July 1997

Between friends

Four Star Armoires

Start with a basic armoire, unfinished or just outdated. Fitted with shelves, drawers, a hanging rod, or a computer tray, it becomes the ideal storage piece for almost any room in the house.

Get tacky

IF YOU ASSOCIATE UPHOLSTERY TACKS WITH THE 1970S, DIMLY LIT DENS, AND SHINY VINYL UPHOLSTERY, IT'S TIME TO LOOK AGAIN. NAILHEAD TRIMS, FROM PINHEAD TO QUARTER-SIZE, ARE SHOWING UP ON EVERYTHING FROM WINDOW AND WALL TREATMENTS TO PICTURE FRAMES.

A High-Spirited, Low-Budget Kitchen

The purchase of a new refrigerator for a Chicago, Illinois, home blossomed into a total kitchen makeover when the new fridge didn't fit the room's old design.

Stretching Your Remodeling Dollar

We all want our $10,000 remodeling projects to look like a million bucks. That may be a fantasy, but there are ways to maximize your budget.

We're Growing Our Web Site

Better Homes and Gardens Online is growing bigger and better every day with interactive help for all the needs of your home and family.

Pretty PAVING

Your driveway can be more than just a way to get to the garage; it can also be your home's welcome mat. If the first impression your driveway creates is a featureless, static expanse of asphalt or concrete, you may want to consider warming up your home's curb appeal with one of these eye-catching approaches.

Electronic Advantage

Will a Home Computer Help Your Child Learn?

It's a Small (Stressful) World

What every parent needs to know about children and stress

REVERSING WATER POLLUTION

Environmentally Cool

A Bird-Friendly Backyard

The Affordability Quest

Young families discouraged by the $20,000 average price of a new car often turn to the small-car category to find one they can afford. Fortunately, these models have improved since the days when "compact car" meant a rough ride in a cramped econobox with an engine that developed more noise than horsepower.

It's Christmas in July!

The temperature outside says it's time for lemonade, but crafters know it's time to get started on gifts for Christmas. Look over this collection of stunning designs, and order our kits and project plans to whittle away at your gift list.

Taking the Edge Off

Nothing makes a graphic statement like linear shapes and right angles. But, when left on their own, straight lines leave an arrangement feeling cold and untouched. For more artful groupings, throw in a curve-- one rounded form that softens a wall of hard edges.

Container Gardening

This book showcases one of the few gardening topics equally suited to the country and the city.

Perfect Pairs--Color and Contrast

EDITOR'S CHOICE

SMART GARDENING

UPDATE

A Little Bit of You, A Little Bit of Green

TEST GARDEN TIP

Simply Charming

can look different from every other garden with an investment only of yourself. No, you don't have to write checks with commas in them to personalize your landscape.

Containers that say Welcome

Outdoor pots can be "landscaped" just like the rest of your own personal outdoors. And these planted containers can be worked into your larger landscape to dress up existing plantings. One way to heighten the drama of these two features is to place the containers by the front door. Plantings such as a pink mandevilla skirted in English ivy (above) can be made to complement a border of hardy garden mums and a basket of blooming ivy geranium. Now doesn't that make a fine how-do-you-do?

DECORATING at ease

For these New Yorkers, as for many of us, a new life phase sparked a new decorating phase. With their children grown, Don and Saundra could focus on creating a more personal, casual style for their new shingle-style cottage.

Bringing the family together

Two careers, two preschoolers, and two kids in college used to leave Janet Davy and Dennis Drake too little time to plan elaborate family vacations. But building a vacation home at The Homestead resort in Glen Arbor, Michigan, changed that. Now family members have no reservations about packing their bags and heading off for a group getaway.

PERFECT 10 For Master Baths

Perfection in bath design isn't just a matter of style. It ins't only about hard-edged contemporary, lacy Victorian, or Precisely trimmed traditional. A flawless design scores a perfect 10 if it anticipates your every need by mastering the 10 elements common to winning baths. Few rooms follow every one of these rules, but each of the three baths in the pages ahead earns medals on several counts.

Nonstick Grilling

Crockery Cooker Alert

BH&G kids

It's a timeless tradition: the annual (or weekly) trek to the beach to frolic in the sand and surf. We have some ideas to make your day in the sun even brighter. Explore the next few pages to find crafts, activities, and tips for your next beach outing.

The Beach Book and Beach Bucket Set

The Shopper's Mart

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

The man next door