What could be more groovy, man? The '60s, the decade that baby boomers invented and now can't remember, is back -- at least in a design sense, according to Twist magazine (demographic: 'N Sync, Freddie Prinze Jr.). Normally you wouldn't expect much design advice from a magazine that features life's most embarrassing moments, several pages of fashion's hottest summer sandals, and celebrities' high school yearbook pictures (let's see, was that a year ago, or only six months?). However, Twist magazine, which says it provides "down-to-earth coverage of important teen issues with a fun, 'get real' approach," has some cool decorating suggestions.
* Start with the bed. Tie-dye plain white sheets in acid colors -- neon pink, yellow and orange, for instance -- and mix and match them with solid colors. You can also tie-dye sheets and use them for curtains.
* Find bright-colored faux-fur fabric at local fabric stores and make pillow covers and chair pads, or, for a really psychedelic look, staple fur to a shelf, headboard or nightstand.
* Find sheets of Fun Foam, thin sheets of colorful rubbery stuff, usually found at craft stores, and glue them to cork boards. Then arrange them on the wall in a nifty pattern. You can even cover the whole wall.
* Trim Fun Foam into flower, bird, star or crescent shapes and glue on furniture, walls or ceiling.
* Make a mod mobile by stringing together old 78 or 45 records. You can use colored yarn, string or, for a floating effect, transparent fishing line.
If all this doesn't give your parents flashbacks, you're not trying hard enough.
Southern Living does weddings
There's bound to be a wedding sometime in your future -- and one of the country's premier lifestyle magazines wants to help you make it perfect. Southern Living has launched a new publication called, appropriately, Weddings that showcases real Southern weddings, offers a directory of regional experts and resources from caterers to consultants, and helps newlyweds decorate a first home, cook great easy meals for two and entertain.
Some sample tips: Use native flowers and regional dishes to reflect your heritage; use family photos and heirlooms to make events personal; and plan some leisure activities as well as formal events so friends and family can get acquainted. The first issue is on newsstands now.
Steinway teams up with Dakota Jackson
There's no doubt that the piano is an art object, often forming the centerpiece of a room. To commemorate the 300th anniversary of the instrument's birth, renowned piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons commissioned furniture designer Dakota Jackson to create a limited-edition grand piano.
Jackson, who plays the piano, made several structural changes in his design, including moving both the front and back legs forward in respect to the case, changing the shape of the stick that supports the lid from the traditional straight line to a sinuous curve. Lower edges at the ends of the keyboard make the artist's hands more visible to the audience.
The piano, priced at $79,700, can be ordered anywhere Steinway products are sold; there are only a few on display at shops around the country.
Engelbreit on collectibles
Admit it -- you're a collector. Whether you're a kitsch junkie who harbors garden gnomes and old beer bottles or a minimalist who collects bare surfaces, there's something in your life you have to have more of (and remember, even less is more). Mary Engelbreit, doyenne of classy camp, offers suggestions for displaying your acquisitions, from old buttons to Bakelite clocks to sock monkeys to maps, in "Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion: Collections" (Andrews MacNeil Publishing, 2000, $12.95). There are some tips on collecting and some history of popular collectibles. Available at booksellers.
Home Front welcomes interesting home and garden news. Please send suggestions to Karol V. Menzie, Home Front, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278, or fax to 410-783-2519. Information must be received at least four weeks in advance to be considered.