Sew a pretty pocket pillow in no time using three cloth napkins and prebasted ruffling ribbon.

For this project, you’ll need three coordinating naplans, a pillow form with sides 4 inches shorter than the napkins, fabric ribbon with gathering cords (enough to edge one napkin on all sides), and a button or other trim.

Cut one napkin in half diagonally to form the flap. Lay that triangular flap over another napkin, adjusting its position until the widths align. Trim the leftover strip so the flap’s top edge is even with the napkin’s. Sew the flap to the napkin, right sides together. This is the pillow back.

Narrowly hem one end of the ribbon, sewing over the gathering threads to anchor them. Pin the ribbon to the underside of the flap’s upper edge, gathering to fit by pulling the threads’ free ends. Turn under and narrowly hem the other end. Sew ribbon in place. Make a buttonhole in the point of the flap.

Lay the remaining napkin over the pillow back, wrong sides together. Topstitch around the side and bottom edges 2 inches in from the hems. Slip the pillow form into the pocket of the cover. Fold the flap over the opening and mark the placement of the button. Sew the button in place. For fun and to mimic the design in the ribbon, we used a small bunch of plastic fruit rather than a button

Live music lends vitality to any room, but finding the right spot for a baby grand can pose a design dilemma that even the masters find challenging.

At the Cedar Rock house in Quasqueton, Iowa, architect Frank Lloyd Wright went so far as to ask the Steinway Company to customize one of its pianos so it wouldn’t overpower the room. You may not need to take such bold measures if you follow these tips for maintaining a sense of harmony between the instrument and your home.

Stay in tune

When assessing a likely spot, take a look at environmental factors that will affect the instrument’s performance. Remember, pianos are made mostly of wood and have as many as 4,500 moving parts, so before placing the piano, pay close attention to fireplaces, doors to the outside, and even heating and air-conditioning vents. Changing temperatures may cause a piano to slip out of tune, but the real enemy is a fluctuating level of humidity. Ideally, the room’s relative humidity should be between 40 and 50 percent. If the humidity of your local climate varies widely, ask a piano dealer about high-tech humidity controls that can be installed inside the piano.

Direct sunlight can also cause problems. In addition to slight expansion and contraction of the wood caused by the sun’s heat, too much exposure to ultraviolet rays can cause a piano’s finish to fade.

Sound advice

How a piano sounds depends both on how it is tuned and on the acoustics of the room in which it is played. Too many hard surfaces can make a piano sound "bright," as the higher frequencies bounce from surface to surface. Dampening some of the sound with carpeting will make the instrument seem quieter and take the edge off the upper octaves. If you have hardwood floors, simply put an area rug under the piano. Draperies and wallpaper also offer modest sound-dampening qualities.

A lesson in scale

Because they are large, pianos tend to be the focus of the room. But a big dark piano doesn’t have to steal the show. To add balance, consider another hefty piece of furniture on an opposite wall. Bookshelves, an armoire, or even large paintings can round out the ensemble and add balance to the room by filling vertical space. Since pianos are typically dark in color, you’ll want to keep the room’s colors fairly light to prevent it from feeling cramped.

A well-designed garage does lots more than just bring cars in from the sun or snow. It can provide space for storage, plus maybe a shop, a studio, or other hobby area.

Architecturally, the best garage also brings a sense of "belonging"-serving as a visual companion to the house and looking as if it’s always been there.

This charming brick carriage house is our first case in point Several years ago, owners Laurie and David Davis converted their original attached two-car garage into a family room. To replace it, they built a detached garage that mimics their 1957 ranch in its arched openings, brickwork, and roof pitch.

Two decades ago, architectural designer Gary Salter started planning a Colonial-style house for his family. He created an authentic period design that fits nicely into historic Norwell, Massachusetts.

Green paneled doors and red brick siding (top) help the new garage blend into the neighborhood (above). The entry to the garage and its upper level (right) matches the home’s detailing.

