Hi Steve, To address your original questions about soil heat cables.......we live in a very cold climate here in Wyoming at over 6,000' elevation with winter temps as low as -40 degrees F. We have not used soil heat cables in an outside grow box - but did decide to experiment with a grow box inside our unheated GH. We bought the cable length we needed based on the area we wanted to cover - 30" X 96" and according to the spacing the cable manufacturer recommended. We followed instructions and mounted the cable to 1/2" hardware cloth and then mounted the hardware cloth to cattle panel for extra stability and ease of moving/storing. We purchased a thermostat and set the temperature at 55 degrees F and placed the cable buried 4"s in a raised bed within our GH and made a polycarbonate cover to create a box with lids. We tried to grow salad veggies during the winter months - November thru March. The daytime temps in the GH on a sunny day were between 30-70 degrees F even when OS temps were 0 degrees F so I would raise or remove the lid during the day and cover the box at night when OS temps were as low as -30 degrees F and IS GH temps as low as around 0 degrees F. The soil heat cables were usually only running during the night so I did not notice much difference in our electricity bill. The photo below was taken on January 31st. We are in Zone 3 where danger of frost remains through June 1st and there is snow on the ground usually through April but we have had snow and frost in every month of the year during cold spells. I think most would agree the experiment was a success! The cons in my opinion is the cost of the cables, wire and thermostat and the daily covering/uncovering of the lid (although the polycarbonate only needed to be removed on sunny days because of the heat build-up). When I retire I may do this every winter but for now - it is nice to have a winter break from the GH. We also use the Soil Heat Cable as a germination mat on top of the soil in the GH in February - March as an overflow box from our inside grow lights - that works well too. We are building grow boxes this year OS for our squash and other warm weather plants and appreciate your design!

Another option would be to use a wireless fan/light control switch that would control the fan and light separately. This allows you to switch both the fan speeds and dim lights. IÂve installed close to 50 of these in where instead of running 3 wire w/ground to the Fan location from the switch to replace the 2 wire w/ground. At the switch location you just connect the black (Hot) to the black going up to the fan (this makes it hot all the time at the fan location for the receiver). White to whites and ground with grounds. At the fan just follow directions from the package. Wireless receiver black to black for power to the receiver, white to white, blue to fan blue and black to fan black. The only drawback IÂve had with these is the size of the receiver. Sometimes itÂs tough to fit it on certain fans as it doesnÂt really fit in the boxes. It basically needs to fit in the canopy of the fan. As others have said what you had was UNSAFE and could potentially hurt someone or worse. Full Disclosure: I'm not a fan of home cheapo but I do like this switch. Nor do I work for Hampton Bay nor do I own stock in either company. Here is a link that might be useful: Hampton Bay Wireless Ceiling Fan Remote Control

Thank you everyone :) Painting the walls AND ceiling seems to make the room look a little taller (or maybe that's just wishful thinking). The unpainted beadboard was just sucking all the light out of the room. This is now a pretty and live able room. stinky gardener, Thank you. I will check out those stores next time I'm in town. Some nice fat, fluffy towels are definitely needed. Once I have those, and make the window treatment and cushion cover, it will all be tied together. jenangelcat, the photos you posted really gave me some inspiration.Thanks gmp3, Thank you. The electrical will get hidden when we redo the entire room one day. I get a "kick" out of working with a small budget, and reusing what I can. I even trimmed out the window with old molding from a door frame (it was broken but there was plenty there for the window).

Wireless telephone, modem and printer. Slid the desk a few inches away from the wall and purchased an elongated basket into which the surge protectors, plugs and transformers rest. Just need to keep air around the transformers so they don't get hot. Only wire on the desk is the power for the computer and for the mouse (which could be wireless but I prefer wired), plus cord for a lamp and radio. Printer is actually in the closet. If you're handy, you can purchase those plastic cord housings. You drill a hole, insert a correspondingly sized ring which is sufficiently large to pass plugs through then an insert fills the remaining space with a notch for the wires. I know Rockler has them. Then you clip the wires to the underside so they don't hang. Hope that helps - I know the wires are a mess, you should see behind the stereo!