March 2001

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BH&G TV

For many of us, March brings a longing to shake off the winter doldrums. One of the best ways to lift those March blues is to watch Better Homes and Gardens Television. This month, host Jeanette Trompeter will take you to places that are anything but dull. Relax under swaying palm trees in Jamaica, stroll along the gorgeous beaches of Miami, and sample some fresh fruits and vegetables at San Francisco's famous Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market.

Between friends

Shooting Galleries

Ready, aim, fire up a blank wall with focal-point photo displays. Even amateur snapshots can look like fine art when you surround them with big mats and paint the walls to become part of the picture.

Dress Up Closet Doors

Though closet doors may hide a multitude of sins, they don't have to be unsightly or uninspiring. Whether flat or paneled, ordinary bifold doors perk up with the help of simple embellishments. A little paint, fabric, and wood trim are all you need to transform doors-that-bore into movable style statements that reveal your good taste while concealing your clutter.

Decorating with beads

A need for casualness-- but an interest in the upscale-- has us clinging to slipcovers while yearning for sophistication. Try one of these beading projects to heighten your style a notch.

Larger than Life

Size matters. You don't want the busiest room in the house to feel cramped. Here's how Steve and Donna Bashwiner's stunning Tuscan-style kitchen uses some unconventional design savvy to make the space seem larger than it really is.

Solarium-Style Dining Room

Small-Space Baths

Small is beautiful-- especially for bathrooms. These three modest-size bathing beauties are anything but ordinary in the ways they conquer inner space.

Bath Accessories

Small but Strong

Honda's 2001 Civic coupe becomes one of the first two passenger cars ever to earn top five-star ratings in all four parts of the federal government's crash tests. Civic joins the Volvo S80 sedan in this exclusive safety club.

School Choice

Just as consumers comparison shop for everything from the lowest interest rates to the best long-distance plans, it should come as no surprise that parents are increasingly shopping around for the best schools for their children. But they no longer have to look only to the private sector for choice. Charter schools, magnet schools, and open enrollment policies are giving parents choices among schools, while staying within the public school system. A neighborhood school is not the only public option anymore. Parents now have more information about school performance, and can pick accordingly.

Battle of the Bedtimes

Wendy Dunn fights a battle every night and loses-- to her 3-year-old daughter, Hailey. Dunn, mother of four from Sandpoint, Idaho, cannot get her daughter to sleep in her own bed. Hailey and her three older brothers all get ready for bed at the same time. But when it's time for "lights out," the fight begins. Hailey does not want to sleep alone.

Size-Savvy Craftsman

Make blank walls bloom

Somewhere in your yard there's a stretch of wall that needs more than a coat of paint to light up and shine. Between the bathroom window and the chimney? The side of the garage? Whatever the location, the problem is the same-- expanse of blankness. In the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden, we've filled in the blanks with flowering vines, such as clematis Nelly Moser (above). They cover big spaces, they're graceful, and, best of all, they bloom. But when a wall needs repair or repainting, vines get in the way.

A Seedy Character

Smart gardening

Test garden tip

Karen's carefree combos

Karen Strohbeen is an artist both in her rural Iowa studio and in the color-saturated landscape surrounding it. Here is how she combines perennials in her flower beds-- her talented eye always gauging texture, silhouette, and, of course, color.

Carefree Combos to Go

We've done the shopping for you! The combinations of perennials, roses, and bulbs in our story (pages 118 to 126) are available here. From Carroll Gardens and Van Bourgondien, collections are exclusively for our readers and not offered in stores. Most plants will bloom this year, but showier performances will be saved for subsequent years as plants mature. Each collection costs $109.95, which includes shipping, handling, and applicable sales tax.

Top 10 easy roses

Bad luck with roses? Maybe it's not you. Maybe it's the roses. If you grow old-- and tough-as-nails old-fashioned-- roses, however, you can just about plant them and forget them. The only thing you do have to do is stand back to give them room to flower.

Sunshine state

If contemporary decorating sends a shiver up your traditionalist spine, then this friendly Florida home should put you in a warmer state of mind. Airy rooms, abundant windows, and year-round sun aren't its only assets. Arleen Rotchin (above, left) combined classic and exotic furnishings with a minimalist black-and-white palette to create an updated take on "cottage"-- Palm Beach style.

Better than brand new

Like many cottages of the 1920s, this Southern California beach house was a tight fit even for a family of four. Measuring just 1,097 square feet, its interior contained dark, tiny rooms that made the house feel smaller still. But current owner Sandi Zarcades fell in love with its dollhouse charm. "I love the simplicity of it," she says. To preserve the charm yet put the house in sync with her lifestyle, Sandi consulted architect Jim Kelley and interior designer Laura Birns. Their scheme offers savvy tips for making any small house live large.

2 story Additions

Remodeling of the dual-level kind saves about half on roofing and foundation costs, compared to a single-level add-on of the same size. And if site space is tight at your house, building up may be the only way to go. The homes that follow, each a winner in our Home Improvement Contest, demonstrate two very different ways to raise your sights.

The Moody Cues

When that chocolate chip cookie calls out your name, or a pile of mashed potatoes beckons, go ahead and help yourself.

Games galore

Want to play? As winter wears on, fight cabin fever by making and playing our indoor games. Don't let the lingering cold and snow get you down-- homemade fun is right around the next page.

The Shopper's Mart

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

The family next door