When he drew up plans for the original house, there was no way to attach a garage because of the septic system’s location. So, for 20 years, the family got along without a garage.

"Finally we decided to do something," says Judy, Gary’s wife. Judy acted as the client, citing her needs and preferences, while Gary supplied the design know-how.

Their solution-the half Cape Cod "house" shown here-won an award in Better Homes and Gardens magazine’s 1996 Home Improvement Contest. Janis and Gary Hostetler’s new garage solves several problems at their stately Indianapolis home. It gets their cars off the street and makes room for the workshop Gary has always wanted. Best of all, the garage accommodates secluded outdoor living in a bustling downtown setting.

Architect Terry Bradbury strove to ensure the new structure’s proportions, hip roof, and trim echoed the classic Italianate detailing of Janis and Gary’s 120year-old home. A patio, topped with a classy pergola, links the house and garage.

From its arched doors to the cupola and weather vane up top, the new garage (right) mimics an 18thcentury relic.

For security reasons, the windows on the garage’s side (above) aren’t windows at all. They’re an ornamental arrangement of shutters and trim pointed to match the house.

From the front, the garage (below right) looks like a neighboring home. Both house and garage are set back from the road and blend into the wooded landscaping.

"I don’t feel like I’m downtown when I’m sitting out here," Janis says. "I feel like I’m in an outdoor living room."

The garage features a bonus room upstairs that could someday provide more living space. "We toyed with the idea of an apartment up there," Janis says, "but decided we didn’t want people living in our backyard."

This new garage belongs to a house with history-a cottage that was built in the mid-19th century and later moved to a wooded hillside site in Zionsville, Indiana.

Automotive access to the garage (above) is from a back alley. The garage’s raised-panel siding doesn’t copy that on the three-story house, but similar proportions, materials, and color schemes tie the two together.

The garage’s rear entry (above) opens to a patio with world-of -itsown privacy. Stairs inside lead to a room above.

You hardly realize this is the back of a garage (left). The garage’s windows mimic those on the back of the house.

The homeowner would have preferred the convenience of an attached garage, but property boundaries, hilly terrain, and mature trees ruled that out. Instead, she built a rustic "barn" that looks as if it’s been on the property for more than a century.

On the ground level, the garage accommodates the owner’s 1952 British roadster, the minivan she uses for everyday wheels, and an extensive collection of garden tools and supplies. An exterior stairway climbs to a loft that stores garden furniture and other seasonal items.

Matching stain color and roofing help the garage and house righ harmonize without looking exactly alike.

Placing the stairway outside (above) doesn’t take away from storage space inside the garage.

Outdoor furniture and Christmas decorations go up and down these stairs several times a year.

A deep overhang at the front of the garage (right) serves as a porch, complete with a tilt-top picnic table.

Wrought iron hinges and latches give the overhead garage doors the look of swinging born doors.

When it comes to successful displays, the odds are with you. As a rule, odd numbers of items create more interest than even numbers. Likewise, a variety of shapes and sizes catches the eye.

1. As awkward as a lineup of new recruits, this shoulder to-shoulder arrangement of thin bottles is not pleasing to the eye. The even number of similarly sized bottles and even spacing between them make the grouping uninteresting. Keep in mind that even numbers look best when used in contemporary arrangements, such as two prints side by side or a set of four prints in a horizontal grouping.

2. Slide a few objets out, move another over, and this grouping starts to live a little. The two heavier bottles on the left side are visually balanced by the taller bottle on the right. Overlap the edges of two out of three of the items for more dimension and to ease the monotony of equal spacing. Liven the trio by adding some bleating space on the other side. As a rule, the space between the bottles should be less than the width of the bottle that stands alone.

3. For a bolder statement, odd more objects to the grouping. Keep an odd number, but wry their shapes, sizes, and spacing. The plate in the background, set slightly off-center, pulls your eye into the arrangement and bridges the gap between the bottles. The weight of the arrangement remains on the left with the tallest bottle. Balance is maintained with the thickness of the shorter bottle on the right.

