Wow Them with Wainscots
Wainscots are back, with more variety than ever. These trims reach only part way up a wall to visually lower high ceilings, add interest to walls that have no built-in character, or simply provide some decorating punctuation to your design statements. For instance, wall coverings and borders like the ones shown here become instant wainscots when hung at chair-rail height instead of at the ceiling.
Read ArticleThere's Room in the Attic
If there is enough headroom, an attic conversion can be one of the most cost effective and inviting ways to significantly increase indoor living space.
Read ArticleA Designer's Own Kitchen
Twin islands are at the heart of a kitchen designer's own idea-filled remodeling project.
Read ArticleBanquette Seating
When seating is the issue and you feel like limited space has your back against the wall, discover the benefits of adding a banquette.
Read ArticleNew Landscaping Book
Home Landscaping: Plants, Projects, and Ideas for Your Yard is a 1996 release from the editors of Better Homes and Gardens Books. This 288-page hardcover title includes complete, comprehensive, and reliable information on planning and planting beautiful landscapes to reflect your individual tastes.
Read ArticleLeaves and Acorns Birdhouse
With careful planning, your backyard can become a natural gathering place for a host of colorful birds and butterflies. All you need are wildlife-pleasing plants and an assortment of houses and feeders. Our Leaves and Acorns Birdhouse Kit (pictured above) can be a first step toward creating a backyard bed-and-breakfast for wildlife.
Read ArticleHow to Build a Pot Pergola
You can transform a potted vine from a spill-over creeper into a reach-the-sky climber when you give your plant a vertical structure to latch on to. Here is how to build a classic container-size pergola from readily available material in less than an hour-- and for less than $25.
Read ArticleOut-of-Sight Delight
Jan Waltemath gardens "down in a little bowl," as she puts it, alongside not one but two suburban streets. Before she laid out her extensive gardens, she-- not her landscape-- was on display, and her main view was not of flowers but of asphalt. Here is how she provided for her perennials... and for her privacy.
Read ArticlePathways
When you are out among the tulips, to tiptoe without a wet toe, one needs a path. A walkway, however, does much more than keep you dry and steady. It provides organization, transition, and even inspiration-- because the path is where garden design begins.
Read ArticleGetaway Bedrooms
Stop dreaming about finding that perfect hideaway cabin or country inn. The great escape you've been longing for could be mere steps away-- to a bedroom designed with getaway appeal in mind. Let the schemes on these pages put your own dreams in motion. These rooms are both beautiful and affordable-- and they pamper with the amenities you normally have to make reservations to enjoy.
Read ArticleHigh on Style
You'd swear that Franz and Susan Pielmeier paid a premium for the striking one-of-a-kind home they built recently in Connecticut, but they got by for $90 per square foot-- little more than the cost of a bare-bones tract house. Working with an architect who knows how to cut corners without stinting on style, the Pielmeiers gained a 2,400-square-foot showplace, complete with ample romping room for daughters Katherine and Madeline and a separate suite for Franz's mother, Paula.
Read ArticleAmerican SPIRIT
With Old Glory waving in the breeze and a patriotic palette indoors, this Massachusetts home all but wears a made-in-the-USA label. But that's just the start. The American spirit that energizes and refreshes this home's design is nothing less than the old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity of its young owners, Elizabeth and Stephen Robinson.
Read ArticleLighting ABCs
A good lighting plan includes at least three types of lighting. Each type serves a different purpose, and each purpose can be accomplished with a number of different of products. Before you start working on a lighting plan, familiarize yourself with these varieties of lighting:
Read ArticleNutrition information
With each recipe, we give important nutrition facts. You'll find the calorie count of each serving and the amount, in grams, of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fiber, and protein. You can also check the levels of each recipe serving for vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron.
Read ArticleGarnish Like a Pro!
Perky fruit and vegetable garnishes will make colorful, elegant, and nutritious additions to your meals. Here are two products chosen especially for the readers of Better Homes and Gardens magazine that will help hone your garnishing techniques.
Read ArticleEndless Summer
OK, we admit it. A shiny new convertible isn't the first car that comes to mind when you need Basic Family Transportation. But what if you're a driver who never wants summer to end?
Read ArticleBack to School
Polish up those apples, kids! Sharpen those pencils, and write your name neatly in the corner of every notebook. It's time for school. Turn the page for information that will help you and your parents have a great year.
Read ArticleThe Shopper's Mart
Discover the ease and pleasure of shopping by mail. Order from the convenience of your own home with complete confidence.
Read ArticleThe man next door
Bill and Isabel Norman have discovered that the quickest way to put a damper on a weekend getaway is for one of the kids to wonder aloud, "Did someone remember to turn off the iron?"
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