Hi Mike, Dont buy the oxypetalum. I am sending you a few pieces of this one. It is true that they grow like crazy. I left this one at my parents house when I moved out because it does take a tremendous amount of space. I got a call from my mom and she told me that she was waiting for the day that that was going to strangle her..LOL. Once you have an established cutting, you can expect some new growths to be a couple feet long. No joke, mine had some growths that were 4 ft long in one summer!! The blooms are great! Just make sure your going to be home to enjoy them! Mine only lasted one night and that was it. As soon as the sun went down, the bud would begin to open. By the time the sun came up, it was closing. Logees describes it as having flowers the size of dinner plates. I had some that were even larger than that!!! Mine is pitifull now compared to when it was in its glory. I wished I would have found a way to care for it here. At one point, that plant was around 10ft long but I have had it for over 10 years. You can control the growth with pruning. Just make sure you do it at the right time or you will end up with no blooms. I will have to read up on my notes on this before I can tell you when to prune it. I can send you 3-4 nice cuttings next week with the others if you want okay? I also have a nice big pink epi. I don't know the name of the variety but it is really pretty. Trust me, neither of them will take a lifetime to get blooms from. My oxy bloomed in 1.5-2 years after I got it. I started a couple for friends and the one I gave to my landlords mom bloomed the same year I rooted it! The pink variety I bought locally and they had rooted cuttings with buds on them. I will say that it may take a couple years for those blooms to reach there potential. Andrew

No wonder you are confused. My head was spinning after reading all of the opinions! I was following the original post, but this is my first look at your follow-up. I agree with the others about finding another shade for first lamp if you decide to use it. The present shade is too short and it is the wrong style. My suggestion would be to take the lamp into a lighting store that sells shades. There you will have some expert advice as well as the option to "try on" various shades, much in the same way that you would try on clothes to determine the most flattering fit and combination. Think of the gas you will save! These are some guidelines for shades that I have found useful: 1. Match the base  think size, shape, style, color. Your goal is to match the mood of the base. 2. Compliment the base  the shade should make the base look better without competing with for attention (like that patterned shade on the metal lamp) 3. Hide the switch  the shade should just barely cover the switch (usually the height of harp + ½ inch). Try different sized harps, or add a shade riser to fine-tune. 4. Sizing Rules of Thumb: (1) Shade height should be about ¾ the height of the base (2) Bottom of shade should be wider than widest part of the base. (3) Shade width should be approximately equal the height from bottom lamp base to the top of the lamp stem, (just below the socket cap) I like both lamps. I think either one will be beautiful, but I would not use both of them in that room. Rather than another ginger jar, it would be nice to use a different architectural form on the console. I like the console very much. I do not like the metal/glass (marble?) lamp with the patterned shade. I would look for gorgeous buffet lamps. I am thinking wooden with an antique gold finish (very simple, but elegant). These are high end lamps, but use as examples. If you want the console to appear more sophisticated, remove the dried flower wreath that is resting on the books below, and remove the wicker basket with the greens from the top of the console. Replace it with a grouping of three (the magic number) similar objects (candles, boxes, ceramics, etc.) of different height and proportion. Good luck and keep up the good work. I am amazed by your shopping energy and resourcefulness.

Hi MsRose, The round, wood (particle board?) tables I have....one of them I got at Walmart for around 12 bucks, I think. The other I picked up at Big Lots for $7.97 or .95. What I have in my parents' room is a galvanized trash can (Ho-De or Lowes, can't remember which) and a wood round that Mr. Amity cut from plywood....I use that for the top. I made sure he cut the plywood round top just a bit bigger than the diameter of the galvanized can. I also bought a round piece of glass for the top of the galvanized "table" at Walmart....very cheap too. Inside the galvanized can we store supplies in case of earthquake (I am in S. Calif.) and that includes a small supply of all my parents' meds they need to take daily. A few cans of cat and dog food and then the usual emergency supplies like bottled water, manual can opener, batteries, etc. We go through the 'table' on New Years day to refresh the things that need refreshing. Like another poster did, my neighbor liked the idea and she keeps her Christmas glass ornies in hers. The galvanized cans come in several sizes so you can pick the size/height you need for your situation.

amieekim, I would love an overhead light. However, it would be very costly and a lot of work to put in since they would have to drill through joists to run wiring (not to mention all the holes in then ceiling!). I already checked for the living room (wanted a ceiling fan/light). That's why I was thinking of the upward light that worked off the remote. I could either keep the remote on the nightstand or mount it on the wall by the light switch and not have to walk over to turn it on/off. I might be putting a chair by it and get one that also had a reading light attached.