Deep in the heart of central Texas is a land of rugged natural beauty and historical importance known as Hill Country. Sprawling across 25 counties, Hill Country is as much a state of mind as a place. Well-preserved 19th-century towns beckon city dwellers with a relaxed pace and an image of an America that has largely vanished. Springtime is the ideal season to visit Hill Country. It is when the state flower, the bluebonnet, and a multitude of other wildflowers bloom, spangling the rolling countryside with color. Fredericksburg, with its 350 bed-and-breakfasts and guesthouses, is the perfect base for exploring the area. Like several towns in the region, Fredericksburg originated as a German pioneer community in the 1840s, and the Teutonic flavor is still strong. German with a Texas twang can be heard at schutzenfests (shooting fests), sangerfests (singing fests), and wurstfests (sausage fests). This intermingling of European culture with frontier days, rodeos, and cowboy sensibility offers visitors a unique A merican experience.

The Pioneer Museum

One of the best ways to experience the special history of Texas Hill Country is to visit the Pioneer Museum Complex, located on Main Street in Fredericksburg. Scattered over a 3.5-acre site are some 10 structures, all illustrating different facets of late- 19th- and early 20th-century life in the area. Entry to the complex is through the Kammlah House, constructed in 1849 as a one-room fachwerk, or half-timbered, cabin. It is indigenous to the site.

Other structures include the Kammlah barn, the Fassel-Roeder House (both also original to the property), a one-room schoolhouse, an 1880s log cabin, a wagon shed, a smokehouse, and a fire-department museum. One of the highlights of the complex is the circa 1904 Weber Sunday House. This 16-foot by 20-foot structure represents a form of architecture unique to the Fredericksburg area. Between 1890 and 1920, local farmers built tiny houses to serve as places to eat and rest when they came to town on weekends to worship and socialize. Virtually all the Sunday houses have been either demolished or converted to full-time use, leaving only this example and one other in original condition.

The Comfortable Legacy

Located a half-hour’s drive south of Fredericksburg, Comfort is a quiet town that has one of Texas’s most intact 19th-century historic districts. There are about 100 turn-of-the-century buildings within walking distance of the town center. Among those, several are connected to the Ingenhuett family. Peter Joseph Ingenhuett was an enterprising German immigrant who arrived in Comfort in 1863 and established four businesses. Two of them, a livery stable and a saloon, are no longer in operation, but a hotel (now a bed-and-breakfast called Comfort Commons) and the Ingenhuett Store are still in business. Today the store is run by the family, continuing a 130-year legacy.

Peter Ingenhuett’s homestead still exists as well, although it is now owned by antique collectors Bill and Hellen Meyer. Their house–a circa 1888 Victorian–was actually the Ingenhuetts’ third home in Comfort, where the family and descendants lived for more than 80 years. The second Ingenhuett home–currently uninhabited–sits in the backyard: a 25-foot-square, 1880 cottage originally finished in fachwerk (half-timbered) style. Their first family home was a suite of rooms over the store.

Originally, the 1888 house had five rooms on one level with clapboard sides and a shingle roof, but it was altered by previous owners in the late 20th century. A sleeping porch was walled in to create a new kitchen and dining area, and the lofty attic was converted to include two bedrooms and a bath. Stucco siding and a metal roof replaced original materials. The furnishings in the house are a combination of family pieces and antiques.

A fresh vision and a love for French culture inspired Lillian and Ted Williams, classicists and home restorers, to return an abandoned folie in Normandy, France, to the condition that made the structure a "jewel in a wheat field" during the halcyon days before the French Revolution. The Chateau de Morson, built in 1750 for the Marquis de Morson, is one of the few remaining folies in France. The gentlemen’s getaways were frequently a target for revolutionaries seeking to destroy any lingering symbols of the aristocracy. The folies not ruined by political action have been ravaged by the elements, Lillian Williams notes: "This house was not built to survive 200 years, it was built as a whim." The Chateau de Morson is unusual not only for its survival in the face of adversity, but also for its location in the Normandy countryside–most folies were found on the outskirts of Paris and Bordeaux, perfect locations for city-dwelling gentlemen to escape for an afternoon’s dangerous liaison.

