Plants and design both grew on him

Engineering skill, love for growing things sparked creative spirit of Ryan Benoit EXPERTS AT HOUSECLEANING PITCH THEIR FAVORITE PRODUCTS

It’s been more than a decade since Ryan Benoit started renting a small house in La Jolla’s Bird Rock neighborhood. That move transformed both the renter and the home.

Benoit and his ex-wife, Chantel Aida Gordon, turned the sad, concrete-covered exterior into vibrant outdoor rooms filled with custommade, movable furniture and an array vertical gardens and plants.

The process unleashed Benoit’s creativity and love of plants, and the mechanical engineer is now a part-time entrepreneur and author.

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If only we could use one cleaning product to get our homes spick-and-span. Alas, it’s just not possible, says Carolyn Forte, home appliances and cleaning products director at Good Housekeeping.

“Different areas have different soils that need different cleaners,” she explains. “Multi-surface cleaners are the most versatile, cleaning counters, walls, appliances and more, but for bathrooms, carpets, windows and wood floors, you really need cleaners that are safe yet effective on those surfaces.” So we asked five expert cleaners, including a professional organizer and a housekeeper, what they keep in their housecleaning kits.

Organized people tend to be clean people, and Amber Kostelny, a professional organizer in Chicago, knows why: “The more organized someone is, the easier it is to clean. The less clutter is out, the easier it is to clean and sanitize surfaces.” One of her favorite

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K.C. ALFRED U-T PHOTOS Ryan Benoit invented Sky Pots, a plant hanging kit that stacks hanging plants, shown here at left, and made custom-built furniture in his home in La Jolla.