October 2005

1716 LOCUST

FIND RECIPES

AMERICA'S HOME

CUSTOMER SERVICE ON BHG.COM

Pumpkin's Progress

Maggie Jensen, a young stay-at-home mom, had just moved to the country from the city. Her mother-in-law, Judy, was grieving the recent loss of her husband, who had suffered a fatal heart attack while he was out for his routine jog one morning.

Quick-Change Artistry

Get in the spirit of treats and tricks with these seasonal decorations that you can easily transform for Halloween.

AN ARTFUL ILLUSION

OPEN TO CHANGE

Embracing the unexpected, a Hollywood couple recast their traditional cottage as a contemporary loftlike space.

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Why does the bedroom always get short shrift when redecorating? Create the oasis now that you and your sweetie deserve.

PRESENTING THE PAST

A Minnesota couple searches high and low for salvaged materials to transform their blah builder-grade kitchen into one with a distinct Old-World flavor.

PUTTING A SPIN ON SALVAGE

Discarded relics are this woman's decorating treasure. She shows how remnants from old buildings can add eclectic chic.

Classics come to life

Creative wallpapering

FRINGE BENEFIT

Refresh your bath for under $200

Innovations

Smart style and functional design don't have to cost a bundle. That's the thinking behind our Better Home Better Living house-- and the key to this month's lineup of cutting-edge solutions for your home.

SPRUCING UP WITH SIMPLICITY

This California couple revitalized their drab 1970s kitchen with loads of paint, heaps of elbow grease, and a snappy black-and-white color scheme.

PERFECT PARTNERS

POWERFUL PERENNIALS

LIGHTENING UP A WORK SPACE

Why does an office have to look like, well, an office? Unused space over the garage lets a Tampa designer fashion an office with cottage style.

A GARDENER WITH HEART

Herb Jackson took up gardening in order to beautify the backyard for his daughter's wedding reception. From the first flower, he was hooked.

ADDING BY TAKING AWAY

By cutting back a mature hedge, thinning branches to let in light, and leveling a slope, a Seattle couple doubles outdoor living space.

WELCOME HOME GARDEN

A Southern California couple banishes lawn grass and ho-hum plants for a front yard garden with flowers and foliage that ensure happy homecomings.

IMPROMPTU ELEGANCE

Chairs in this Michigan yard don't stay still long enough to wear a bare spot in the lawn. They move at the gardener's whim to wherever the view is most colorful.

Which Hat's for You?

SWEPT AWAY

Shape Your Place

Seasonal Dressing

Harvest Wines

Q&A

Typhoon Thinks Color

A NEW LOOK FOR AN OLD FRIEND

Explore THE magic OF leaves

Fall into fun with a pile of leaves. A stroll in the park or yard offers plenty of these crackly, colorful beauties that can introduce science to the whole family.

Safe AT home

These do-it-yourself strategies help parents and other family members live at home more independently and securely in their later years.

EASING test stress

Parents can't take a test for their children, but they can help prepare them, and pump them up to feel their best both before and after any exam.

WhistlestopWEEKENDS

Climb aboard one of the granddads of travel, a giant steam locomotive, all refurbished and ready for a family day trip or weekend journey.

Giving COLLEGE KIDS credit

Student loans aren't the only form of debt burdening college kids. Here are 6 ways parents can help them manage that first card.

MULTI-SQUARE KNITTED AFGHAN

PRESENTS THE BETTER HOME BETTER LIVING HOUSE

We did it! We built your home-- the Better Home Better Living™ house, which 60,000 of you helped design. Enjoy a first look at a house that can grow along with your family. You'll never think of housing in the same way. Its innovative concepts can easily translate to the home you're in, or want to be in. One of you will even walk away with the keys to it.

Coming home to Character

Laurie Smith knows a gem in the rough when she sees one. As a designer on the hit show Trading spaces, she transforms bland--and sometimes just plain bad--decor into gracious and exciting rooms. When she and husband Brad found their 1950s two-story in Jackson, Mississippi, she knew the house wasn't perfect, but it had potential. Location was the first plus. Laurie and Brad wanted to be close to their families.

Snuggled in and satisfied

Over the past 13 years, Judith ... ... Selin have created such an efficient, self-sufficient community for their family of four, they've practically earned their own zip code. Home, office, school, recreation center, even a symphony of sorts-- they're all here, nestled on less than an acre in historic Shelburne, Vermont.

"PINK PLAID" COOKBOOK

5-IN-1 COOKER

Skip School?

DR. CHOCOLATE

Tricks for Treats

FRESHEN YOUR BREATH

More than 90 million Americans live with chronic halitosis, the official name for constant bad breath, according to the Academy for General Dentistry. And nearly everyone else has the breath of Godzilla from time to time.

The Art of Helping

In the tired-as-a-zombie days after her son was born, an act of kindness made Sherry Rollins' introduction to motherhood a whole lot easier. "My son was about two weeks old when my brother-in-law came up from North Carolina," says Sherry, who lives in Pennsylvania. "I'd only had about two hours of sleep the night before and was pretty comatose. He told me he would take my son's first nighttime feeding so I could get some sleep. But what he did was take them all, allowing me to sleep the entire night."

TV RISKS FOR TOTS

HAUNTED AMERICA

Do you believe in ghosts? Here's what there is to see in some of your favorite haunts.

Buzz SHORT AND SWEET

Pack A Powerful Lunch

There are a lot of very important things in your child's backpack, such as books, binders, notes from a secret pal. But here's one more thing you should add to the mix-- a homemade lunch. Despite improvements in some school districts, a recent study by the University of California-San Diego found that school cafeteria lunches average 31 grams of fat.

Taking the Car Keys

One day last winter, Charles Olsen, a physician in Escanaba, Michigan, was shoveling snow when an elderly neighbor backed out of her garage, scraped her car along a snow bank, crossed the street, and collided with his vehicle. "It was obvious she had no idea that my car was there," Olsen says.

Shop for The Cure

Call it pink marketing: Whether you're in the market for a luxury car or a little bag of chocolate, everywhere you turn in October you'll see manufacturers tying their products to National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We've sorted through the myriad choices to find great products whose manufacturers also make substantial donations to reputable organizations.

211: THE NUMBER TO KNOW

THE HOW-TO blues

They used to say the two inescapable things in life are death and taxes. Well, add instructions to the list.