Better Homes and Gardens June 2021
Get Better Homes and Gardens digital magazine subscription today and find out how to turn your home into a comfy, inviting haven. Every issue is packed with bedrooms that wrap you in warmth, kitchens that start your day with sunshine, gardens that greet you with gladness, porches that put you at peace, and recipes that become instant family classics.
in this issue
shaved salads
For summertime salads that are tender and layered, use your sharpest tools to slice, shave, and shred the veggies from your farmers market haul. Just the way you cut a vegetable can change the way you experience its texture. The lemon in this pleasantly acidic vinaigrette practically “cooks” ribbons of zucchini and summer squash so they’re nearly as crisp-tender as if sautéed. Fresh corn and tomatoes shout, summer has arrived. Recipes by Tara Bench, author of Live Life Deliciously ($33; shadowmountain.com) ZUCCHINI, SUMMER SQUASH & CHICKEN SALAD Cousa squash is a tender summer squash that looks like a short, fat zucchini with pale green skin. It has a slightly sweeter flavor than zucchini. HANDS-ON TIME 20 min. TOTAL TIME 40 MIN. 1 lemon12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves1 medium zucchini1 small yellow squash½ of a…
i did it!
as much as Jenna LeBlanc would have loved to retile the patio behind her Tampa home, she didn’t want to buy 650-plus square feet of tiles. More in line with her budget was paint and a $70 stencil she had been eyeing online. So she and her husband pried up the old tiles then prepped and painted the concrete underneath. Jenna stenciled a design to mimic Moroccan tile. “There was a point a few hours in where I thought, Wow, what was I thinking?” she says. But after getting the hang of it, she cut her time from 25 minutes per medallion to 5 minutes, completing the stenciling in 27 hours over two weeks. WHAT SHE DID Proper surface prep was key, Jenna says, but in the end she had to let…
go with the flow
the first step to connectingcolors between rooms is to decide on an overarching palette. Designer and color expert Philippa Radon suggests sticking to three or four main colors, taking your furnishings into consideration. You’ll want to repeat those colors in each room in different tones, proportions, and placements. “I call it a golden thread, and that thread weaves through every space,” she says. For example, if blue walls dominate one room, repeat blue in small ways in neighboring rooms, like a sky blue ceiling or a navy sofa. On the next two pages Radon shows us how to do this with blues, greens, and yellows. SIGHT LINES When you can see one room from another, vary colors as Frances Merrill of Reath Designs did with these blues and purples. “You want to…
sunny days ahead
Mineral. Chemical. Broad-spectrum. Oh my! If you find shopping for a sunscreen a little confusing, you’re not alone. A Northwestern University study found that only 43 percent of people surveyed fully grasped the definition of SPF. Only 7 percent knew what to look for on a label if they were seeking a sunscreen that would help prevent the signs of aging. Ready to boost your sun smarts? Turn the page to learn how to get the protection you need and the ingredients you want—no Ph.D. required. OUR PICKS Neutrogena Invisible Daily Defense Sunscreen Lotion SPF 60+ provides hydrating chemical protection that’s undetectable on all skin tones. $17; target.com Slather on water-resistant Banana Boat Sport Mineral Lotion SPF 50+ before you take a dip. $8; walmart.com Cover even hard-to-reach spots with Bare…
my cottage project
As an editor for shelter magazines, my day job was writing stories about beautiful homes while I lived in a tiny rental condo with too few windows. It was time I put those magazine ideas to use on a fixer-upper. When I landed this 800-square-foot 1943 cottage in Birmingham, AL, skeptics saw a cramped house with a falling-down garage. I recognized potential. To keep from getting overwhelmed by my whole-house makeover, I limited myself to working within the original footprint and made improvements in stages. A goal of maintaining classic cottage-style elements, like the simple woodwork and the charming front porch, kept me focused while in the rabbit hole of design options. A good friend and Kismet led me to a great handyman who worked with me for three summers on…
secrets of re-deck-orating
BROAD STROKES The deck spans nearly the whole yard, so I wanted to make the most of it. We divided the long space into a living area on the upper deck and a dining area on the lower deck. (The stackable chairs are Hooper by Safavieh.) AVOID GAPS The deck narrows in the center, so we created a secondary seating area by pushing a red Brusen love seat from IKEA against the wall and loading it with a new cushion and some mismatched pillows. On either side, we placed a hibiscus topiary in a groovy pot from Home Depot. I added the creeping Jenny to the pots—my go-to for tying all my planters together. It’s such a cliché to say that Chicagoans live for summer. But after the double whammy of winter and quarantine,…
