I would agree with Rhizo and Calistoga... this is the base of your business, the root of it so to speak, and if you want to build a good reputation for producing and selling a good, healthy product, you ultimately have to spend a little in order to make it all come together as you want it to. I would recommend doing some reading and research before embarking upon your venture. "Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention XVII" is a great place to begin. You can usually find this article on the first page of this forum. Container growing is vastly different than growing in a garden, so you'll want to address the needs of plants specifically grown in containers. Poor soil can make or break you as a nursery. When I buy plants from any source, or am mixing my own mediums, my preference is a fir bark based, gritty, larger particled, fast draining medium that won't hold a perched water table, and won't require re-potting on a yearly basis, which ultimately saves money, labor, and time. Save the organic methods for the garden... go for a more inorganic approach to container growing. You want to control what happens within those containers, including moisture, plant nutrition, light, etc... it's best to have your information firmly in hand before you begin this sort of business, or you'll fail before you ever get going. I run a small niche business selling plants, and before I begun, I made sure I had a business plan, and I made sure I knew what I was doing... from the soil up. You really don't want to flounder around without an understanding of plants or their requirements, from a more scientific angle. Tapla's article will help you get there, I believe. It helped me more than I can say. A green thumb is nothing more than applied knowledge. Happy Growing!

I tend to do split finishes for the door knobs in bathrooms, because I also tend to do brass or ORB with the living finish (unlacquered) throughout the house, and chrome or nickel in the baths. I tend to do chrome or polished nickel hinges on the bath doors too. Since bathroom doors are left open this means you see the chrome hinges on the "wrong side" and the "outside" finish of the knob spends a lot of time "inside" the bathroom, but I think the nickel and chrome hold up a bit better in the bathroom. However, if I was doing a raw brass fitted bathroom I would let it weather however it was going to. Polished chrome is a bit warmer than polished nickel but they don't tend to bother me when mixed.

Dear Johnny Dollar, My kitchen planner/cabinet rep was the one who suggested alder with this stain to soften the redness in the wood. I had initially wanted natural maple, as in our old kitchen. The light color of maple just was not right with the madre perla, the new oak floors, and all the other colors. The softness of the wood was never discussed and this is the first time that I have heard about it. We are almost empty nesters, so this kitchen will not get as much wear and tear as in a family with young kids. So far no gauges or dents or chips. The cabinets were made halfway across the country from where I live, so staining was not done on my premise. The finish on the cabinets looks very even.

I don't think I'd do a white backsplash and change to black (or anything else) just behind the stove. Maybe a few accent pieces here and there? One of the nice things about getting tiles at HD is that you can buy enough to lay them out in your kitchen to see how it looks, but can easily return them if doesn't please you. Experiment! Also take photos of each layout to remind you of what each combination looked like.