Table of contents for June 2023 in Real Simple

DURING MY 20s, I lived in a 150-square-foot apartment on the Upper West Side of New York City. This place was so small, the little pullout love seat I bought wouldn’t pull out—the frame hit the other wall before fully extending. Also: I could brush my teeth on the toilet. Also: The “kitchen” was a unit consisting of a two-burner stove and sink, which I referred to as the “stink.” What helped me endure this glorified dorm room was the view of Central Park outside of it, and the color I brought into it. I painted the walls a smoky blue, and I added a green throw and an array of bright pillows to that unpulloutable couch. I’ve mentioned before that I lived in 10 apartments in my first…

My leopard-print bike shorts. They make me feel fierce!DELIA ORTIZTUCSON, ARIZONA A 1920s flapper dress with beads and glitter! It’s “extra,” and it comes out for parties. You can’t help dancing and having a good time in it! @FINDING ADVENTURES_BYHAZEL A pair of iridescent Dr. Martens boots. I wanted a pair so badly in the ’90s, when they were on trend, but they were too expensive. Now that I have adulting money, I not only bought a pair, I bought a pair that are “totally the bomb dot com”! CHERYL MATHIS FORT WORTH, TEXAS A beautiful sweater with cleavage down to there! I’m 60! GEORGIA COPLEY KENOVA, WEST VIRGINIA Pumpkin-orange high-waisted satin trousers. They are completely impractical and outrageous, but every time I put them on, they make me…

STURDY PEGBOARDS When mounted side by side, these durable steel panels—no fiberboard here!—turn a blank wall into seven square feet of colorful storage space. Add pegs (and baskets, hooks, and shelves) to keep your bits and bobs at arm’s reach. Metal Pegboard Pack, $56; homedepot.com SPACE-SAVING RACK If you’ve ever tripped over a rake (who put that there?!), this wall-mounted unit is for you. It can be adjusted to fit whatever you’ve got and holds a whopping 300 pounds. G-Tool, $120; tealtriangle.com (see page 10 for a discount) STYLISH SHELVING A locker? More like a looker! This cutie (available in a bunch of bright colors) comes with hooks, shelves, and rods to hide miscellany and lock away any sharp or dangerous stuff. The Twinny, $549; us.mustardmade.com ROOMY TOOLBOX This snazzy…

USE Wine Bottles TO Water Plants Have you seen those self-watering contraptions that look like little globes on stakes? They’re great for plant parenting, but an empty wine bottle will also work. Step one is fun: Drink a bottle of wine with friends. Step two: Rinse the bottle, then fill it with water up to the base of the neck. Cover the opening with your thumb, turn the bottle upside down, and quickly insert the neck into the soil of your thirstiest houseplant. Over time, water will release from the bottle to hydrate the plant. Cheers to everyone! USE Coffee Filters TO Catch Soil Houseplants can be messy. They live in dirt, after all. And because most plants do best in planters with drainage holes, you can end up with…

GETTING LAID OFF can really mess you up. There’s the financial stress, of course, but also the emotional damage. “We live in a culture that defines who we are by what we do, so it can be very disorienting when that identity is taken from us,” says Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, a certified financial therapist in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Figuring out what comes next while processing what just happened is a lot to handle. So we’ll help. If you’re worried about downsizing at your company, if you’ve recently been affected by cuts, or if you want to support someone who lost their job, this action plan is for you. Read the Paperwork Companies often provide a separation agreement—i.e., a contract outlining the terms of the layoff—when they eliminate a job. You’ll…

MANY ANCIENT CULTURES viewed rainbows as a bridge between the earth and heavens, connecting humans with the gods. Dorothy famously traveled over one to a land where dreams really do come true. But peel back the curtain (or clouds), and the wizardry of rainbows is simple science. THE CONDITIONS MUST BE RIGHT To see one, the sun needs to be behind you, rain needs to be in front of you, and no clouds can be in between. When sunlight—which is “white light,” or a combination of all the colors in the visible spectrum—hits raindrops, its many colors separate out at different angles, and we can detect each one individually. That’s a rainbow: sunlight revealing itself as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. “VIB G. YOR” CAN HAPPEN…

Dirty Aperol Spritz Fill a glass halfway with ice. Add ¼ cup Aperol, ¼ cup dry sparkling wine, ¼ cup club soda, and 1 ½ tsp. brine from a jar of pimiento-stuffed green olives. Stir to combine. Garnish with olives. Cherry Americano Fill a glass halfway with ice. Add 2 Tbsp. Campari, 2 Tbsp. sweet vermouth, 6 Tbsp. club soda, and 1 tsp. maraschino cherry juice. Stir to combine. Add an orange slice or cherry directly to the drink. Limoncello Spritz Fill a glass halfway with ice. Add 2 Tbsp. limoncello, 5 Tbsp. dry sparkling wine, 3 Tbsp. club soda, and 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice. Stir to combine. Garnish with a rosemary sprig and lemon peel. Lillet-Strawberry Spritz Fill a glass halfway with ice. Add ¼ cup Lillet…

Moody Black TRY IT WITH There’s a reason the LBD reigns as one of fashion’s greatest staples: Black goes with almost anything. Just ask Darcy (@themrdarcy), an Atlanta-based interior designer who coated this lounging area in it. “I wanted a dark, moody room that drew you in,” he says. Your instinct might be to pair black with white and beige to brighten up the space, but black also plays well with soft blues and greens. “I love high contrast and the drama it creates,” he says of the combos. Splashy Teal Evoking the deep blue sea, teal has been making, um, a splash all over Instagram. This room was designed by Austin, Texas–based Christina Canales of Canales & Co. (@canalesandcointeriors), and don’t you just want to swim in it?…

