I am using this bird bath in my living room as a place to drop keys, wallets etc.... Have some concerns of possibly chipping the finish, but after all this was not what it was made for. It can also be a stand alone candy dish to welcome guests. I am happy with this purchase. only had to put it together in the opposite order after following the directions using steps 1-4. For some reason we could not get the mounting plate to line up at step 4. We took it apart and did it again and it worked using steps 4-1 order. Go figure.