Real Simple -julkaisun September 2025 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

FOR SELF-CARE, HOME CARE & ALL YOUR OTHER CARES MISTAKES YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE MAKING Coffee Table Trip-Ups Sit down and put your feet up! New York City–based interior designer Kathy Kuo, founder of an eponymous home store (@kathykuohome), shares three of the biggest blunders. You’re Picking the Wrong Height Most coffee tables stand somewhere between 14 and 20 inches high. “An easy rule of thumb is to choose a piece that’s one or two inches lower than your sofa’s seat cushions,” Kuo says. Anything that’s too short or too tall will look out of place, plus make lounging and snacking less comfortable, she notes. You’re Not Playing with Shape Think about the right shape for your lifestyle and space. Round and oval tables are trendy; as a bonus,…

Salty-Sweet Blondies ACTIVE TIME 20 MINUTES TOTAL TIME 2 HOURS, 50 MINUTES MAKES 16 BLONDIES Cooking spray2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour1½ cups (320 g) packed light brown sugar1 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. kosher salt1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted2 tsp. pure vanilla extract1 large egg¾ cup coarsely chopped pretzels (from about 18 pretzels), divided1½ cups coarsely chopped cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (from about 12 cookies, such as Oreos), divided½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. semisweet chocolate chips, divided PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper, leaving at least a 1-inch overhang on 2 sides. STIR together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter, vanilla, and egg; whisk until well combined. Fold in ½ cup…

PUT LIKE WITH LIKE Gather all your baking stuff in one section. Breakfast foods should live together too. Afternoon treats go within reach so kids (and adults) can help themselves. THINK SIDEWAYS Store boxes of dry goods (pastas, grains) with their skinny sides forward, just as you do cereal. Try to avoid second rows—everything visible means nothing gets stale. STASH BAGS IN A BASKET Loose bags of chips, pretzels, and random crunchies can get unwieldy fast. Stand them up in a basket to maximize space and to ID them quickly when the munchies come. GO LOW Where to place small but heavy appliances that haven’t earned counter status? On a low shelf or right on the floor, which can handle the heft. And lift with your legs!…

YOU’VE PROBABLY noticed that we’ve been going through a bit of a protein craze lately. You can thank the paleo and keto diets for kicking things off, and give Instagram and TikTok some credit for showing us endless delicious-looking cottage cheese videos. When you consider that the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is only 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, or about 54 grams for a 150-pound person, the fixation on protein can seem a little over the top. Just one more nutrition trend we can safely ignore, like the Great Celery Juice Frenzy of 2019. Not so fast. A consensus is emerging that people—especially most women, and especially most women over 40—need significantly more protein than the RDA states, says Katie Sullivan Morford, RD, author of Rise…

  Readers say… Absolutely! “An empty inbox helps me stay focused and on top of the work. Plus, it’s easier to see important emails the next time I check.” MARYELIZ428 “The only emails in my inbox are those that require further action on my part.” LINDA HATFIELD “Mine is constantly emptied. If something needs saving, it goes into a folder. Things needing to be dealt with stay in the inbox until complete.” KARINLORENCPOTTERY Eh. We all have enough to do! “I didn’t even have inbox zero on day one. Eight years later, despite plenty of rules, folders, and archives, it’s a pipe dream.” NICOLE TOMASSI “My Gmail app notification shows 68,494 unread emails.” JOLYNN EVANS “People with only 500 emails in there? Amateurs!” GG2314 The experts say… Kind of.…

Remove Grease Stains from Clothing If you got a little vinaigrette on your shirt at lunch, chalk it up to a case of the whoopsies. Then grab an actual piece of chalk. Most chalk is made of calcium carbonate, which is incredibly absorbent (that’s why it makes your hands feel so dry). You can rub the stuff over the stain and watch it soak up the oil. The resulting dust will get brown and cruddy—brush it off and repeat as needed before laundering as usual. Keep Silver from Tarnishing Those absorbent properties also make chalk great for protecting silver. When silver is exposed to environmental sulfur—found in all sorts of things, including the dampish air we breathe—the chemical reaction causes tarnish. Put some chalk in the bag or box so…

ADVICE, INSPIRATION & A LITTLE PEACE OF MIND AHHH, VACATION! A time to relax. To be calm and unhurried. To leave the grind behind and wind down…immediately upon arrival. You know, after those months of planning, and those weeks of doing extra tasks to prepare for time off work, and those long days of packing and readying yourself and others and the house for departure day. Oof. According to our unscientific calculations, you need almost half a vacation just to come down from all that and settle into a new locale. “Ironically, even though the whole point of a vacation is to give us a break from our routines, being outside our comfort zones can be unsettling,” says Nicola Jane Hobbs, a psychologist and the author of The Relaxed Woman,…

