Author Archives: Nicole Clausing

I Made This Easy Christmas Wreath for Less Than $9

So you’d love to have a modern Christmas wreath this holiday season but you don’t want to spend a lot of money. (And why… Read More

A Family of Four Ditches City Life for the Coolest Little Island Cottage You’ve Ever Seen

The best home stories usually originate with far-fetched what-ifs, questions that are often the catalysts for massive changes that push people into new frontiers. The… Read More

This Holiday Menu Is So Classic You Might Start Making It Every Year

Mary Heffernan knows how to cook for a crowd. The California rancher grew up in a big family—her parents were each one of five—and she… Read More

These Charming Mountain Towns Know How to Do Winter (Spoiler: Whiskey Is Involved)

There’s perhaps no spirit more synonymous with the Western frontier than whiskey. But in fact, most of the hooch consumed by cowboys and trappers… Read More

Christmas Trees Are More Expensive Than Ever This Year—Here’s How to Find the Right One for You

Inflation is on everyone’s mind this holiday season, but a Christmas tree will cost about the same as it did last year, right? Wrong. According… Read More

Fresh, Mail-Order Holiday Wreaths Are the Easiest Way to Decorate Your Front Door (Plus, They’re Stunning)

A live holiday wreath hung on your front door is a verdant invitation to guests: It encourages them to come inside, get warm,… Read More

5 Tasting Rooms Where You’ll Come for the Wine, But Stay for the Vibes

At the risk of stating the obvious, we go wine tasting to taste wine, right?  Well, yes and no. Yes, you’ll come… Read More

This Pocket Patio Is a Masterclass on How to Maximize Space

When Saffron + Poe shop owners and designers Fiona Bronte Burr and Johanna Vente Anderson saw the tiny 330-square-foot patio their new… Read More

Drink the Issue: Sunset Wine Club’s Perfect Pairings from the 2022 Holiday Issue

The wines of the West are an integral part of the lifestyle that we celebrate in our pages—and the Sunset Wine Club is the essence… Read More

10 Secret Spots in California’s Unsung Mountain Getaway

Sunset’s Insider Guide series highlights seasonal diversions and secret travel tips from local experts. Follow along as we learn where to eat, drink,… Read More

Will Ferrell and LeBron James Are Making Urban Honey. It’s $250 a Jar and It’s Actually Worth It.

Like so many cities in the West, Los Angeles could be honey heaven if we set up beehives throughout the urban sprawl. Imagine drizzling… Read More

Your Houseplants Find the Holidays Stressful, Too. Here’s How to Keep Them Alive.

I don’t know about you, but when I go out of town to spend time with my family for the holidays, I experience a lot of… Read More

10 Thanksgiving Pie Recipes That Aren’t All Pumpkin

We need to talk about pumpkin. This great gourd has a wonderful flavor and impressive utility, and it’s completely intertwined with… Read More

How to Style Your Thanksgiving Table

Your fresh turkey is ordered. Your guest list is set. The once-a-year china and silverware are out of storage. What’s missing from your Thanksgiving… Read More

The True Story Behind the West’s Most Wonderfully Nostalgic, Sustainable (and Cool) Dinnerware Company

Enamelware is having a moment. Yes, those speckled, brightly colored, porcelain-coated metal plates you’ve seen in cowboy movies, at campsites, and maybe your… Read More

It’s Roasting Season and I’ve Found the Perfect Pan

Would you like my old roasting pans?  Because, after 20 years of meh performance I’m finally getting rid of them. But not without a… Read More

This Botanical DIY Makes the Best Inexpensive Gift Ever

Stephanie Pavelko, the content creator behind the My Tiny Laguna Kitchen website, got her start thanks to her grandmother. “I grew up… Read More

Double Gold Winners of the 2022 Sunset International Wine Competition

Out of the thousands of bottles tasted as part of the 2022 Sunset International Wine Competition, here are the ones that qualified at the… Read More

Gold Winners of the 2022 Sunset International Wine Competition

Our judges tasted innumerable bottles during the course of the 2022 Sunset International Wine Competition. Here are the ones that qualified at the Gold… Read More

These Tiny Country Inns Are the Ultimate Weekend Escape

With travelers continuing to seek intimate experiences as the world reopens, diminutive properties that crib on the craftsmanship of European inns, Italian agriturismos, and… Read More

This Pie Makes Every Other Holiday Dessert Look Boring

Jaynelle St. Jean’s pies are modernist works of edible art. Over the past few years, the Oakland-based baker has established herself as a design-minded deliverer… Read More

The Plants You Wouldn’t Think to Keep Indoors but Should (and Other Ways to Be a Garden Rebel)

The new Terrain: The Houseplant Book by Melissa Lowrie bills itself as “an insider’s guide to cultivating and collecting the most… Read More

Book One of These Baja Hotels and the Rest of Your Vacation Will Take Care of Itself

Though there’s no bad time to go, Mexico’s western peninsula comes alive during harvest season, when innovative wine, delightful tasting rooms, and otherworldly… Read More

Wait, This Common Gardening Shoe Is Chic Now?!

I knew when my millennial sister, who happens to be a floral designer, started rocking Crocs that something was up. She’s stylish and talented (just check… Read More