We have said it before, and we will say it again. We love our Homes and Gardens Special Issue! We try to find fun and interesting things that almost everyone can enjoy, and maybe they can help some folks finish a project, or do something cool around the house they have wanted to start for a long time.

This year we compiled a great bounty of stories, starting with the beautiful room pictured on the cover. Joshua Novello has shared some images of his styling and design, and we loved them so much we put one, with Joshua, on the cover. What a beautiful, comfortable-looking room. Be sure to read his advice for making small spaces have really huge impact. Page 16.

SMUD checks in with some great news about ditching your gas appliances and going with electric. And, you can get money back from SMUD when you do. John Nicolaus writes about how you can have great color and texture in your yard and garden, without having to use massive amounts of water to keep the plants happy. Wendy Weitzel tells us about an ambitious plan in Woodland to help curb homelessness using tiny homes. What a great idea!

As you peruse though the rest of the magazine, you can’t help but stop at Outword’s Happy Hour ad featuring the tantalizing Tom Goss. He will be performing this coming Friday at, you guessed it, our Happy Hour! It should be great fun.

Speaking of fun, Matt Burlingame chimes in with his always-enticing Out & About column, while Chris Narloch gives us four movies, Billy Porter live in concert, Celebration Arts and even some “Gay Country.”

There, now. We scratched the surface of this special Outword, and the only way you will know what I didn’t go on about, is to pick up a paper copy, or read it online, in either PDF format or using our portal on ISSUU. All for free.

We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we have enjoyed bringing it to you. Until next time. Also, don’t forget, our Pride issues are coming up fast. If you wanna court the LGBTQ+ community here in Sacramento, we’ve got some great ideas how you can do that!