RG, I agree with Cynthia and Karyn. Except that I use 32-watt Philips cool white T8 bulbs instead of the 40-watt T12 bulbs. The T8 bulbs are more efficient. "Should I buy another timer and 2 surge protector power strips? Is that too much power on one outlet? Should it be on a designated outlet?" Your circuit breakers will answer that question for you. However, the timer and the surge protector power strips draw a negligible amount of current by themselves. "...so I went to Wal-Mart and bought three plastic 5-shelf shelving units..." My recommendation would have been a chrome wire adjustable shelf cart from Northern Tool. I have three of these units, and I use two of them as plant stands. (The other is used for storage, especially kitchen storage by my wife.) Northern Tool has free shipping on these items during certain periods of the year, and I have timed all three purchases to take advantage of that. Incidentally, you can position the shelves anywhere you want (in one-inch increments) on the steel posts. The pictured unit shows the bottom shelf very high from the floor, but I put my bottom shelves in the lowest position, just an inch above the big casters. That gives me the maximum space for my plants and fluorescent lights. In the past I have had disappointing experiences with plastic shelves. They have rather low strength and rigidity, and have become very "sway-backed" under load over time. The chrome steel Northern Tool shelves are very strong, and are rated for 1000 pounds total with the rubber casters. The big roller bearing casters let you move the loaded unit very easily. That's handy when you want to temporarily move the unit to access plants on the far side. I mount four 2-bulb shop lights over each shelf, which puts eight T8 bulbs over each shelf. It is convenient to hang the shop-light chains from the wires of the shelf above. I overdrive my fluorescents, to get 50% more light per bulb, which gives me the light-equivalent of 12 bulbs per shelf. That lets me grow extra large plants before setting them into the garden. Our short Maine growing season needs all the head start it can get. MM

My understanding is that If you are renting a residence in the United States, you must have a licensed electrician work do electrical work. If the outlets are worn, the contact with the plug might not be good. That can cause heat. Plugs pulling themselves part way out of outlets might be a partial cause. To many items on an extension cord could make these problems worse.

I can see ways to homebrew something like this. The potential problem I see, though, is that the cable connecting it is going to be concealed. If you have an extension cord hanging in your kitchen, you can see what kind of shape it's in. But if a flexible cable behind and under a drawer starts to wear or degrade with age, you won't know it. And there it is, surrounded by nice dry wood. Also, maybe I'm worrying too much, but don't forget that appliances sometimes fail in ways that cause heat or flame. Do you really want something plugged in and out of sight? I'm probably missing something, but I don't see a big convenience advantage to having a receptacle in a drawer There are (or should be) plenty of receptacles at the kitchen counter. You take the appliance out of the drawer and plug it in. Takes a few seconds. How about something like this as a compromise. Build a shelf under the counter where a drawer might otherwise be. Put a drawer-like drop-front on it. Install a receptacle on the inside near the door. You'll still have your appliance plugged in and out of sight, which I'd still be a bit uneasy about. However, you'd be able to wire the receptacle safely, without a flexible cord wearing every time you open the drawer.

I’ve heard it’s not great to leave things plugged in inside cabinets, maybe they could short out or something? The fact that it's in a cabinet is irrelevant. If a hair dryer shorts out while it's sitting on a towel on the sink out in the open, it may start a fire. If a plug works it's way loose from the outlet so that the prongs are slightly exposed and a bobby pin falls down and lands on the prongs and short circuits and a spark lands in the pile of tissues in the garbage can, it may start a fire. If those same things happen when the hair dryer is in a cabinet, it may start a fire. So if you were asking if you should unplug things when you aren't using them, then sure it's probably a little safer. Whether it's worth the slight risk for the slight inconvenience? That's a personal decision. It isn't a huge fire hazard and it has nothing to do with whether it's in a cabinet. If you pile flammable things on top of the hair dryer and outlet in that drawer and have to use force to close the drawer because there is so much stuff in it, then I'd suggest not doing that. :)