When the Williamses entered the abandoned dwelling in Normandy for the first time, they saw a dramatic parlor with 14-foot ceilings and graceful glass doors overlooking fields of wheat. Struck by the beauty, they instantly decided to purchase the nobleman’s playhouse. "It took us 20 seconds to buy and 10 years to restore it. If we hadn’t bought it, it would have fallen down," Lillian says.

As Americans in France, the Williamses join the ranks of legendary interior designer Elsie de Wolfe and novelist Edith Wharton as Francophile owners of folies. What is taken for granted as a French ruin by many natives is rediscovered as a treasure with the fresh, appreciative eyes of Americans, Lillian observes. "I think the Americans have made their impact," she says. In the American style, the couple also brings the do-it-yourself ethic to the Continent. "We used more of our imagination and less of others’," Lillian explains. The walls are hand-painted and fabrics are selected based on her studies of ceramics and extensive knowledge of 18th-century art and textiles, which she uses to design fabric and wallpaper for the likes of Manuel Canovas. A large amount of the repair and refurbishment work on the manor was completed by Ted Williams.

Following the original intent of the frolicsome folie, Williams has decorated with a collection of game tables.

Other items include hunting horns and dueling swords. "I’m opposed to dueling, but I like to think these were used to protect the honor of a lady" she says. The game tables serve many purposes today, just as they did in the home’s first heyday The cabriole-leg pieces serve as dining and recreation areas for the Williamses throughout the house in 18th-century style. "Living in this house is like living in the 18th century," Lillian notes.

IT’S A CLASSIC: The curvy, cabriole-leg table was a must-have in wealthy 18th-century French homes and remains popular. It was originally designed as a table for gaming and dining. Here, the cabriole–a stylized form of an animal’s leg–is featured on a table en crachoir: a piece with a deep rim edge, meant to keep games and food from slipping off the table.

IT’S A CLASSIC: The fauteuil chair first appeared in France during the Louis XV period in the 18th century. The open-sided piece, created to suit the fashions of the day, was an instant success and quickly became a fixture in formal rooms throughout the nation. The upholstered chair, now an international favorite, can be identified by its deep, rounded back, spacious seat, and cabriole legs. Frequently, the fauteuil features padded arms, as seen here.

It’s no surprise that this elegant Greek Revival house, built at the crest of a hill, looks a little familiar. Created by North Carolina residential designer William Poole, the house was inspired by Melrose Plantation, a circa 1849 historic home in Natchez, Mississippi (see "Melrose Plantation," page 66, February/March 2000). "My intention was to convey the feeling and charm of the original house," says Poole, "to maintain proportions but not scale."

The new version artfully disguises 21st-century amenities and achieves the goal of planting a question in a visitor’s mind: Is it new or is it renovated? "It’s an historic house for today–an old house for people who don’t want an old house," says interior designer Roger Higgins about the new home located in The Governor’s Club, a golf-course community near Nashville, Tennessee.

Indeed, the new house, which is more than 6,000 square feet, was downscaled about 20 percent from its historic sister. While not meant to be a copy of the original Melrose, the new home retains the unmistakable air of the old. Authenticity is woven through the house in such telling details as thick crown moldings, deep window jambs, and 11-foot ceilings.

The furnishings were also chosen to underscore the feeling that the home has a rich history. "There’s not anything that’s too perfect," says Higgins, who worked with his partner, Ann Shipp, to create interiors that perpetuate the old-house feel. "You go into so many new houses and they just look like big new houses. My thought on this was, because it was based on an historic plan, there had to be some nod toward an historic interior," he adds.

