Hey Kyle..Well, if you like Logee's, you will probably like Stokes. Like Logees, I used to be a good customer of Stokes..'early/mid 90's.' Stokes used to send a catalog, 'pre-computer days' Of course I ordered. The plants they had couldn't be found in IL. They're prices were a tad high, but nowhere near as nowadays. Of course, like everything else, what one thinks expensive, others might not. I'm not impressed w/Stokes shipping prices either. I like their Hibisus Fertilizer. 'My hibs are fertilized w/hib fert, nothing else.' It goes on sale in fall..I chose two containers..when the shipping was added, it totaled more than both containers together..I cancelled the order. However, their plants aren't bad. Do you ever go to Gardenwatchdog? If not, please check their site. They list numerous nurseries, from A-Z. Click on S..Scroll down until you see Stokes Tropicals..Then read Stokes feedback. Do they mention the size of the Strilizia? Height? Actually, they're fairly hardy..It's possible, some leaves will yellow, 'possibly, not absolutely.' When a plant is shipped, particularly bare-root, there's always some stress involved. But Musas/Strelitzias should ship well. As for their plants, they 'used' to sell decent, healthy speciems. Remember, this was back in the 90's. However, I can't imagine their plants going downhill, and believe Stokes is run and owned by the same people/family now as did then. Do they sell any Strelitzias near your home? Reginae, (orange flowers) is very rare. I was given a Reginae late 80's, early 90's as a gift.. Never seen one for sale since. As old as it is, it's never flowered. :( S. Nicolai, 'white flower' is common here..HD sells this species. I bought my Nicolai, reduced at HD in the mid to late 90's..It's fine, but again, no blooms. Double :(. What will you do, Kyle? Toni

I'm bumping this up. I'm hoping the posters above who were using the CFL's are still around & will update me on how their plant(s) are doing. Irina, you said you were surprised that there is such an interest in CFL's and that we can only grow one plant with them. That's the whole point! lol I have my setup of the other AV's in another room, but I think many of us would like just one plant on a table in other rooms because we love the plants and want to see them all the time. It's not only a growing thing, it's also decorative. I have many regular houseplants, cactis and succulents, I grow them not only because I enjoy it, but I also use them to help decorate my home. AF's are too pretty to "hide." Now I'm thinking about buying two inexpensive, matching table lamps for my table. Those, a doily and a plant would be pretty. :)

I used to work for CTG in kitchen design sales and I would not use them unless it is a small project like a vanity or something simple. They are RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets and are similar quality-wise to others on the market, but overpriced compared to others. Customer service has improved in 2023 but has a LONG way to go. We were told they come from Vietnam or Malaysia. Some companies get them from China and send them to Vietnam and Malaysia to be packaged so they can avoid the Chinese tariffs. I don’t know if this is the case with CTG but can tell you the owner used to own Lumber Liquidators and had to sell it after getting into major hot water years ago. (Check out the old 60 Minutes investigation on YouTube with Anderson Cooper) The one thing I will suggest is do not buy anything that does not have plywood boxes (the sides and back of the cabinet) and at least CTG does use plywood. Many cabinets out there have particle wood boxes which are horrible quality. It could be called MDF or other names but if it is not specifically called plywood, then it is not. They may look gorgeous but if the box gets wet (from a leak etc) it will warp from expansion and contraction and cannot be fixed. A great indicator of particle board boxes is the pricing. If it is considerably less than a plywood box cabinet, it is likely particle board. This is the case with IKEA. They look fantastic but are sub-par quality wise. If you want quality cabinets they will come with a higher price tag no matter where you get them from. In cabinets the old saying is true: you really do get what you pay for.

Hi Margo - Thank you for the details! Your closet looks awesome! I have a walk-in closet in the master where that might work very well. I will look into Easy Closets - I was hoping for no particle board, but I'm discovering that seems to be very prevalent in closet systems. I see Lundia closets are all wood, but I am unimpressed by their drawers. The Easy Closet drawers must be nice, since I know you said you had similar issues with Elfa that I have - wanting nice drawers? I did look at wood dressers, and I was unimpressed by the quality also....until I got up to $1100 each. I will do some more shopping. But at $1100, I could maybe talk to a cabinet maker? I don't know...like everything else in my renovation, this is a journey. Haha. After an ever-expanding renovation (started as some cosmetic work and ended up being a full gut renovation due to the realtor spray painting over all issues in the midcentury house!), I'm tired of spending money! I am considering a dresser with Rubbermaid wire closet systems around it, especially for my kids' closets. My understanding is that Rubbermaid does not have all the accessories of Elfa but are similar to Elfa's "ventilated" shelves, at a very low fraction of the cost. I prefer plywood, but I will have to see how much my carpenter will charge for building a closet around a dresser. I imagine you had a similar journey and ended up at Easy Closet after penciling it all out! I will certainly update when I decide what I'm doing, and I'd love to hear everyone else's journeys!