Redsox, in case right now you want to read about different kinds of plants and plan out your beds so they will look like what you want them to, you might be interested in some perennial design books. One I like is "The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer" by Cohen and Ondra. I read it in the library and then bought a used copy online through Amazon. the information is realistic, I think. Also, a book I love is "The Well Tended Perennial Garden" - she tells you how to maintain and prune those perennials you wind up buying. The Southern Living Garden Book gives a run down on almost every plant that will grow in the south. I bought this one used too and refer to it often. You've gotten some great advice on plants, but if you're like me, you only have so much money to spend and will want to invest it in what will give you pleasure. I always like to know what I'm getting before I buy it. Good luck, and your babies will grow up too soon and then you'll be able to garden a lot more. In the meantime, I applaud your gardening at all; mine were a mess when my kids were little. Also, if there's any kind of garden club in your area, there will be a lot of old ladies like me who will love to help you get started and give you some plants from their yard.

There will be some moisture accumulate in the laundry closet while the washer runs ... moisture is present anywhere there's water. The question is whether there's sufficient ventilation for it to dissipate. Warm or hot water will reasonably generate slightly more moisture than cold ... but don't take that as an excuse to avoid warm or hot washing when needed. Washing all loads in cold water is b-a-d for the machine, smutz from laundry soils accumulates in the outer tub and other hidden areas. Presumably the dryer is always run after a washer load, which effectively ventilates the laundry closet being that the dryer pulls air in (through the laundry closet and the opening from the clothes closet) and blows it out the exhaust (unless it's a condenser/non-vented dryer). Is there an HVAC register in the clothes closet? You didn't say if the washer is a frontloader or toploader. Either way, I would leave the washer lid (toploader) open or door ajar (frontloader) whenever the machine is not in use so moisture of it inside can dissipate (that goes a LONG way to avoiding mold and long-term rusting of the machine). I doubt there's enough moisture getting into the clothes closet to be of concern ... but that's impossible to say without first-hand examination.

It sounds like you made really good choices. I was in your position a year ago and we moved into our house 8 months ago. We also used California Closets and I was very happy with the experiences. Having your shoe shelves be non-angled is very practical in case you want to use that space for storing other things in the future (which you couldn't do easily with slanted shelves). I also upgraded to the soft-close dovetail drawers, which I love. The only thing I sort of regret is letting my designer talk me into a few frosted glass door fronts. She wanted it to feel more open and for me to be able to "display" beautiful handbags, etc. but the reality is that it's a closet and not a display space and I would rather have had totally concealed storage. I am happy with the accessories I chose: a jewelry drawer, safe, tilt-out hampers, ironing board that tucks into a drawer, full length mirror, pull-out rod and belt rod. For my kids' small walk-in closets, we got full-length mirrors (that fold away) and pull-out hampers. For my youngest daughter's (10 years old) closet, I did not pay close enough attention to the height of the hanging sections. One section is too high for her to reach so I ordered extra shelves to put in that area until she gets taller. Same thing for the drawer sections. She can reach the top 2 drawers to open them but she isn't tall enough to see what is in them. I also wish we would have been able to have pocket doors for the smaller walk-in closets but our room design did not allow for this. For the benefit of other readers looking at closet options, yes, CC is pricey but they really do handle EVERYTHING from the design to the installation and the clean-up. I wanted/needed help to design our spaces to maximize storage space and could not do that without the help of the designer. I did look at The Container Store's custom system (not elfa) but when I went to the store to open drawers, see the finishes, etc. to get a sense for the quality, they felt flimsy compared to CC. I did notice, however, that they have recently revised their custom closet offerings so maybe they have improved.

I had Pergo laminate flooring installed about 12 years ago in my kitchen and it still looks great! No scratches or dents. Nothing sticks to it. I have dropped items on the floor and no dings or dents. I love my Pergo flooring so much that when I had my kitchen renovated a few years ago, I kept my flooring. Everyone thinks it is oak wood. Clean up is easy with diluted vinegar as recommended by Pergo.