Higgins has deftly placed period antiques amid beautifully crafted reproductions–many pieces from Henredon’s Natchez Collection–and new upholstery. An element of surprise, too, is at work within these walls. The family room, for instance, gets a fine, antique Heriz rug, while the Neoclassically inspired living room is grounded with a seagrass rug.

The end result is pared-down classicism, achieved through the strategic use of color and grand gestures, such as a series of vintage prints hung as a dramatic group in the living room and wide-plank pine floors used throughout most of the main level. "The use of heart pine gives it a warm, used character right from the get go," says Poole.

Despite traditional details, the interiors stray from the past due to clean and contemporary furnishings. While many 19th-century homes would have had heavy draperies and carpets, Higgins kept window treatments simple and floors bare except for a few judiciously placed rugs.

"A complete lack of window treatments looks like you just moved in," says Higgins, "but there doesn’t have to be swag and jabot, velvet and trim, and 14 layers. Some houses are so full, they’re hard to live in," he continues. "Leave a little room for you in the house."

Understated colors, used in unexpected ways, also provide an exciting touch. Pale celadon ceilings in the kitchen, living, and dining rooms give depth to an otherwise forgotten surface, while in the home’s formal areas such as the entry, powder room, and living room, smart black defines the baseboards. "Everybody freaks out until they see them," says Higgins about the baseboards, which incorporate a favorite Nashville painting technique that smartens rooms.

In the family room, a glazed finish on the walls provides depth. "It looks like someone’s been in there smoking cigars for 40 years," he says.

Nashville builder Stan Pope, who served as general contractor, took the concept of authenticity to heart and even made a trip to Natchez to inspect the original Melrose "to see what Poole was seeing." For that reason, many details often installed as traditional tokens on new houses are real on this home. The widow’s walk is functional, not a flimsy fake. The transoms that top many of the interior doors on the main level are just like those in the original house, down to their "X" motif.

"It’s an authentic house, yet it’s still light and airy, which is what people want today," says Pope.

"This house is very much what I like," says Higgins, "which is less stuff, the correct stuff and better stuff.

One winter day nine years ago, Pete Hedrick looked out at the ice and snow that covered his yard and had a vision of what the space should be. Having just purchased his Federal-style home in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill historic district after living for years in a 15th-floor high-rise condominium, he admittedly knew little about gardening. Sitting in the home’s demilune conservatory room, he painted a watercolor rendering of how he thought the outside areas should look.

When spring rolled around and the ice melted, Hedrick launched a campaign to turn his plan into reality, and soon discovered he needed more than good decorating sense to prevail. "Originally, I saw the garden as a design project, but I read so many garden books that my interest soon became equally balanced horticulturally and designwise," he says.

It took Hedrick, a family practice doctor, the first summer to clear masses of ground ivy leaves, cinder blocks, and debris from the property. Then he began to formulate his plan, based on classical garden design–characterized by symmetry, balance, and axial geometry–and garden styles seen in Provence and the Mediterranean, which utilize clipped hedges and topiaries. He created a skeleton, or fixed space, for each portion of the garden "so it looks good in the winter," and then added focal points with strong shapes and geometric order. With his favorite color, blue, often taking center stage, he added plants, statuary, and fountains.

Hedrick’s love of tropical plants did not coincide with the region’s cold winter weather, so he decided to change the look of his garden each season. During the summer, tropical plants fill the yard, then hibernate in the conservatory during colder months. Pansies and heartier plants fill the garden in fall and spring.

The overall effect is a pleasing mix of classical elements and relaxing informality, one that perpetually draws passersby to sneak a peek through his garden gate. "It especially seems to appeal to French visitors, who say they rarely see a garden like this outside France," he says. Hedrick’s garden has attracted more than the casual guest: It has garnered first prize in the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s annual city garden contest in the mid-1990s. The garden will also be on view during the Chestnut Hill Business Association’s Garden Festival on May 6.

