Top 3 Calathea Varieties

Keeping up with a family’s worth of laundry is a chore no matter what the season, but when kids head back to school and everyone’s calendar fills up with work, class, and nonstop activities, it becomes a mountain of mess.

The best part about Hosta is not just its easy-to-maintain and shade-tolerant persona but also the sheer dynamism and versatile varieties it comes in! Regardless of your garden type, there is a hosta waiting for you. We present our selection of the best variegated Hosta varieties out there!

Is there anything more delightful than the scent of fresh flowers in your garden or on your balcony? With summer just around the corner, it's the perfect time to embrace outdoor living. From warm sunshine to vibrant blooms and the gentle hum of bees, nature is coming alive once more. By introducing fragrant plants into your garden, patio, or balcony, you can create a serene holiday retreat right at home.

Everybody knows that Crotons are woody, broadleaf shrubs that make perfect indoor plants. However, they can also be grown outdoors, especially in frost-free Southern climates. Even though you live in a colder region, you can keep them outside in warmer months.

Why’s everyone so obsessed with growing lavender? It’s a super plant—that’s why! It barely needs frequent watering, thrives in all types of soil, is edible, and is full of healing goodness. And it has so many varieties with such distinct scents and blooms that it would be a crime not to grow it. Let’s help you pick the most fragrant lavender varieties for your home!

The time to act is now for the upcoming autumn! The stage is ripe to set your garden up for a colorful, sweet-scented, bloom-filled cold season. We give you a selection of pansy varieties that you should plant in the coming days of fall, as they are champions at handling frost, snow, and many things winter!

Stuck with dingy, seen-better-days laminate countertops? We feel you. If a kitchen remodel has to live in your dreams for now, either due to budgetary reasons or because you rent, there are still ways you can affordably update your countertops.  For help, we turned to home lifestyle expert Julian Thomas. Perhaps you know him as Marfa Stewart on TikTok, or have seen his DIY projects pop up on your Instagram feed.

An apple a day keeps the gardener happy and busy, but does it grow in Texas? Yes—but not all varieties! Some apple trees are well-suited to thrive in the Lone Star State’s subtropical to temperate conditions. Let’s find out the best ones for your Texan homestead!

Annual plants are perfect for adding a boost of colour to the garden during the colder months, and look especially pretty when planted in pots. Here are some of our top tips for planting annual plants in plant pots:

Autumn is a magical time in the landscape. Leaves sparkle on tree limbs like gemstones and flowering plants gear up for their season finale. The cool nights and crisp clear days of fall rejuvenate flowering annuals and perennials that may have languished in the heat of summer. The result is a riot of blooms that gives the trees a run for their money. Among the spectacle are gorgeous annuals for the fall garden that bloom well into autumn.

Courtesy of Crate & Barrel

A couple of the Sunset editors were talking about the Barbie Dreamhouse the other day. And we had a hot take: Although it’s an iconic home (with a slide, pool, and a color palette that childhood dreams were made of), it’s not the most attractive-looking space from an interior design or architecture standpoint. Sure, it has some touches of mid-century modern style and an extremely cohesive color palette, but we think not very many people would want to live there IRL. On top of that, it doesn’t really look homey or comfy. And all of that’s okay, because the house is for a doll and make-believe moments. What’s a human who wants to live out their Barbie fantasies to do?