Decorating: Kitchen

Sunset Magazine

One lucky homeowner got a new dream kitchen. Learn how you can do it on a budget.

Sunset Books, Lisa Romerein

Use the space you've got and create a new-and-improved kitchen within the existing floor plan.

gloveablesinc.com

Innovative materials turn 1950s-style kitchenware into modern-day must-haves.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston

Presidential china patterns date all the way back to the nation's fifth president, James Monroe (or, more likely, his wife Elizabeth Kortright Monroe). Some first ladies, like Rosalynn Carter, don't commission a china pattern of their own, while others delight in the activity. So far, the Obamas have eaten off reproductions of Abraham Lincoln's place settings at the inaugural luncheon and the Woodrow Wilson pattern, which Michelle Obama chose to mix with pieces from the 1939 World's Fair for the administration's first state dinner on Feb. 22. Asked before her first hostessing duties at the White House whether she would get to work on a china pattern, Mrs. Obama replied, "I think that's part of the job."

How to find a stylish surface that resists slices, spills, and scorches — and still fits your budget.