Blog Posts by House Beautiful Magazine

Simple yet elegant, this year's 1,000-square-foot dream kitchen - showcased in New York's Rockefeller Center - serves up glittering tile, glass knobs, a bold sink, and a jaw-dropping butler's pantry. Take a tour of the space.

More from House Beautiful:

10 Decorating Secrets Revealed

Beautiful Designer Bedrooms

55 Ideas to Update Your Kitchen

Banquette

Even in the grandest houses, we're inevitably drawn to the smallest rooms: they're the coziest. In big rooms, guess where we head? To the coziest spots, the nooks and niches that are like rooms within rooms - their own intimate little worlds. Look around: There's bound to be an overlooked space in your house just waiting to be snuggled into. Here are ideas for creating and living happily in tiny spaces.

More from House Beautiful:

Step Inside a Romantic New York Town House

9 Colorful Ways to Cheer Up Your Kitchen

Amazing Outdoor Rooms

Conquer Your Fear of Color

From painting the ceiling to hanging a mirror, these easy decorating ideas amp up the wow factor to welcome any guest in style.


yard sale1. Make the Most of Yard Sale Season

Design consultant Ellen O'Neill found this wicker chair-for the porch of her Long Island cottage for $3 at a yard sale. Wet towels and bathing suits get tossed into the vintage barrel.

House Tour: A Hamptons Home in Red

















2. Consider Skylights

To provide more sunshine on gray days, designer Tom Scheerer opened up a porch in Maine by installing skylights. All-weather wicker by Whitecraft.





















3. Choose Durable Fabric

For the porch of a seaside New York home, designer Robin Bell choose fabric that is "lemonade-and sangria-proof." Wicker seating is antique.





















4. Paint the Ceiling

Designer Paula Perlin and architect Mark Ferguson created this idyllic blue porch for a Martha's Vineyard home. The sky blue ceiling-Morning Glory by Benjamin Moore-makes for an unexpected, soothing touch. The Walters Wicker

Tangy, juicy, crunchy, creamy, zesty: What more can you ask of a summer sandwich? Chef Gabrielle Hamilton shares her recipe.


Gabrielle Hamilton's summer sandwich.This vegetarian beauty is a fork-and-knife sandwich, derived - loosely - from one I had in the early '70s when vegetarianism in this country was, alas, all part of the politics and not part of the fun.

My mom, an otherwise omnivorous, sensible, and innate "nose-to-tail" cook - constantly braising some whole animal in a pot on a back burner in our kitchen - and a die-hard cashmere type, suddenly started to show sympathies for the ethos of the era. She owned a macramé bikini, kept a dog-eared copy of What Color Is Your Parachute? on the bookshelf, and started taking me frequently to a "natural" café in town called Sweet Emily's, where we shared an avocado sandwich on pumpernickel bread with sprouts, red onions, and cream cheese. No matter that the cream cheese was stiff with guar gum, the black bread soft and overloaded with molasses, and the alfalfa

Our picks of the coolest, most forward-looking high-tech devices and technology gadgets for homes, hitting stores in 2012.

camera1. Android-Powered Camera

A top-notch digital camera that's as easy to use as your smartphone (and includes many smartphone features you're already used to). Taking and sharing high-quality photos and videos is a breeze. Polaroid SC1630, available this fall.


Don't Miss: Amazing Designer Kitchens





2. Modular Solar Panels

Tapping into the power of the sun has never been simpler. Start with one module and add more over time - they just snap together - to reach your energy and money-saving goals. Sharp SunSnap Solar Panels, from about $1,000 per module.
















3. Connected TV

Browse the Web and download from Netflix, Vudu, Hulu Plus, and other services. Stream content from your smartphone or tablet. It even responds to some voice commands. And with a five-millimeter bezel, the picture goes almost edge-to-edge. LG 479 Nano LED HDTV.

















4. iPad Mount

Use your iPad in the

From a fire pit to a hammock, these backyards say outdoor entertaining - and relaxing.

fire pitA Family Fire Pit

For her Connecticut property, designer Bonnie Edelman carefully crafted a fire pit. "My parents always encouraged us: invest in your own property, not in country clubs," says her husband, John. "So till bedtime it's for s'mores and family bonding. After bedtime it's romantic." Designed with storage in mind, speakers are hidden in the walls of local stone, and logs are stacked under the benches.



See More: Tour A Daring, Dramatic, and Colorful Family Home









Garden Dining Area

Rustic yet refined, a 10-foot-long table sits in the center of landscape designer Lisa Bynon's vegetable and cutting garden in Southampton New York. "You can't really see this from the house, and it's almost a five-minute walk across a stone terrace, the lawn, and a circular fern garden. I love the sense of surprise," Bynon says. The Belgian oak furniture, Tuscan stoneware, handblown goblets, vase, and linen

See five chic dressing areas, from a romantic closet with a pink chandelier to an oversize space complete with tub.

shoe storage closetA Romantic Closet

Designer Annie Brahler's carpenter "stretched" a vintage armoire to hold shoes in the closet of her landmark Jacksonville, Illinois house. The Belle Epoque chandelier casts a rosy glow over an island cobbled together from multiple cabinets.








See More: 101 Easy Home Makeover Ideas







Dressing Room and Bathroom

The large, open dressing room adjoins the bathroom in a calming, comfortable California house. "It's a bold and unusual move to make it so loftlike," says designer James Radin. "But we had the luxury of space to pull it off - about 500 square feet. The French doors added sparkle." The tufted bench is upholstered in Persian linen in blue by Tyler Graphic.



Bohemian Closet

Glass-fronted closets - in the dressing room of this Beverly Hills Tudor by designer Betsy Burnham - make getting dressed a breeze. Burnham loves the black ebonized floors because the

It's juicy, rich, and perfectly seasoned. Chef Gabrielle Hamilton shares the only burger recipe you'll ever need.

CheeseburgerThe only problem with putting a good burger on your restaurant's menu is that you suddenly become a burger joint, and if you have any inflated ideas of yourself as a chef, this can mess with them. As you hunch over the counter in your chef's whites - with your apron neatly tied, your side towel folded just so, your tasting spoons glinting in front of you - and you fill your 30th ramekin of ketchup, you think, "Hmm. This is not exactly what I had pictured for myself." But the home cook will not suffer this existential setback for the few occasions in a year when you make yourself a burger, and this one is a genuine knockout. The addition of lamb to the not-too-lean chuck gives the burger a discernible gamey richness and helps deepen the flavor of ground beef, which on its own can be slightly tinny and mineral-tasting from the iron - especially true of grass-fed beef. The