Welcome

The Better Homes & Gardens Stylebook is a guide to the preferred style and usage for content in Better Homes & Gardens® magazine, Special Interest Media publications, and BHG.com®. For such content, please use this stylebook, including the General Word List, as your initial reference.

Additional recommended guides to grammar, punctuation, and usage include Words into Type, The Gregg Reference Manual, and The Chicago Manual of Style. The primary spelling source should be merriam-webster.com, which is the continually updated online version of the print 11th edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. For a second spelling reference, check Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (unabridged). See the Spelling section of this style guide for more information about using these dictionaries.

Sections in this style guide are arranged alphabetically, and each subject in a section contains guidelines and examples. The stylebook is updated continually. The most recent changes in each section can be found at a glance in Previous Postings, this page. A recent stylebook change was to lowercase the cheese “burrata.” Please see Cheese List.

If you have questions about BHGStylebook.com content, please email Jennifer Speer Ramundt, Special Interest Media assistant managing editor.