I use regular detergent in my machine, All Free & Clear HE, Clorox 2 Free, and Downy free. I do make my own cleaning products for the house though. It is very hard to find cleaning products that are not filled with fragrances! I make my all purpose cleaner from water, baking soda, vinegar, a tiny bit of borax, and a bit of natural dish detergent. Works great, I was surprised to find that for most things, it works just as well as the stuff I used to buy. I am always afraid to try recipes for laundry detergent. I love my cloths, and cloths in my size (I am about 5 feet tall) are very hard to find. I would hate to mess them up, or my machine!

My LauR is white except for the one wallpapered wall which has a white background. I posted it to that thread, which is in the Gallery on the first page. There may be other white ones there? I'm trying to remember. Mine may not stay white, though. I'm thinking about it. I hope you get good answers right here in this thread, and I hope that those who post their pics here will also take a minute to visit the Gallery and post them there as well. I think the LauR is a great place to be able to do whatever you refrained from doing in the rest of the house. If you want white, go for it! White does say "clean" after all. I can't wait to see your pics when you're done.

Very hard to pick just one favorite feature! If I have to pick just one working feature, it would be the lowered work space on the end of our island. It is exactly the right height for me for prepping, baking, etc. and it is also a great height for many of our kids. I'm five feet tall, and it is so nice to have a work space that works for me! The layout works well, too, as my dh chooses a different part of the island, so if both of us are in the kitchen, we are not bumping into each other. The end of the island that is lowered is across from the sink and dishwasher, and I love having drawers in that section for all the dishes-even my three year old can empty most of the dishwasher, and no one is hauling chairs into the kitchen to get or put away dishes. The big windows are probably my other favorite-adding big windows makes that whole end of the house so much brighter and enjoyable to be in. Having big windows rated higher than most everything when coming up with a layout for our new kitchen.

We remodeled our pantry a year or so ago, and here some of the things we did that I absolutely adore. 1: Adjustable shelving. I love being able to adjust each shelf to the height I need, so I can accommodate everything from cans to cereal boxes. I also prefer solid shelves to wire ones, but that’s mainly esthetic. 2: We have a 20” deep counter running the perimeter of the pantry, with multiple outlets. It’s deep enough to house small appliances, although the only one we use in there regularly is the Keurig. We have had instances where we plug something in for later, though... like when guests bring dishes in a crock pot. 3: The shelves above the counters are 15” deep. I find that things get lost if it’s much deeper. They go all the way to the ceiling, so we also have built-in storage space for a step stool. 4: The shelves below the counters are 18” deep. I keep toying with the idea of converting some (or all) of them to drawers for a cleaner look, but I definitely feel like 18” is deep enough to store small appliances and bulk supplies. 5: The lights are on a motion sensor, which is AWESOME. 6: My cabinetry runs along three walls, and was specifically designed around a piece of storage furniture I didn’t want to get rid of. It houses things like table clothes and fabric napkins, as well as candles and vases for centerpieces. I also collect vintage serveware, so I have lots of cubbies to display that. The fourth wall (where the door is) has hooks for my collection of aprons. This is what it looked like before. As you can see, the shelves that were there weren‘t super functional. It also had space for two appliances (Fridge and freezer? Two freezers?) that the previous owner had in there, but we installed fridge/freezer columns in our kitchen when we remodeled it, and didn’t need the extras. I didn’t like the heat they put off, either.