THE ZODIAC, or “circle of animals” in Greek, is a ring of constellations even modern astronomers find important, though not for mystical reasons: “They map out what’s called the ecliptic, which is the path the sun, planets, and moon take in the sky,” says Jackie Faherty, PhD, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History. Ancient Babylonians noticed this phenomenon—that celestial bodies move in regular patterns against a circular band of stars—and formed a belief system that eventually led to magazine horoscopes with quirky personality insights and warnings about partner compatibility. At its core, astrology is the study of how planet cycles influence us, says Susan Miller, founder of the website Astrology Zone and two astrology apps. “It’s really a tool for self-discovery.” Let’s join her for some stargazing.…

Moody-Blue Kitchen KEREN & THOMAS RICHTER @thewhitearrow The husband-and-wife duo behind the New York City–based design studio White Arrow embraced an inky teal (by Fine Paints of Europe) in their 1850s farmhouse kitchen. The deep hue turns their white ceramics into silhouette art and makes the vintage Aga stove pop. “We love how cozy the kitchen feels, with its rich blue cabinetry and wide-plank antique pine floors,” Keren says. “The views of the land bring a strong sense of place too.” Dreamy Bedroom DABITO @dabito “My bedroom is my sanctuary, a place for sleeping, streaming shows, and snuggling with my cat, Verbena,” says the New Orleans–based designer. The calming wall color (Quietude SW 6212 by Sherwin-Williams) creates a peaceful airiness and pairs well with the warmth of natural materials. Of…

LEARN A NEW TRICK Be a Bread Winner The best thing since sliced bread? Sliced bread fried in “an obscene amount of extra-virgin olive oil,” declares Samin Nosrat in her new cookbook, Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love, which comes out this month. In it, Nosrat (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat) shares easy whip-ups chefs usually keep to themselves, like fried bread: Set a pan over medium-high heat and add enough oil to generously coat the bottom. Lay in a slice of thick, crusty country bread and cook until browned, letting it soak up the oil. Flip, adding more oil if needed, and brown the other side. “What you’ll end up with isn’t toast,” Nosrat writes. “It’s more like a warm, golden crouton—crunchy on the surface,…

Gripping Journey In Amity by Nathan Harris (The Sweetness of Water), it’s 1866, just after the Civil War, and siblings Coleman and June are technically emancipated. But June has been forced to go to Mexico with their former enslaver, Mr. Harper, while Coleman is in New Orleans, working for the Harper family and praying for his sister’s return. When a letter from Mr. Harper arrives summoning Colemanto join them, the novel takes readers on a riveting voyage through the desert, as Coleman and June struggle to find each other and, ultimately, their freedom. Friends Till the End The Wilderness, the highly anticipated second novel by National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy (The Turner House), features five Black women navigating the twisty road from young adulthood to middle age. The story unfolds over…

IDEAS, DIYS & REALLY GOOD TIPS Frozen vegetables have so much going for them. For starters, a regular ol’ bag (just veggies, no sauce) is as nutritious as the fresh stuff and often more affordable, not least because the veggies won’t spoil in the fridge while they wait for you to figure out what to do with them. They also ensure you always have something on hand to round out a last-minute dinner. Plus, they can make their way from freezer to table in a matter of minutes. For many people, the roadblock is taste and texture—they assume the veggies will turn into mush once defrosted. Not so! We called on chefs and other experts for techniques to help these icy guys shine. Roast Them The secret to getting that…

Happy September to you! As we say goodbye to the luscious languor of August, and as the sweet scent of pumpkin spice floats through the air, it’s a great time to reevaluate our actions and thought patterns. Why? Because stuff is about to get Busy again (big B for emphasis!). And because temporal landmarks, like the first day of fall, feel like natural pauses, says Jodi Wellman, an assistant instructor in the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies. “They give us mental space to reflect on who our best possible self could be this season—the kind of person who lets go of old habits and steps into autumn with a sense of renewal and intention.” (Old you: losing hours…

Banking Best High-Yield Savings Account Bread Financial FEE: NONE Looking to park some cash in a savings account? Why earn an annual percentage yield (APY) of around 0.4% with a regular one when you can get 10 times that with a high-yield account? As for which one, Marguerita Cheng, a certified financial planner (CFP) and the CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth in Gaithersburg, Maryland, likes Bread Financial so much, she often has clients set up an account while they’re still on a call with her. “The company provides competitive rates, and the website is easy to navigate,” she says. There’s no monthly fee, and $100 gets you started. Best No-Fee Checking SoFi FEE: NONE It’s hard to beat this second-year-in-a-row winner, says Aja Evans, a licensed mental health counselor…