What’s hot in home appliances these days? That’s a steamy story, say industry watchers. Across several categories — cookery, cleaning and personal care — steam features are the big news. “I first started seeing them in laundry products,” says Nigel Maynard, an editor based in Hyattsville, Maryland, who covers the kitchen, bath and architecture industries. […]

To some casual observers, ladybugs (or lady beetles) are colorful symbols of good luck — harbingers of fortune and fame. Gardeners value them for their utility as ravenous insects that prey upon plant pests. They buy them by the hundreds online or from garden centers, and then free them to hunt. But many entomologists believe […]

Barbecuing is the perfect method for cooking fatty cuts of pork or beef, but relatively lean chicken is another story. For barbecued pulled chicken with a smoky flavor and moist, tender meat, we’d have to come up with some tricks. Brining the birds kept the white meat moist and juicy, and arranging the chickens on […]

Every garden needs periodic fertilization. “Designer” fertilizers are available for some kinds of plants, and so are fertilizers that you’re directed to apply at specified times throughout the season. So roses get their rose food, tomatoes get their tomato food, and so on, on schedule. All this effort might make you feel good, but isn’t […]

Despite having two older brothers when I was growing up, I had very little insight into how boys think, especially about girls. I knew that boys sometimes did stupid things — like putting pencils in the microwave or climbing onto the two-story roof, all while mom was gone, of course — but I was not […]

Interior designer Joan Craig sees many clients who give the decorating of their living room or kitchen a lot of thought. Yet while “people have become much more attuned to developing personality inside a house,” she says, “the outside becomes something that often can be much more generic.” And even if you give your backyard […]

Every night without fail, Paul Blumstein straps on a mask that prevents him from repeatedly waking up, gasping for air. It’s been his routine since he was diagnosed with a condition called sleep apnea. While it helps, he doesn’t like wearing the mask. “It’s like an octopus has clung to my face,” said Blumstein, 70, […]

• SARAH SMILEY’S Shore Duty column will not appear this week. She will be back in next week’s Home & Family section.

The school year runs just the opposite of the growing season, making it difficult for educators to teach kids how to garden. But many school systems enlist volunteers to prep garden beds while students are on summer break, making the crops ready to tend when classes resume in September. “We’re working against nature but we […]

Many people are desperate to shed their timeshares. That provides bargains for timeshare enthusiasts like Angie and Mike McCaffery of Los Angeles. The retired couple has paid as little as 50 cents for “used” timeshares. They’ve parlayed their timeshare weeks at four mainland U.S. resorts into affordable stays in England, Spain, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Mexico […]