indoor herb garden

Be creative with wire shelving. These budget-friendly racks come in tons of sizes at home centers. This one serves up some floral power in Meredith’s kitchen window. You could use them to house indoor herb plants so your favorite flavors are close by at cooking time. It is time to bring them in from out of doors.

Enjoy, Beccie

Countertop Color

Meredith extended her palette to two often-ignored opportunities for color: counters and the ceiling. This glassy greenish laminate countertop and the painted ceiling create a cohesive experience throughout the room.

Laminates come in so many different colors and styles - how fun! Enjoy, Beccie

The Kitchen sink

Meredith unearthed this kitchen sink for a mere $25 at a salvage shop. “I love, love, love the sink,” she says. “I know I’m nuts, but the drainboard sink makes me happier than diamond rings.” It’s a cheerful antidote to the builder-boring aluminum sink it replaced.

We found an old one thrown away in the back field. We use it as our garden sink and just love it. Enjoy, Beccie

Cheer up a Galley Kitchen - Inexpensive

I love these colors. The white top cabinets. I think she could have painted the inside of the cabinets to match the countertop vs. the stained glass. I have seen the lower cabinets painted a hershey chocolate - and it is quite lovely.

Although she didn’t add any square footage, Meredith’s revamped kitchen lives large. The wallpaper she chose for the far wall was a last-minute find. “When I saw it, I couldn’t believe how perfectly it matched the countertop and stained glass of the cabinet windows,” she says.
DIY Tip: Tape up a sheet of wallpaper before you cover an entire wall or room. Live with it for a few days to make sure you love it. If it passes the time test, you’re ready to buy the adhesive and get to work. If you’re hesitant about putting pattern all over the wall, Meredith recommends framing a few smaller sections for a lower-commitment option. Enjoy, Beccie

Best Towns - 2010 Boise, Idaho

POPULATION (METRO) 606,376MEDIAN HOME PRICE $169,900HOMETOWN HERO Kristin Armstrong,2008 Olympic time-trial gold medalist,bicycling advocate, supermom
THE LIVING: Boise, to put it mildly, has been on a roll. Government, education, and health care remain core industries, but dozens of high-tech startups have moved to town, joining behemoths like Hewlett-Packard and Micron Technology. And while its population has more than doubled in the past 30 years and jaded locals bemoan the sprawl, Boise has managed its growth impressively well: The city is home to nearly 2,000 acres of parks and a 25-mile greenbelt. The outlying areas feel a bit bland, but the older neighborhoods have that Boulder vibe—cruiser bikes, farmers' markets, and prayer flags—only with reasonably priced homes.
THE PLAYGROUND: With a few play waves already in city limits, a $6.7 million white­water park in the works, and life-list runs on the Payette and Salmon within a two-hour drive, the paddling is exceptional and only getting better. There's also a healthy triathlon community and a robust road-biking scene. In winter, before or after work, you can get a quick ski in—nordic or alpine—at Bogus Basin Ski Area, just 16 miles up the road. (Tip: The climb up is also a classic road ride.) And those brown hills above town are laced with more than 135 miles of hiking and mountain-biking trails. Yup, you're going to need a bigger Rocket Box.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The Northend neighborhood is as good as Idaho gets: You can walk to the local coffee shop, bike downtown via paths, plant some veggies at the community garden, or hop on singletrack at the end of your block.