Dirtygardener73, I do not believe you should be so upset as to leave with a verbal badgering and name calling when people who have read your unsolicited medical advice state they disagree. Obviously you are not a Dr. of any medical persuasion. You try to mend all ailments with homeopathic medicines before trying western medicine. I do think you can try all the homeopathic medicines you want and I also try to use homeopathic/alternative medicines first. I also grew up in a home of medicine women healers and kitchen witches and trained with them all my remembered life. Yes salt and garlic and a good many other unconventional products, in moderate amounts, can be used safely in the eyes. In my opinion the recipe you offered in your original post is to strong a salt solution for the eyes. I would never recommend anything in the eyes for prevention of parasites no matter where I lived. Goddess gave us our own natural eye cleansing factory for prevention and it is best to let it work without help. In all instances, dealing with foreign material on the eye surface (when natural tearing is not flushing the material from the eye) there are 2 recommended options rinsing the eyes PLAIN H2O (yes distilled is best)for dirt grime or foreign objects or Plain MILK (whole or 2%) for oily or chemical intrusion then water to clear the milk out. The rinsing can and should be done multiple times each time with a fresh eye cup of the water or milk. Then see a doctor if there is still discomfort or pain after a few hrs. Self diagnostics with out training is a danger more than most homeopathic medicines. Any other type of treatment for the eyes should be recommended by an eye specialist and never wait 10 days to see an expert. A scratched cornea is not going to heal over night no matter how much medicine you put on it. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll come back again after you grow a thicker skin. LIL

Over time my eyes have become very sensitive and itchy. I've always worn eye makeup -- tons and tons. I never go out without eye makeup. Love it but the last few years, just putting on eye liner is very itchy. So I have some work arounds. First, I use Visine soothing drops before trying to put on any makeup. I like Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes liner pencils -- soft and not too expensive. Sephora has them. Then I fill in with Milani eye liner. It's inexpensive and has an accurate brush. Drugstore.com has it. I've gone around with mascara but always come back to Lancome. They have a base coat/lash conditioner that makes the mascara go on easier and say on very well without irritation. Another mascara that has worked well is Laura Mercier though it didn't thicken enough for me LOL. There are a few removers that work well. I find I need more than one. Lancome's Bi Facil is my longtime staple. It gets most any eye make up off very easily. But then I go over my eyes with the Eye Scrub Lyban linked above -- also from drugstore.com It's sterile in sealed pouches and removes the little bits. I also sometimes use Klorane Floral lotion which is very mild. My eye lids were awfully dry a few years ago -- my skin has become dryer over all. I use Mario Badescu Special Eye Cream V every night. It's sheer and doesn't irritate. Mario Badescu, in NYC., is a salon that makes their own products which are quite gentle. I order those online and usually wait till they have a % off sale and free shipping around holidays. Their emails let you know. They are the best quality/value I've found overall for skin care and the choices are extensive. They have 8 different eye creams depending on skin needs. They also give free samples with order. And their Glycolic Foaming face wash removes all traces of makeup after the two removers -- but leaves skin moist. But there's a whole menu of those too, geared to skin type. I also really love their face creams -- it's hard for me to get any that really moisturize but theirs do. So many suggestions! Will be interesting to see what you like.

I don't think it would be weird at all to paint the whole wall white (or any other colour) including the chair rail (that's the line of trim around the walls. The idea is that it protects the walls from being marred by a chair being pushed back from the table). Of you don't like the chair rail you could check under the one on the dividing wall; if the wall under it is nice you could probably take it right off with no problem. You might have some nail holes to fill but that's pretty easy. I really like white walls with oak trim. There are a lot of nice examples of it here on houzz.

Thanks for the feedback on the furniture/rug, I never would have known about that! Yeah, my initial thought/idea was to keep the planks, painting them white; also agree with dark staining the beams! I like the current wood color up there for the planks, but I really want wood flooring, so I’m worried it’s too many wood colors clashing so that was my thought behind making the space between the beams white. I was planning on using the island for prep as well for that very reason (not much counter space), so I’ll definitely be looking to have drawers and cabinets on the island and toe kicks. Not sure if there are other things I should consider for prep (pullout cutting board?)...