Many good points have been made in this discussion including pointing to - adequacy of natural rainfall - hardness of water and need for maintenance - placement of sprinklers or emiters - benefits of conservation of water - evils of overwatering - use of mulch A couple more considerations not mentioned so far relate to soil and to shade. Where soil is extremely sandy, water can drain through easily meaning it is almost impossible to overwater. The corollary of course is that heavy soils loaded with clay can easily become waterlogged. Shade can also interfere mightily with natural rainfall. A heavy tree canopy can produce desert like conditions beneath even when there may be regular and reliable rainfall. Mulching has been shown to help retain the water in the soil (as well as prevent weed growth) but as one early post mentioned, mulch has the nasty habit of harbouring slugs. Taken altogether and applied to my situation ... I have a ready source of lightly fertilized (from farm field runoff) water in a river that flows through the property so it costs nothing more than electricity to move it. The soil is extremely sandy and well drained - any excess water applied simply runs through the sand and percolates through nature's filter into the water table. The hosta gardens are under heavy shade mostly from eastern white pines and require water or nothing would grow in that desert. Fighting slugs or fighting weeds is a subject for debate. I use mulch in gardens in full sun but with the hostas, I made a conscious choice to try to avoid slugs ... ergo no mulch. That combined with the falling needles has done a great job minimizing slug damage. But, it means generally a greater requirement for water and an ongoing (but generally very easy) task to keep any weeds removed. Most plants grow slowly or not at all in heavy shade so it is not much of a problem. I installed sprinkler heads that deliver significant amounts of river water universally across the whole garden even on the flagstone walks from early June through mid september. Initially I tried setting it for 1 inch per week delivered all at once. This was an abject failure as the water ran down through the sand and everything was bone dry within hours. After a series of experiments that I won't bore you with, I settled on 1/2 inch every second day. This seemed to work well enough though the results were not spectacular. It should be noted that hostas are pretty tough and can tolerate most conditions even semi drought though clearly they grow faster and look more verdant under ideal conditions. This year, using the adage that hostas can be drowned, I increased the watering to 1/2 inch daily. Now the results came in - all hostas showed tremendous growth, moss grew much better on all the granite rock and the garden has remained very attractive and healthy even this late (beginning of September) in the season. The first frost is just around the corner (probably by mid September) so I will shut down and drain the sprinkler system in two weeks. I don't think that any one approach will suit every garden. Each of us has to consider all the factors and make a choice which inevitably involves some compromises. About the only constant is that where nature does not provide sufficient rainfall, then the gardener must supplement it. Doug

GH's link for a review: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product-reviews/home-products/closet-organizing-system-reviews/diy-closet-organizers#slide-6 They review a few at different price points. I have purchased some awsome IKEA products. My favorite is a long bench I put on wheels and my kids use this everyday with toy bins underneath. It is laminated and very easy to clean and sturdy. If you near an IKEA spend a day and feel the products as every product is on display. I have seen some not so quality items but for the price.... Are you and IKEA family member? They give monthly discounts and offers via e-mail and you can log on to the website for the current offers at each store. Most of the systems are 2 person jobs though so make sure you recruit help. Good Luck with your decision!

I have Elfa ventilated shelves (and some drawers) in my pantry and laundry room both. I love them BUT I use liners so I don't have the wobbly issue going on. That would drive me crazy. Elfa's ventilated shelves, unlike what you can find at Lowe's, HD or Ikea, have the wires a lot closer together. They also "lock" into place so the wire part is sitting really firmly in the bracket - not just a piece of wood sitting on top of the shelf bracket. As far as organizing little things, Elfa has "shelf baskets" that you can put dividers in and stack stuff in if need be. In the pic below, I have one of those on the immediate left (3 shelves up) and above the counter top oven in the back. I use it for bags of baking stuff like chocolate chips, coconut, etc on the left and treats in the back. And I absolutely love their big drawers. Container Store's return policy is great too - anytime with a receipt and the best Elfa sales is 30% off all Elfa products. It starts Dec. 24th and goes through the end of January typically. There is one in the fall that isn't as good - 25% of Elfa Shelving. (No, I don't work for Container Store, I am just a big fan and will be buying some more Elfa stuff during their Dec. sale.) Here's a picture of our new pantry.

Hi daisychain, When we installed hardwood in the bedrooms a couple of years ago, we took off the sliding doors in 1 of the spare room, build pax cabinets and inserted them in the closet space. The doors are also ikea. There was a little bit of a gap in space, maybe 1" or so, going around the sides and top so had sone trim placed around to close up the opening.( not perfect along the top...need a better handyman;) As the room is small, we chose to leave 1 section open without a door for sone display. The drawers are kept empty for any guests. We were torn with using the sliders, but went this route. I think cost for entire setup @'$800 Cdn. FYI, Inside, we have a bar for hanging clothes w/ 1 shelf at top and 2 long drawers at the bottom.