I wish I had more time to dream up my kitchen, but you know, I probably would have exploded our kitchen budget. In my case I only had time to go to the Big Blue store and the Big Orange store- so I wasnt faced with tons of possibilities that potentially would have paralyzed me. And I got sticker shock, overcame it and ordered. Even now I am wishing I had gotten up the guts to price out glass doors, and nicer door styles. I think my kitchen is pretty good to go! I have 2 antique stained glass lantern lights for the kitchen, plus 4 pot lights installed. We are using the historic heart pine flooring that was original to the house, and I plan to purchase crystal replica knobs for the cabinets. We dont have a backsplash in our budget. We dont have granite in our budget either...but after thinking of getting formica for a bit until we had the money to upgrade, I decided I never would get around to it- so I want it done now. Thats going to be our budget buster. But I see your point on the appliances. I will get those purchased in the next 2 weeks....I think. New question- when the appliances are delivered...our renovation house is 10 min away from our current house. All day long it is a parade of laborers. Should I be worried about appliances sitting in the house waiting to be installed? I would think they will be ok b/c they are so big...but maybe they will get taken. Oh dear- this is going to be a timing issue. Coordinating the delivery with the delivery of the cabinets.

"He had split with his pregnant girlfriend to be with me" OK, when I read this I knew it was headed towards a train-wreck...lovely way to start a relationship. "He expected me to take all the roles as a mum, work, and also carry on with university at age of 19/20. " He is wrong to expect this but more importantly you were a complete fool to agree to do it. "I am now 22 and i am expecting my first born..." Well I was about to tell you "get out before it's too late...but apparently it is. I still think you'd be better off...your "man" is an abusive jerk who is taking advantage of you and has for years...and for the record, I am not a man-hating woman or anything...I am a man in my 40's who is embarrassed that so many men take this approach (i.e. try to get their GFs to take care of their kids while they do what they want to do) Run away...as far as you legally can...from this guy (remember, it is his child, he does have legal rights to it, if he wants). It might be hard in the beginning but in the long run you will probably be better off. Sorry to come off so blunt....maybe if people had over the last few years you would not be in this position....good luck.

T's are allowed. There's no specific requirement to daisy chain things. Be careful not to exceed the box fill on the box you're teeing from. Don't forget that 120V receptacles in garages that are at or below grade require GFCI and you need to make sure that if you're using a GFCI receptacle that it is correctly placed in the circuit to protect the rest.

Some of our fabrics these days are just not that high of quality and will wear out quickly. If you are using an powder with sodium percarbonate (oxygen bleach) it will lighten clothing eventually. I hope the real laundry experts come by, but this is what I do. for darks, I wash on warm to very warm, on a permipress type cycle. Never "Normal" or "Regular" because those cycles are rough and are only there to meet the standards set forth for the energy star ratings, I believe. They will be harder on the clothes. Use a detergent designed for darks, such as powdered Cheer. There is a bit of oxygen bleach in the Cheer, but it is there to neutralize the household water chlorine. Its not there to provide whitening. Or you could use a liquid for darks such as Peroll for blacks, but that gets expensive if you have a lot of laundry. I usually dry by hanging or on a gentle cycle, lower heat. Dryers kill fabrics on high temps. I have several black slacks for work that are poly with stretch, and they look about as good as the day I bought them 4 years ago. They get washed weekly in Peroll on warm (104f) or very warm (120f) water and hung to dry. The threads are starting to wear. For medium colors, I use something like Cheer powder, or Peroll for colors, or Miele powder for colors. Again, on warm or very warm, and dry on lower heat. For whites, I use an oxygen bleach in my powder detergent. I still have a bunch of Persil Powder left and use it for all heavy duty cleaning. They don't make the powder any longer so I stocked up. Tide has a variety of powders. I use hot hot water. My hand towels get washed in 190f temps, because the are used on our working farm by my DH with grimy hands. The other whites get washed in 140f temps, which is my Hot cycle. My whites include my DH tee shirts, socks, and shorts, in addition to my white bath and kitchen linens. Sheets get washed in hot water (140f), even if they recommend cold. Hot water gets the body oils out of fabric. I use a gentler detergent then Persil, such as Grab Green. They have enzymes and some oxy, but no brighteners. I also use Le Blanc Linen Wash liquid sometimes. It smells good, but is expensive and sometimes I get tired of the smell, lol. For delicate clothing, I use Purex liquid, the one without any enzymes or brighteners. I use a hand wash cycle, and hang to dry. Cool water. Wools, silks, and down, I'll use a product made for those fibers and feathers. If there is no enzyme in the detergent it should be ok, but you have to know what to look for on the bottles to determine this.