself a pat on the back for thinking about it. Talk about UNDER-UTILIZED SPACE, that is the living room if set up as a separate space. Keep it looking pretty. I mean, you could move that "entertainment center" into the former bedroom/guest room, and move a hidden Murphy bed into the living room, yet keep the space sensational for every occasion. I'm married to an Irishman, and heaven knows, they LOVE TO TALK, so having a sitting room area which is quiet enough for meaningful conversation is a big plus. Up in MA, I furnished the real living room, which was fairly small, had a fireplace, with a simple love seat facing the fireplace, and two armed dining chairs on either side of the fireplace. Just enough table surface for us to set down a wine blass or a beer can or a Diet Coke--because this is the place which set the mood for good adult conversation.No TV, no radio. Well, that's my take on where to put it. And that's all I've got to say about that. :)

Vaporvac: I bought Shocking Blue, Zeph. Drouhin, Savannah, and Orchid Romance. Really kick myself for NOT getting those huge bags of MG-garden-soil for roses sold for $4 each at Walmart early spring. Walmart is sold out, same with HomeDepot, and Lowe's selling it for $9 per bag !! My roses which were grown in MG-moisture-control potting soil had wimpy roots and didn't survive my winter, but my roses which were grown in heavy & wet soil like MG-Garden-soil for roses developed THICK & SOLID roots that survive winter and flower lots. It's even wetter than my clay !! For the record: every own-root (be it tiny band-size) or gallon-size which I planted right smack into my dense & alkaline clay survive many winters, but the ones which I babied in pots (with potting soil) grew wimpy roots that didn't survive zone 5a winter, no matter how I did it: be it putting potting soil into the ground, or grow in pots 1st, then transfer to the ground (my alkaline clay) later. MG-garden-soil for roses (pink-bag with pic. of roses) was on sale at Walmart for $4 per huge bag. That soil is AWESOME in moisture-retention. I had 3 bags opened in hot sun over 90 F: Hyponex potting soil, Scott's premium bagged soil, and MG-garden-soil-for roses. Hyponex dried up into hard-granules, Scott's-top-soil dried up to hard-black-pellets, but MG-soil-for roses STAYED WET AND FLUFFY. I moved W.S. 2000 (own-root) right before winter, and planted that in a bag of MG-garden-soil for roses (only $4), plus mixed In gypsum. W.S. 2000 was the 1st rose to bloom (despite being moved), and having 20+ buds right now as own-root. Own-roots have short roots, so they can't reach down below for minerals, best use a HIGH-MINERALS & HIGH-NUTRIENTS soil like MG-garden-soil-for roses, which has black-peat (de-composed humus), plus peatmoss & pH-balanced to neutral with lime. Fluffy potting soil like MG-moisture control can't enable solid roots for winter-survival, like heavy clay or heavy soil like MG-garden-soil for roses. For newly bought own-roots I have to use a HUGE amount of soluble-fertilizer NPK 20-20-20 weekly to get blooms. Potting soil has zero-nutrients peatmoss, plus a few chemical granular-fertilizer. Too much hassle to fertilize frequently so I would rather use a rich & fertile soil like MG-garden-soil for roses, which is dense & heavy & black peat mixed with peatmoss, rather than fluffy-peat-moss-potting soil which produced wimpy alfalfa-sprout roots and thin canes. I have never seen any black soil which retain moisture as long as MG-garden-soil for roses, see below pic. In contrast, there's the lousy rating for MG-garden soil with mostly wood-chips. Below soil has perfect rating everywhere: Walmart-site, and 33 perfect reviews at HomeDepot site:

I've had it since about January 2015. I'm not sure how a heater would prevent limescale buildup, unless it would allow the cleaning cycle make a descaler work better. Honestly, I have rarely used the steam option. I think it may be built into the sanitary cycle, and there may be an option to add it to a cycle I haven't had any mildew problems..sure I've accidentally left a load in there too long and has gotten a little musty, but a hot wash with non chlorine bleach or a cleaning cycle has taken care of that stat. Just leave the door open or cracked when not using it for a period of time. I also leave the detergent tray open as it is wet after a cycle. My washer cleaning chemical of choice is citric acid, which is an excellent descaler and residue remover. You can get with Lemi Shine, bulk from amazon, and even in the canning section of a grocery store Detergent will be your personal preference, but definitely make sure it's HE approved. Water type, fabric types, typical dirt type, skin and scent sensitivites, and budget will all be factors for that.

Back when your mother was selling was at least 20 years ago. There wasn't anyway to buy things online. You went to a store or you looked at ads in a newspaper. Now you can find anything online anytime. You also were limited to your area. Now you can shop world wide. That has reduced the prices. Twenty years of everyone's parents passing and now Baby Boomers are going also. The market is flooded with everything you have. There are no less that 15 estate sales running this week in my area alone. They will have the same amount every week. They all have the same things you have. When you add in the fact, like others have said, that a large part of the younger people no longer want stuff, the price has hit rock bottom. The plates in your first picture that are priced $4, you would be lucky to get 25 cents. If you enjoy having the sales, by all means keep on doing them. The professional estate sale companies here price everything and it is full price the first day, 25% off the 2nd day, and 50% off the 3rd day. After that it goes to a charity or the dumpster. I am not saying that you don't have nice or pretty things, because you do. They just don't sell anymore. Pink depression glass that was $50 in the 90's won't even sell for $5 now. If you look on E-Bay for current prices, be sure to go to the side and check the box that you want to look at sold listings.