I have most of my seeds in Binders. As time went by, I was doing a variation of following: Regular wide binder (with clips) with sheet protector pages (Avery) - I stapled them into three sections and from side inserted seed pkg. Then I used dividers to sort out these see trough pages with seeds into Perennials, Annuals etc. 2. From Lee Valey 'Seed Keeper' - expensive, but Christmas gift. This is similar idea of filing seed pkgs as above. 3. Value Village find: Binders made for recipe cards or business cards. Same system as above, but much easier and cheaper. These types are the best. Now I have different binders and keep each for different category i.e. Perennials etc. Just to enjoy looking at what I have, I just started on pinterest (see on Internet). Hope I gave you good ideas and you will be able to organize your seeds well. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Pinterest

The chemical soup of love for my (dog) kids is pretty darn close to the joy I feel when I get to work on my new island...so the word 'love' seems to roll off the tongue quite easily, although I'd take my kids any day over anything kitchen (and lots of other things for that matter :). But, this space is exactly what I wanted, and I really didn't care what was in or expected. The work spaces to the left and right of the stove are perfect for tons of reasons. And i love the 18" wide elevated 'L' clear of my work space and large enough to be a useable space all its own. Facing our open space and looking out front and side windows while prepping and cooking (as I do all prep, except rinsing, next to the stove) is the best feature. I hated staring at a wall while working in the kitchen...I feel set free from a claustrophobic prison. (can you tell I have some intense reactions to being boxed in? ;-). As soon as we elevate the island hood, all will be perfect!

"Let's face it, the "magazine homes" are occupied by the wealthy, it's hard to compete if that's your inclination." Hmmmmm...I'd say that may have been true before but in this day and age of blogging and sites like Apartment Therapy, there seem to be (to me, at least) lot of homes that are truly photogenic that are tiny or well appointed or very cleverly decorated utilizing a relatively small budget. My mom has always had a talent for decorating--I would say her home is pretty much always "photo ready" and much of it is from garage sales, refurbished, or even recycled curbside throwaways. Her sisters have equally beautifully decorated homes. I also enjoy the challenge of creating an asthetically pleasing home while staying within a budget. I would say the shared common denominator is a talent for finding objects that mesh well to form a kind of cohesive theme as opposed to simply having an unlimited budget to purchase the latest trends. Some of it is the ability to see and replicate patterns that tie rooms together. I can look at my mom's home and see how she uses what she has to tie in the view of her gardens (that my dad has worked so hard on) that we can all see from her living room windows and bring that into her home. It can be a kind of "tuning into your environment" in a kind of unconscious way (did I use that word correctly? Lol) that a lot of people lack. That being said, decorating is simply the ability to arrange objects in a pleasing manner. There are many talents I would kill to have; the trick is to enjoy the ones you are blessed with.

There are a bunch of places. If you want reviews check garden watchdog and you should be able to get a good feel of who's good and who is waving a red flag. For the more common bulbs I like Brent and Becky's, Van Engelen (and Scheepers), and I've heard good things about Colorblends. I bet you could search for a similar thread and get other suggestions.