March 1998

Between friends

Rugs to the Rescue

Rescue floors from a chronic case of the doldrums. Start with an inexpensive rug, then add paint, fabric, or yarn in the colors, patterns, and sizes that suit your room.

Rainbow of Stars

Help for problem windows

In an ideal world, windows are every room's eye-drawing focal point. But what about those real-life windows that are awkwardly positioned on the wall? Or oddball sizes that are hard to dress? Figure-flattering window treatments-- some involving furniture placement-- provide the solutions. For instance, the contemporary bank of plate glass windows (above) brings the outdoors in but can be too bright on sunny days. The windows are too close together to hang curtains without overlapping and covering the wood casings.

PERSONALITY kitchens

There's no denying the popular appeal of the all-white, big-island-in-the-middle kitchen. But if clean and pristine leave you ho-hum, there are ways you can add pizzazz with individual touches. Creating a space that reflects your personality means tuning into your tastes, using treasured items, and taking chances. Follow the lead of these three homeowners, whose kitchens say something special about them.

Great Divides

Moving to a bigger house or adding on can be costly ways to get that extra room or two you need. Here's a cheaper, simpler strategy: Customize the space you have with a handsome, hardworking room divider. Whether crafted from scratch or assembled with ready-built components, room dividers are smart strategies for putting your home back in step with the way your family lives now.

Silent No More

Many evenings when you're outside emptying the garbage, sweeping the deck, or shoveling your snowy sidewalk, you hear one of your neighbors shrieking at her children. The children are screaming and crying. The sounds leave you uneasy. Some evenings it's so bad you retreat back into your house. You worry, yet do nothing.

Lessons from a One-Room School

I graduated from one of the last one-room schoolhouses in Iowa-- Welcome Township, Schoolhouse Number Three. When asked what school I attended, I gave the simple answer: "Welcome Number Three."

Should You Fear Your Air Bag?

Rob Sanders was out for a drive in October 1995 with his daughter Alison, 7, at his side. Sanders, piloting a three-week-old Dodge Caravan, missed a red light. He tried to stop, but his minivan collided with another vehicle in the intersection. According to investigators, Sander's minivan was traveling at less than 10 mph, but the impact was still enough to trigger the air bags.

Read the label

Take a close look at the label on any household cleaning product or pesticide and you may find yourself awash in incomprehensible chemical formulas and tough-to-follow safety and use instructions. That's changing. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) teamed up with the makers of household products to launch the Consumer Labeling Initiative, a partnership to make labels easier to understand.

Energy Star Home Office

Personal computers can answer your phone, receive faxes, and turn on the lights when you come home at night. But not without power. Earlier generations of computers had to be left on and fully operational to perform round-the-clock duties, and that meant they were constantly consuming energy.

Quieting the Noisy House

Good noise is that dreamy Bach accompanying your dinnertime preparations. Bad noise is a teen's rock and roll knifing right through your bedroom walls.

Driveway Dress Up

From the front curb, the yard, and probably even the living room window, your driveway is one of the most prominent features on your home's exterior. So when Ted Jennings and Gloria Duncan planned a detached garage and driveway for their Victoria, British Columbia, home, good looks figured prominently in their design scheme.

Nostalgic Reading

Flowering Trees

SMART GARDENING

EDITOR'S CHOICE

LOOKING GOOD

PAWPAW CENTRAL

UPDATE

TEST GARDEN TIP

Gilding the garden

Mellow yellow? Not likely. Not the way Vickie Braman uses its glow to light up her garden. She finds that yellow and gold flowers give a sunny border real oomph and make a shady garden shine. And she uses gilded foliage to illuminate even when flowers fail.

BRANCHES full of BLOSSOMS

A flowering tree is about as big a bouquet as you are going to find. Surround such ornamentals with flowering shrubs and lace them with perennials to form a layered landscape, as blooms cascade from 30 feet up right down to your toes. The wide-canopied Kwanzan cherry

The Look of Luxury for a lot less

Some people have boats or expensive cars; others travel. Lynda Turner has horses. Which leaves little room in the family budget for this champion rider's second passion: decorating. Her furniture allowance literally "went up in oats," she says.

Sunshine kitchens

The sun can lift our spirits and fill a room with life and light. But there's more to gaining sunny comfort than pumping daylight through massive walls of glass. When you script your next remodeling plan, consider your home's character first, then imagine how adding splashes of sunshine will make it stronger. Here's how three families improved their kitchens by introducing daylight.

Daylighting TIPS YOU CAN USE

Consider these strategies for creating sunny spaces in your own home.

Made-to-order Master Suites

Nutrition Information

Our seal assures you that every recipe has been tested in the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen. This means that each recipe is practical and reliable, and meets our high standards of taste appeal.

Making music

Get your family band jamming with instruments made from items found around the house. Turn a flowerpot into a gong. For a drum, all you need are a tuna can and balloon. Add a little background rhythm with a shaker made from a film canister. Then, exercise your lungs and creativity by singing silly lyrics to familiar tunes. And parents: Music helps improve kids' motor, social, math, and science skills.

Music! Music! Music!

The man next door