High concentrations of cedar oil can kill clothes moth larvae, but you're not likely to find levels that high in a cedar closet...not for long, anyway. However, the smell of cedar oil blocks the moths' ability to detect a food source for their potential offspring (that is, your woolens as a place to lay eggs) and also interferes with their pheromone detection, so they can't find mates. Herbs like citronella, peppermint, and rosemary do the same thing. Insect pests tend to stay away because it messes up their natural navigation systems. Not all insects are repelled by cedar (Dermestid/carpet beetles, for example, are not) but most moths with wool-eating caterpillars are. As Mike said, running a little sandpaper over the cedar planking refreshes the aroma. Should you have a cedar closet? Well...do you have a lot of good-quality woolens to store-- cashmere blankets, nice wool coats? If so, I think a cedar closet would be a good idea; if not, there's not much point. You can put your woolens in air-tight bags, but they can come out musty if there's any moisture (even from high humidity when you seal them up). Moths can get into openings one tenth of one mm in size, so most sweater-box storage containers aren't tight enough to exclude them. If you've only got a couple woolens to store, Zip-lock bags in the freezer is one pretty safe option. If you're so-so on the smell, I wouldn't think it'd be worth putting in more than one cedar closet. Also, you mentioned the cooler, damper basement closet-- you might have problems with cedar planking warping and curling. I'd stick with mold-resistant Sheetrock for that one. Good luck with your finishing work!

I don't use my delay on the dw because I am alone and can start it just about any time. One thing I will say, a friend of mine is a plumber and one day he and his wife were here and we were planning on going out for the evening. I put detergent in the dishwasher and he said, "i think I know what you are planning on doing...you're gonna run that dishwasher while we're gone, right? Do not EVER do that!" He explained that there was a chance the solonoid (?) could stick and there would be water all over everywhere. Water would just keep running because it won't shut off. Just thought you who set it to run at night might like to know that.

Bottom line is I believe he IS getting a kickback from his tile people. He told me the other night he needed to be paid for taking care of the materials and guaranteeing them... bull I know. He even said he would have to charge me more if we bought our tiles from the designer! He said we were getting into cost plus territory I spoke with my designer and told her that he would be calling her and that if he wants to add his "kickback" so we could use her we would go for it. I just went this am to see his tile person. The woman they use is a sales person. She is NOT a designer. I brought a list in with me to see what I would pay for each piece. I did not get that when I went in... but was assured I would not be paying the retail price on the tiles. So I assume based on the amount I purchase I get a discount. No one told me how much. I love both my designer and my builder and do not wish to give either of them up nor do I want them at each other's throats. I selected them each for the expertise. Both of them are excellent at what they do and I love what I see coming from both. I apologized to both of them for not introducing the two of them before hand. My Designer told me early on to let him know that she also sells items such as tile, counter tops and interior surfaces. I could have sworn we did. I think he forgot. Just got back from seeing his tile person. I went through the entire house and found pieces that were comparable to my decorator's plan and some were actually the same. (everyone has their own marble and travertine for instance) I actually found a few things I liked better particularly for a back porch area which I had yet to address with my Designer. What they don't have and I know they probably cannot get are the decorative accent glass pieces and backsplash I fell in love with. I was told that they are limited to specific companies. So I would never be able to get those pieces from them. What I plan on doing is having both of them total their tile up for the rooms. I may have to decide who we will go with after that. But I am leaning towards buying most of it from his tile place to make him happy and let him know I am going to buy specific glass accents or backsplash tiles from her. I am not sure how that will go over... but I will want I like. And if his Tile people don't have it then he will have to accept that. Our Builder gave us a fixed price to build the whole house and then added in some of the extras that we were doing ... cost for a custom staircase that he is building, stone frplace that he is building (still don't know if that includes the materials!), and for the extra glass and doors to enclose our LR and DR. Then he gave us a sheet that specified his allowances. He didn't even specify our countertop prices (said granite) and we had to call him for that price. We choose this builder specifically bc he does all his own wood (cabinets included). And the work is ALL custom done bc he has his own woodworking shop. His woodwork is stunningly beautiful. His contract gave us the allowances... $3.50 for tile per square foot which is LOW. And we will be going over. So I do not understand why it matters where we go to him. He did NOT specify ANYWHERE in the contract that we had to use HIS SUPPLIERS. He said it was assumed based on the contract. (Sorry that doesn't cut it!) Bottom line. His tile lady said we will not pay the price that was on the front of the tiles. We would get a discount. She said he does NOT get a kick back from them (something that some builders get... you pay for the tile and when he picks it up he gets a rebate or a commission fee back from the tile company). But for all I know they could be lying. All I want is what I fell in love with.

The xoom will be the one to watch, very nice specs and big competition with what all it can do plus it will be running Android 3.0 Honeycomb. It is an awesome tablet but in the next month or so a lot of awesome Android 3.0 tablets will be hitting the market. Google Android 3.0 and Motorola Xoom: Hands-On, and Awesome The Xoom Club I love my PDN but will seriously be looking at some of these next gen Android tabs, the fact some will be running dual core processors alone will put them heads above the rest. A nice look at some of the other competitors that we can look forward to real soon (including some windows 7 versions). It's Tablet-Palooza at CES 2011