August 1995

Between friends

Picture arranging

Ask anyone whose walls look as riddled as Swiss cheese from one misplaced nail too many: Hanging pictures is an art. With attention to scale and balance-- and our examples-- your framed collections will be a visual feast, rather than the meager afterthought, right.

Curfews

During the elementary school years, the most enviable child is the one with the latest bedtime. When the children become teens, curfew replaces bedtime as the ultimate symbol of privilege.

Our environment

Claiming environmental superiority for a new home is one thing, but proving it is another. Now, there's the Good Cents Environmental House certification program to help clear the air about how houses perform.

The Lost Art of Storytelling

Ever since humans first learned to speak, parents have told stories to their children. Storytelling has the power not only to entertain, but to teach, to heal, and to transmit traditions and family lore from one generation to the next. Yet in this electronic age, families are in danger of losing their storytelling heritage.

Gardener's almanac

Peony pleasure. Late summer marks the time for fresh starts from crowded peonies. Dividing peony clumps is easy; all you need are a digging spade or fork and a sharp knife. Lift plant crowns gently, shaking away excess soil. Look for swelling red growth buds, and cut the crown so each piece contains several buds. Plant crown sections only 1 or 2 inches deep and 8 inches apart. Divide other spring flowering perennials, such as bleeding-heart, dianthus, and lily-of-the-valley, in late summer or early fall.

Carefree beds

A BUSY FAMILY ENJOYS THREE SEASONS OF COLOR FROM BEDS THAT REDUCE MAINTENANCE WITH MULCH AND CLOSELY SPACED PLANTS.

A summer place

Summer places celebrate their own kind of back-to-basics simplicity: bare feet on sun-warmed floors, rain tapping on a tin roof, the quiet creak of old wicker. Judy and Glen Terbeek have a summer place like that, but they don't have to drive down a highway to get there. They just fling open the French doors in their great-room. Memories of summers on Nantucket Island inspired them to add a cottagelike family gathering space to their early-1900s house near Chicago.

The Quest for color

Steps away from the Delaware coastline, Polly and Walter Stark's house has an enviable location. Its design, however, lacks appeal. Their first thought? A bulldozer and a fresh start. Then common sense took hold. Avid gardener Polly decided instead to perk the dull interior landscape with her gardening know-how. By transplanting lots of color, friendly fabrics, and bright collectibles, she coaxed the homely '50s colonial to blossom.

Decorating with paper

See paper in a new light. Set it free from expected uses to roam the rest of the house in decorative ways. A natural for crafting by hand, paper benefits homekeeping with inviting textures and translucence. Here are nine ways to turn paper into decorative pieces that will lighten dark corners, create soft moods in a room, refresh the view, and, when illuminated from behind, entertain eyes with its transparent qualities.

Home of the year

That's the subtle message told through the medium of wood, stone, and glass in our award-winning 1995 Home of the Year. The design is a harmonious marriage of simplicity and complexity, inside and outside, high tech and low tech, public and private. This architecture will remain fresh for years to come. Conceptually, it's an elegant meditation on a common shape-- a square box. But there's nothing square about the house. Come explore this surprise package where lively angles, soaring spaces, and delicious daylight merge almost magically to delight the eye and the soul.

BH&G Kids

August is the time of year that's sometimes called the "dog days of summer." The meaning of the phrase comes from the position of the dog star, Sirius, and also from an old belief that the heat of summer causes dogs to go mad. It's not true, of course, but if you're going crazy looking for end-of-summer activities, here are a few good ideas to celebrate our four-legged friends.

The Shopper's Mart

Discover the ease and pleasure of shopping by mail. Order from the convenience of your own home with complete confidence.

The man next door

One of the laws of gardening I've discovered is that you always have plenty of help at planting time, but volunteers are scarce when there's weeding to be done.