Table settings have changed during the past five centuries, transforming over the years from simple wood or earthenware plates, few utensils, and rare metallic serving or drinking vessels used for basic dining to highly decorated porcelain services, multiple crystal glasses, and specialized flatware for elaborate entertaining. It is only natural that as dining rituals shift, tableware adapts to changes in foods and fashions.

Today, there are thousands of tableware choices. Plates, flatware, crystal, and silver often depict motifs reminiscent of earlier times. Whether these objects copy an older pattern’s decoration or merely allude to a stylistic period, they provide inspiration for creative table settings that buttress gracious entertaining. By mixing antiques with modern patterns and reinterpreting the hallmarks of certain styles, the table settings shown here explore new levels of playful sophistication.

Old World style recalls late Italian Renaissance majolica; but ducal fortunes are not a purchase requirement, thanks to clever modern plates and accessories. Adding metallic flatware or linens enhances the mood. In our Gilded Age table setting, lavish 19th-century formal dinners are recalled. The progression through time continues via 20th-Century Classic plates with colored rims and an emphasis on white decoration.

Our Scenic Patterns present 18th-century toile dress fabric designs on the surface of porcelain plates. They are mixed with 19th-century English ceramics and monochromatic modern patterns. Today, the rule of matching all tableware items is often abandoned in favor of individual creativity.

Late 18th-century and 19th-century Neoclassical shockwaves continue to ripple in plate and flatware designs. From black and white to metallic platinum, nighttime Neoclassical dining has never been easier to achieve. Clean lines and restrained patterns are adapted to create additions to tableware’s repertoire. Combine these elegant pieces with precious objects and sculpture to create visual delight.

Chinoiserie, the European interpretation of Chinese style, is as popular today as it was in the 18th century Pomegranates–instead of floral centerpieces–and pagoda forms celebrate a Western take on Chinese imagery. Like the chinoiserie stylistic period, the look reinterprets decoration and form without regard to its original meaning.

Clearly, all periods and styles are potential subjects for fine table design. What has changed in recent years is a movement toward more creative and confident settings. How different elements of the past are combined and presented remains the choice of each host or hostess. New options include adding personal touches to the table, such as homemade napkin rings or placecard holders. Styles may come and go, but entertaining table settings always remain in fashion.

PART OF THE ALLURE OF CALIFORNIA living is the ability to spend lots of time outdoors year round. Homeowners Michael and Yvonne Caan have taken this privilege to heart, creating an oasis of beauty outside and inside their Brentwood home.

When the couple bought the property about seven years ago, they recall that they were drawn to the house–a 1937 quasi-English-style ranch–and the half-acre property. "We liked the style, and it is on a nice corner lot," says Yvonne. But the Caans knew going in that they were facing an extensive remodeling project. "It needed a new kitchen, new bathrooms. Every room needed to be updated," recalls Yvonne.

Fortunately, the basic structure was sound. The house was designed by the late Los Angeles architect Welton Becket, known for his commercial work, including Schoenberg Hall at University of California at Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Music Center, and the Capitol Records tower in Hollywood. The Caans’ house is thought to be the only single–story residence Becket designed.

Over a period of four years, Yvonne, who is originally from Sweden, personally redecorated the house room by room. Using the experience she gained remodeling other homes and a keen sense of design intuition, she chose fabrics and furnishings that reminded her of English interiors she had seen while abroad. The English Country style also complements the couple’s collection of Swedish and English antiques.

One project Yvonne decided would be better off in the hands of a professional was the landscape and garden design. Realizing that the grounds surrounding the house needed to be completely reworked, she turned to Diana Green of Green Print Design in Santa Monica. Green’s additions include a knot garden in the side yard and a small pool backed with a white-painted pergola poolhouse in the back yard. Covered with flowering vines, the pavilion has turned out to be the perfect place to enjoy year-round outdoor living.