May 2001

Take great care of your home!

Home Solutions 2001

Grilling Tune-Up

Container Gardening

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BH&G TV

May Day is an international holiday that originated in ancient Europe. It was a festive holy day celebrating the first spring planting. The ancient Celts and Saxons observed May 1 as Beltane-- the day of fire-- in honor of Bel, the Celtic god of the sun. Games and feasting marked the end of winter, the return of the sun, and the fertility of the soil. This month the Better Homes and Gardens Television show turns up the heat for our own sun celebration.

Between friends

Decorating the Outdoors

Good design sense doesn't shut off when you step outdoors. Chances are you've had a few decorating ideas cross your mind as you cross the lawn.

Deck Rug Stencil

Flower Language

Bulbs Bursting in Air

Use an artful trio of prints to draw together elements of your decor-- like the bookcase and chair shown below. Begin by hanging the first print low to snuggle up to the arm of the chair. Then add the other two, vertically, to complement the line of the bookcase.

Tussie-mussies

Simply put, a tussie-mussie is a small bouquet. But the Victorians combined the scent and beauty of flowers and herbs with language, and elevated the tussie-mussie to a mode of communication. These examples will give you some ideas of how and where to use tussie-mussies. Then we'll show you how to make your own bouquet.

All-Occasion Tables

With a few accent pieces and a change of accessories, your prized vintage china can serve for casual meals or for more formal affairs. We've chosen three popular place settings to use on tables both low key and high style.

You've Got It Covered

Flaunt the great legs of an old bench or stool with a fresh cover. These covers-- a throw rug, some needlework, and a cast-off sweater-- are recycled too.

Seasonal Soapers

Color makeovers

Ah, the power of paint. Taking its cues from nature's perfect palette, such as petal-soft pastels, sunwashed golds, or faint foliage greens, painted-on color can be the only design tool you need to revitalize your rooms. Plain white walls become as fresh as their outdoor inspirations.

The Firefly Effect

Enhance your evenings outdoors with these candle ideas. They recall the luminous flickers of dancing fireflies.

Adorable, Adaptable

Because She Deserves It

A Helping Hand for Homeless Children

Stretching Skimpy Kitchens

Once a dark, 1950s-style galley, this sleek new kitchen required only minor surgery to reorganize it for the next century. Washingtonians Pauline and Juergen Heise replaced the old cabinets, fixtures, and appliances with crisp white accoutrements-- and then bathed everything in big splashes of light.

Kitchen Appliances

The case of the disappearing dishwasher. If you think dishwashers should be neither seen nor heard, here's one you'll like. Top-mounted touch controls hide away when you close the door; add your cabinet trim panel to complete the disguise. Fully Integrated dishwasher from Asko, starting at $950; 800/898-1879.

Spring into Summer

Home office planner

A well-thought-out home office marries the efficiency of a business workplace with... well... the comforts of home. Whether you're a home-based entrepreneur, a telecommuter working all or part-time away from your company's offices, or just someone looking for a cozy place to pay bills and surf the Internet, some sort of home office probably figures high on your list of living spaces.

A Good Family Car Gets Better

Maybe those lousy cupholders have been the problem all along. Despite rave reviews from auto critics, Volkswagen Passat lags far behind best-sellers Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and Ford Taurus in family-car popularity. Consumer Reports rates Passat the best midsize sedan, and Automobile magazine twice named it best family car. Yet only 85,000 buyers picked Passat last year, while the Big Three each sold in the 400,000 range.

"It's a Jungle in There"

You may have seen pictures of similar scenes on the 10 o'clock news. Debris strewn here and there. Toys, clothes, and other belongings scattered around. Sometimes, miraculously, a child emerges unharmed from the rubble.

Dino-Mighty Ideas

Hey parents! If you need some dino-rific ideas for a birthday party or rainy day activity, this is the place!

Net Result Web-Savvy Kids

Danger lurks on the Internet. But by setting guidelines and staying involved, parents can provide needed protection.

Such Good Breeding

Get wet: a new view

Foliage color combos

Perfect pairs

Disfiguring daylily disease

READER SHOPPING

Double duty--and a little cutie

Gardener's Alphabet

In this whimsical sampler, C is for carrot, D is for daisy, F is for frog, and a bee is for B.

Directing Traffic

Pint-Sized ponds

Here's an idea for a water garden so simple that you'll wonder why you didn't think of it yourself. Start with a decorative bowl (or a birdbath, a bucket, a cachepot). Fill it with water. Add floating aquatic plants from the garden center. You're done! These tabletop creations allow you to enjoy water's refreshing sparkle without digging a crater in your backyard. And you can move your garden-in-a-bowl every time you rearrange the deck furniture. Try doing that with a hole in the yard.

Gardening Resources

Light on the path

In the BH&G Test Garden, these low-voltage landscape lights illuminate the path at night.

Invite me in

Garden gates-- much like the essayist and cartoonist James Thurber-- have their own personal, and sometimes peculiar, way of saying, "My world, and welcome to it." Your gate, like your garden, also says something about you. And, as you can see by the personalities inherent in these particular gates, a gate does not have to say, "Keep out."

Sterling Silver

Soft or bold, splashy or neighborly, silver has a knack for fitting in and standing out. Cram all the colors you can into a pot and then trust dusty-miller (above) to hold the ensemble together. Or set silver apart to make an accent. With silver, just one plant in the right spot-- or pot-- will persuade you that your yard deserves sterling.

Considerable containers

It only takes one. Get a big pot, plant it bouquet style, and-- presto!-- you have a showpiece that will brighten your yard anywhere. Ready?

Family matters

A day at the beach isn't just fun and games for the busy Conroy clan. With four kids and a boatload of cousins who live nearby, there's always something happening. At the center of all this frantic energy is a casual coastal home designed to handle a hard day's play.

New home in town

Years of showing homes to prospective buyers left Seattle Realtor Bob Bruneau yearning to build the perfect house for himself. He found a 50x100-foot lot in an older area that was on the rebound, and started sketching plans. The result is an urban-spirited house that would look right at home in most any neighborhood.

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Nutrition Information

With each recipe, we give important nutrition information. The calorie count of each serving and the amount, in grams, of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein will help you keep tabs on what you eat.

THINNER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER

Ergonomics 101 for Families

Parents need to brush up on the basics of workstation ergonomics-- before their children start logging a lot of hours working and playing games on the family computer.

Do your face a favor

Nervous Flyer? Fuel Up-- Then Board

Generic Drugs

Generics are less expensive and often just as effective, but your doctor may have good reason to prescribe a brand-name drug for you.

May the forks be with you

Take a tip from the chef to Star Wars visionaries: A satisfied appetite keeps the mind functioning on hyperdrive.

In the garden

Take a stroll through our garden as we cultivate great craft ideas. There are veggies to plant, raindrops to measure, and insects to buzz about. And you'll dig learning how to make puppets from garden gloves.

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