CATEGORIES

Modern Manners Advice for Your Social Quandaries

IDA ASKS...My neighbors' kids, ages 9 and 6, have made a habit of playing in my front yard. I let it happen for a bit, thinking it was going to be temporary, but it has become very frequent-and irritating and loud. I've talked to the kids and the parents, and they still come back. I don't want to be known as the cranky neighbor. How do I get them to stop?

PETS SPLISH, SPLASH

Before you let your pup dive into the deep end, read these tips to help her get on swimmingly in the water.

The Books List Top Picks for Book Club & Beyond

STUFF WE LOVE

SWEET THING RASPBERRY-MANGO ICE CREAM CAKE

Serve up a slice of summer with this stunning (but easy to make!) treat.

HEALTH Let's Talk About Your Pelvic Floor! Again!

It supports vital organs, it stabilizes your core-and it's often misunderstood. We're giving this critical muscle group the explainer it deserves.

TRAVEL PLAN THE ULTIMATE (UNCROWDED!) SUMMER TRIP

During the height of tourist season, summer vacation can feel like a full-contact sport. Here's how to bypass the hordes and take a trip that leaves you relaxed, not raggedy.

Open-Door Policy

This home near the sea blurs the lines between indoors and out with a laid-back surfer vibe and sliding doors that open wide to create the ultimate family home

THE BIG FREEZE

Grab your blender and prepare for a seriously delicious summer cooldown. We've got four slushies in exciting, craveable flavor combos you'll want to make all season

MINOR ISSUES, MAJOR OPINIONS BATHS OR SHOWERS?

Everybody has their two cents! We collected yours, then called on the experts to settle the debate once and for all.

MEET the Descendants

Three scions of legacy furniture makers preserve historic tradition and technique while blazing exciting new paths for modern craft.

SCENTS of PLACE

IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE, WRITER CELIA BARBOUR FOLLOWS HER NOSE THROUGH A WONDERLAND OF FLOWERS AND HERBS TO EXPLORE THE POWERFUL ORIGINS OF NATURAL PERFUME.

Folk HEROES

From Mexico to the Moghul Empire, cultural art triumphs from around the globe come alive in seven kindred arrangements.

FLOWERS & GARDENS

CRIS BRIGER GROWS A VERDANT FAMILY ARBORETUM IN MEXICO, ONE TREE AT A TIME. GLOBAL FOLK ART TRADITIONS COME ALIVE IN SEVEN VIVID FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS. A SENSORY JOURNEY TO GRASSE, THE FRAGRANT EPICENTER OF PERFUME

POSTCARD from PROVENCE

Golden yellows, dusty blues, and soft purples evoke the ease and elegant joie de vivre of summers in the south of France.

SHINING MOMENTS

A new generation of timepieces dazzles as jewelry, with vivid gemstones, feminine silhouettes, and nostalgic nods to the past.

Eternal Sunshine

Summer days in the Hamptons, school days in Palm Beach: Linens designer and shopowner JULIA AMORY fashions a pair of cottages as fresh-air idylls for her family, with no shortage of blooming florals, vivid checks, and nostalgic ease.

DRESSED UP DOWN EAST

EMERALD LACQUER, HADLEY-ESQUE PATTERN, AND UNABASHED GLAMOUR: DESIGNER MATTHEW CARTER DELIVERS BIG DECORATING SWAGGER TO A CLASSIC SUMMER RETREAT IN MAINE.

Welcome Addition

Reflections of the sea reign in this Newport Beach home artfully refreshed by Gil Schafer and the late Suzanne Rheinstein for convivial, crowd-friendly guesting.

home design - HOUSES HAVE A PAST - AND A FUTURE, TOO

THE BEST RENOVATIONS TOE THE LINE BETWEEN NECESSARY UPDATES AND ENOUGH SENSITIVITY TO ASSURE DESIGN INTEGRITY.

lighting + hardware

ANTIQUE, REPRODUCTION, or contemporary, lighting fixtures and lamps are among the most cost-effective ways to add drama or period style to a room.

a farmhouse RESCUE

Using a cache of salvaged finds, the homeowner, architect, and contractor together rescued a tumbledown farmhouse in Vermont.

THE Villa RENEWED

This house in Greene County, New York, has been faithfully restored, from its foundation and structure to exterior elements and trim inside.

CRAFTSMAN DETAILS IN A KITCHEN

An excellent layout and period motifs distinguish this midsize kitchen in a bungalow-era house.

walls & ceilings

BY THE 1870s, the tripartite treatment was fashionable: walls divided into dado (or wainscot) below the chair rail, fill or field section, and frieze at the top of the wall.

furniture & decorative accessories

PERIOD ROOMS are the goal of a very small niche of old-house owners.

A TRANSCENDENT BATHROOM IN OJAI

A seamless addition allowed for this timeless primary bath, which has been re-imagined as an upgrade dating to ca. 1930.

wall & floor tiles

TODAY WE FIND TILE from small studios . . . carved relief tiles, subway tile and mosaics, glazes matte and iridescent . . . plus encaustics and California revivals.

CRAFTSMAN PATINA

A smitten owner brings the Arts & Crafts aesthetic to a 1921 bungalow in Seattle.

the case for SHUTTERS

Shutters may look relatively fragile but older wood shutters were built to withstand decades of weather, bearing up through hurricanes and hail, intense heat and piercing cold.

Solving the Roof

After much research by the owners, a century-old Storybook home gets a 21st-century roof treatment.