HIGH-WAISTED TWO-PIECE Seea Georgia Surf Top in Areia, $86, and High-Waist Surf Bottoms, $88; freepeople.com RUFFLED SLEEVES Pearl Off-the-Shoulder One-Piece Suit in Mare Navy, $158; tommybahama.com CLASSY CUTOUT Sanctuary Splice Mio One-Piece in Medium Pink, $125; anthropologie.com SLEEK ONE-SHOULDER Ruched One-Shoulder One-Piece in Sail Blue, $118; jcrew.com…

The research is in: Your brain wants berries! Annie Fenn, MD, author of the cookbook The Brain Health Kitchen, explains why these little gems are so clutch: “They’re one of the plant world’s best sources of a flavonoid called anthocyanin, which has been shown to scrub the brain of inflammatory debris that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease.” Fenn recommends eating a half cup per day, and she isn’t just talking the usual suspects. Grapes, raisins, and even capers (all berries!)count. Many fresh berries are in season now, but frozen, dried (ideally without added sugar), and freeze-dried pack a nutritional punch too. You can of course gobble berries on their own or blend them into smoothies; Fenn also likes mixing them into dressings and cooking them with fish or poultry. For…

SPRING IS KNOWN as the sniffy, sneezy, watery-eyes season. But annoyingly, we aren’t always out of the (pollinated) woods by the end of June. Yep, summer allergies are a thing. And that brings up one big question: Why are we still snotty messes now that it’s time for swimsuits? Seasonal allergies happen when the immune system mistakenly interprets pollen as a threat, triggering inflammation—and thus sniffles and stuffiness and suckiness. Depending on where you live, certain pollens can float around in the air from early spring until the first frost, according to Purvi Parikh, MD, an allergist and immunologist in New York City and spokesperson for the Allergy & Asthma Network. Tree pollen rages throughout spring, grass pollen is out in full force in May and June, “and some states…

SHERI ASKS… Q We’ve received numerous high school graduation announcements. We don’t know some of the kids very well. How much money should we send? Also, do you give money to college graduates? OK, Sheri! Who are these people sending you high school graduation announcements when you don’t even know their kids that well? Honestly, you will not jeopardize your friendships if you don’t give gifts—especially in this economy, honey! If you feel like you really have to, a $50 bill or gift card is more than enough. There are other ways to be thoughtful, though. Instead of money, perhaps you could give a book you absolutely loved when you were that age. Or a book that might help the kids find direction—something a lot of grads are looking for!…

RECIPES FOR REAL LIFE You can get a lot of fruits year-round these days, but not these cheery, yellow-fleshed beauties. Typically only on sale in June and July, Rainiers are larger and sweeter than most other cherry varieties. SHOP Look for fruit that’s plump and unbruised. STORE Refrigerate cherries uncovered in the coldest part of your fridge (usually the back of the lowest shelf) for up to five days. Rinse right before eating. PREP Because they can get a bit mushy when baked, Rainiers are best eaten raw as a snack, or pitted and sliced into a salad. For a light dessert, just serve with whipped cream.…

1 HAT TRICK Hold on to your hat! This beach bag has exterior straps to secure (and not warp) floppy headgear—and a towel-like lining to soak up water. Suncatcher Beach Tote, $115; sidneybyron.com 2 GRATE GADGET This slicer features three interchangeable blades, a grippy finger guard (safety first!), and a catch bowl that doubles as a strainer. Mandoline Slicer with Container and Colander, $30; lovehubee.com 3 SOFT LANDING It’s an ottoman (on wheels!) and a stack of individual floor cushions. This multifunctional item is ideal for small-space living and frequent entertaining. Opalhouse Marin Stackable Pouf, $90; target.com 4 BUZZ OFF No fuss, no muss, and no bugs! This device holds a replaceable fuel cartridge that warms up an unscented repellent, keeping mosquitoes 15 feet away. Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller, $25;…

BEST FOR KEEPING MAKEUP IN PLACE Caliray Surfproof Setting Spray Want to set and forget your makeup? (The answer is always yes!) Reach for this refreshing, alcohol-free mist. It stops your foundation from separating and your lip and eye stuff from smearing. Plus, it offers impressive skin-care benefits: Prickly pear hydrates, niacinamide soothes, magnesium blurs pores, and zinc lactate keeps oil at bay. Hold it at arm’s length and spray in a zigzag motion. $35; sephora.com BEST FOR MANAGING A SHINY T-ZONE Revlon Oil-Absorbing Volcanic Roller Bye, blotting sheets! This washable roller uses volcanic stone to sop up grease without ruining makeup—or creating waste. $14; revlon.com BEST FOR PROTECTING FRICTION-PRONE PARTS Nakery Beauty Glide & Go Magic Friction Stick Swipe this unscented balm-to-powder formula under bra straps, on inner thighs,…

WE HUMANS MOSTLY use our eyes to take in the world. Dogs rely on their noses. “Their sense of smell exceeds ours by a factor of between 10,000 and 100,000,” says Sarah Krichbaum, PhD, a researcher at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. Research also suggests they sniff 5 to 10 times per second, while we sniff about once. Dogs truly are scentsational! Here’s how to support your furry friend on his smelling journey. Understand His Sniffing Your dog’s nose not only helps him make sense of his surroundings, it’s also essential for his well-being. “Sniffing is mentally stimulating for your dog,” Krichbaum says, adding that mental exercise may be just as important as physical exercise for reducing stress, preventing boredom, and building confidence. A study in Applied…