Featured in August 2007

See what was in this issue of Real Simple.

On the Cover

The Ultimate (No-Sweat) Garage Organizer
If your garage is so disorganized you practically have no room for a car, try these easy clutter-busting strategies, pg. 125
 
 Simplify Your Beauty Routine
Save time and streamline your summer mornings by cutting out nonessential steps from your daily prep, pg. 135
 
 How Healthy Are You? 15 Questions to Keep You Well
How much exercise do you need? What lifestyle changes should you make? Test your health smarts with this quiz, pg. 163
 
 No-Cook Meals
If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Keep cool with these 12 fast, fresh dishes, pg. 216
 
 Easy Decorating: 45 Great Websites
Spruce up every room in the house―without leaving the couch. Discover eclectic online sources for everything from coffee tables to cookware, pg. 226
 
 Making It Last
From from A (artwork) to Z (zucchini), a guide to prolonging the lives of 26 things that matter, pg. 244
 

In This Issue

Thoughts, pg. 4
 
 Why Not?, pg. 8
 
 Contributors, pg. 24
 
 Editor's Note, pg. 29
 
 Real Inspiration
Frames can do more than just hold vacation photos: picture-perfect decorating ideas, pg. 33
 
 Your Words
How do you beat the summer heat?, pg. 41
 
 Simple Solutions
Learn when to replace sportswear: how to create a desktop photo album (and find other new uses for old things); when to buy car-rental insurance; and more, pg. 49
 
 Life Lessons
Writer Jacquelyn Mitchard confesses that when it comes to crafting, she’s all thumbs, pg. 69
 
 The Motivator
Why do smart people make everything difficult? Think easy, says Real Simple’s life coach, Gail Blanke, and everything else will follow, pg. 207
 
 Play Dates
Five groups of women, five versions of old-fashioned, grown-up fun, pg. 236
 
 Credits, pg. 284
 
 Real Life
Meet Real Simple reader Lorraine Deffenbaugh, a semiretired hairdresser contemplating a new career path, pg. 290
 
 Real Simple to Go, pg. 292
 

The Guide

Style 

• Learn to layer with cardigans, pg. 79
• Let one reader’s passion for red shoes inspire you, pg. 93

Home 

• Get hooked up in every room using handy pegboards, pg. 103
• Nylon or wool? The pros and cons of natural materials vs. synthetics, pg. 115

Beauty 

• Make skin glisten in the summer sun with illuminating makeup, pg. 140

Life 

• Tactful tactics for dealing with problem neighbors, pg. 147
• Eight troubling speech habits and how to, um, break them, pg. 155

Body 

• If you want a better bottom line, these four simple exercises will do the trick, pg. 175

 

Road Tests

• Sorbet, pg. 183
• Coolers, pg. 187
• Khakis, pg. 191
• Antiperspirants, pg. 201
   

Cooking

• Five Easy Dinners, pg. 255
• Fake It, Don’t Make It: Fiery “Fried” Chicken, pg. 267
• What to do with leftover buns, pg. 271
• Shopping List/Recipe Index, pg. 281