Circus and Christine - thanks Yes, I am looking at solid brass. Schaub is another possibility. I ordered a few samples of the copper mountain as they are not in retail stores as far as I can tell. I didn't realize Schaub is out of GR. Copper Mountain is out of Romulus - small world.

Thanks so much, everybody. I just finished typing a long response, and lost it!!! So, I'll try again. :) Lisa: Yes, I really want to keep it low-key, if possible. I'm not a "girly" type. :) Reno: What kind of lamp did you put on that beautiful chest you found? I forgot! wisrose: I know--it really should go on the other wall, centered. The problem is that the only outlet is in the middle of the other wall (the wall the chest is up against now), so I needed to hide the outlet and also needed it for the lamp. The old houses have such weird little quirks--why would anybody put electrical outlets in the middle of the wall?!?!? squirrel: There is no mirror to attach to the carved piece--there may have been at one time, though. In fact, I think I remember the owners saying that there was one attached, but it looked like a head attached to a chest and they removed it! But that's okay--if I come across a mirror in the future that might go with it, I'll put one up them. :) brutuses: Unfortunately, no, I didn't really get a "steal" this time. I paid $225 for it. But I had spent so many weeks looking for a small enough dresser (and they are hard to find!) that when this one appeared, I just jumped on it! Plus, it's birdseye maple, so I feel okay about it. Here's a close-up: I'm thinking maybe the radio doesn't belong on it, after all? :) scottmel: Do you have a photo of your room? I'd love to see it! teeda and patricia (and everybody else): So you think the lamp doesn't really work there? I'm not much of a crystal person, but do any of these strike your fancy? kimberly: I bought the bed at Jordan's Furniture (a large furniture store in Massachusetts). I think it cost about $200. I would have like to purchase an antique iron bed, but it wasn't in the budget at the time. But that's okay--this one is nice enough--for now. :) Finally, so you guys think the chair works there? I don't have another place for it, and was worried it was too "heavy" for the space. I put it at an angle because against the wall, it looked strange.

My understanding is that they allow spirits into your area using it...if you don't know what you are doing there is no guarantee the spirits will leave. I too had a bad occurrence with it and will not have one in my house. I was a teenager with my best friend. I forget the question but I had my eyes closed, spelled out a date and name - it was the first name of my friends mother. On that date her leg was broken in a train accident. Never again. Also, my room got extremely cold during it's use. Please take care.

I'm going to take a different tack. After nearly a decade as a wellness nurse in an independent living retirement community, I see this as a safety issue. Throw rugs aside (well known fall risk), you should be able to theoretically walk around with a yard stick across your waist and not touch any furnishings. If you can't maintain this three foot clearance, then it's too cluttered and unsafe. Clear passages with no trip/fall hazards is a crucial part of home safety as an older person attempts to age in place. One fall can change the trajectory of a life in an instant. There are many good home safety checklists available online with helpful tips and pertinent information (cdc.gov and ncoa.org-the national council on aging are just two). Beyond the safety issue, as a daughter who spent four months clearing out my parents' home (three story home and two story garage) after the death of my mother in 2013 (my father had died ten years earlier), please purge papers and at least some extraneous belongings now. My sister and I had a paper trail going back to the 1930s to review/trash/shred. Our parents dearly loved us and yet we were driven to tears at times that so much stuff had been saved over the decades (and never looked at in the garage attic or house attic again) that we had to physically haul out and either attempt to sell (nearly always unsuccessful), take to Goodwill or the county dump. That experience absolutely changed both of us and we resolved to never put our own children in this position-we've taken steps to purge our own papers and belongings and are much more hesitant when buying more "things."