April 2000

Landscaping Videos

Weekend Edition

EDITORS' CHOICE PLANT GUIDE

Rate-Your-Mate Decorating Quiz

BH&G TV

Pull up a chair and tune in to Better Homes and Gardens Television with our entertaining hosts Michael and Heidi Spound. Meet friendly experts who will share their distinctive home ideas and delectable recipes. Then trek over to the BH&G Test Garden with Chris Dawson and discover how to gain a full season of pleasure from your spring plantings.

between friends

Statement Pieces

Add eye-catching impact to a space that lacks focus with a cleverly embellished piece of unfinished furniture.

Powder Room Redos

Don't simply powder your nose-- touch up the whole powder room. These tiny baths are just the right size for trying on fun fabrics, designs, and colors.

The Hottest Collectibles

Decorating with vintage found objects can bring warmth and personality to any room. Here's a guide to hunting, gathering, and using pieces of the past.

Flowers with Mass Appeal

There's power in numbers-- flower power, that is. Pick one or just a few varieties and bundle them together in small, compact shapes for the latest look in flower arranging.

Exterior Motives

Little details often make the biggest difference on a home's exterior. Here's how three homeowners spruced up the curbside appeal.

Two Great Galley Kitchens

These kitchens, once dark and dated, turned into bright, stylish, storage-savvy rooms-- all without giving up on the galley.

More than $90,000 in Cash and Prizes Offered Enter the Better Homes and Gardens 2000 Home Improvement Contest

Whether you're redecorating a bedroom or starting a major remodeling job, your home improvement project may rate a top award.

Arranging Houseplants

How does your indoor garden grow? Not all in a row anymore. When houseplants are placed in thoughtful compositions, they lend new life to your rooms.

Shimmering Shade Garden

Where sun is a premium in your landscape, you need not restrict yourself to hostas. We've created an exclusive garden using many of the colorful blooms shown in our story on pages 163-168. Please order early; availability of this collection is strictly limited, and we ship orders on a first-come, first-served basis.

Twilight Garden

Pull up a comfortable chair and soak in the sensations of twilight in your garden with this collection of plants that thrive in the evening hours. You'll especially enjoy how their white flowers glow and their perfumes scent the air. Please order early; the quantities of this collection are strictly limited, and we ship orders on a first-come, first-served basis.

Dressmaker Pillows

There's nothing complicated about sewing high-style accent pillows when the materials you use are luxurious fabrics in sophisticated colors. The secret is in matching unusual fabrics, such as silk, satin, or synthetic suede, with a common dressmaking detail, such as appliqué or pleating-- or in subtly mixing color and texture. Look to apparel fabrics at your local fabric store for inspiration, but make sure the fabrics you choose are washable, durable, and not easily wrinkled or raveled.

Living Out Back

To gain the extra elbowroom you crave, create a home suite behind your home sweet home.

If it ain't got that swing

Best Little Garden Shed

Mother's Day Gifts

Assist Homeless Children in a Beautiful Way

Decked Out

Getting out of the kitchen or dining room and into the open air to entertain can be a delight, but it also requires a bit of resourcefulness. These practical ideas will keep your deck party looking fresh and uncluttered.

Energy-Saving Uplights

Halogen torchères, those popular lighting fixtures that have brightened more than 40 million rooms across the United States, made big news in 1997 when the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that the lamps caused 189 fires and 11 deaths.

Beating Back the Bully

Like the wild beasts of nature, bullies have an instinctive knack for identifying and preying upon weaker kids. Steven (not his real name) was an ideal victim. Having been born with a congenital heart defect, the 12-year-old had never been allowed to participate in the traditional sports most kids take for granted. He had never been able to defend himself when other kids wanted to wrestle.

Family Meetings

"We have a motion by Brian, seconded by Amy, that the main course of every dinner be chocolate ice cream. All those in favor say, 'Aye.'"

Five-Star Crash Safety

Volkswagens excel. Vince and Larry, the crash test dummies, have good days and bad days at work, just like the rest of us. In the crash test business, a good day occurs when your ride happens to be a five-star car. Vehicles that qualify for this exclusive club offer the best crash protection based on the government's rating scale of one to five stars.

A Delicious Dogwood

test garden tips

perfect pairs

smart gardening

looking good

Growing Up & Showing Off

Vines need, above all, a stairway toward heaven. A vine pole is often the best perch for climbing posies, because these structures hold flowers high while keeping the plant wholly in the sun. Grow a vine up a tree and, of course, the tree casts a shadow on the vine. Vine poles have one more advantage over trees: You can paint a vine pole any color you please.

Shimmering in the Shade

Forget about struggling to grow grass under towering trees. Take a figurative step beyond that circle of hostas in the shade of your pines. And bare mulch? Why bother? Wherever you are blessed (yes, blessed) with the cool respite of shade, there you may grow flowers. Scores of shade-loving perennials-- such as these anemones (above)-- bloom bountifully with only a modicum of sun.

New Looks for containers

Container gardens are like a vase of flowers that you set on a deck or doorstep. But these welcoming bouquets in oversized pots, blending colorful foliage plants and flowers, last all summer long. Duplicate one of our plans, or design your own.

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Relax kicked-back cottage style

After a hectic career as a husband-and-wife real estate team, Merry and Chris Krueger wanted to get off the fast lane. Their exit led to this modest Wisconsin lake cabin, which they filled with familiar things that encourage slowing down, taking notice, and sinking in. See how they created a classic cottage style that's worlds away from everyday worries.

Sunrooms

Adding a sunroom is almost like moving outdoors. What other room lets you soak your toes in pools of warm sunshine no matter which way you turn your chair? And where else can you stretch the "indoors" clear out to the horizon by lining your walls with glass-- and leaving the windows beautifully bare? If your house hems you in every time the mercury dips or the days grow short, break out of the box with a sun-snatching annex that lets you bask in blue-sky brightness the year-round. For inspiration, check out the smart design strategies in these four easy-living sunrooms.

ICE CREAM MOLD OFFER

SPRINGFORM PAN OFFER

VEGGIE KIT OFFER

Breathe Easy

Genetic Testing: Is It For You?

A tragic family history led Amy Herman on a search for clues about her own future. Amy, who asked that we not use her real name, had two maternal aunts die of breast cancer in 1964. Both were diagnosed before age 50. Then, in 1968, her mom got ovarian cancer and died three years later at age 56.

pint-sized Palaces

Have you dreamed of living in a castle? How about a playhouse with a window box packed with flowers? Create a home of your own with a cardboard box, paper sacks, or a bedsheet.

The Shopper's Mart

the family next door