House & Garden
by Conde Nast Publications Inc.
Average Customer Review:
Magazine
list price: $48.50 -- our price: $15.00
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Features

• Magazine Subscription

Reviews (7)

Not what I was expecting at all
I also bought this magazine sight-unseen and I wish I hadn't.For re-decorating purposes, I found this magazine to be not useful at all.The homes and gardens are pretty, but what they feature (furniture, wall and window coverings) just would not go with the middle-class home...way too opulent.I was wanting more of a magazine that could give me a look that can be found in local or chain furniture stores... not that would try to make me get a one-of-a-kind table from XYZ Antique store in New York.Also, I found this magazine text-heavy.All in all, an OK magazine for a professional decorater maybe, but not for a average home-owner trying to redecorate.

Great idea magazine
I was very surprised by the reviews below because I found this magazine absolutely wonderful!! The articles range from architecture, to renovated homes, to specific garden types to the average home owner. I found so many great ideas and inspiration in this magazine as well. The pictures are great and I find myself tearing things out every month!

Fantastic for anyone interested in design, art, or interior decorating.

Uninspring Name. Great Magazine.
The magazine first started about a 100 years ago and was revived about 10-15 years ago. As with its straightforward name, it is simply the best general interest decorating and design lifestyle magazine in the U.S. right now.

House & Garden is an aspiration and upscale magazine (as most lifestyle mags out there - who aspires to less than what they have? :-).

While they do explain some aspects of "doing-it yourself," that is not the focus of this magazine. Its very broad based in the styles it presents (architecture, design, furnishings, styles, garden design, etc ...). Unlike some more specific magazines, they showcase the full gamut of choices available to you not only in design but also in price. While it is upscale, they are not pretentious and present the full range from traditional to whimsical and from Ikea to limited designer pieces.

While ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST tends to tell you how you should one-up your neighbors in gold-plated faucets and how you should arrange a 15-piece Rodin scuplture garden on your 75 acres, HOUSE & GARDEN is more for people who have money, a sense of real value,and an understanding of style already - that you might have a decorator but you don't just hand over a blank check - that you are actively managing the process of designing or re-decorating your house.

ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST also used to bring furnishings and art for their 'celebrity' coverage - not exactly sure how that is useful for anyone.

As for ELLE DECOR or METRO HOME - both are useful for the ads but style-wise and as information sources - very weak. BTW, ELLE DECOR and METRO HOME are owned by the same publisher so they alternate months - it's virtually impossible to tell them apart now. Again, both of them are more magalog that magazine. Which can be useful in decorating but if you're looking for solid editorial - H&G is the only one of the 4 here that does that.

And yes, there are ads in H&G but then again, if you are in the process of decorating or remodeling - you should find the ads useful and relevant.

H&G is the like a decorator who understands you will have some say in how you furnish your house - they understand that you want to know what's out there and will pick and choose not only on style but on price - that you might pair an expensive table next to a lamp from Ikea. If that sounds like what you're looking for - H&G is a great source of useful & relefant info & photo examples. ... Read more

Asin: B00005N7UF
Sales Rank: 132
Subjects:  1. Gardening (Garden, Gardens)    2. Interior Decoration (Decor, Decorator, Decorators)    3. Interior Design   

Better Homes and Gardens
by Meredith Corporation
Average Customer Review:
Magazine
list price: $41.88 -- our price: $15.97
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Features

• Magazine Subscription

Reviews (17)

I love this magazine but...
most of the beautiful gardens I see are in Washington or Oregon or back east somewhere.Having lived in Washington, I do enjoy seeing some of the plants that I am missing here in Colorado, but it would be nice to see a more varied selction of gardens becasue we all can't live in the Pacific Northwest.I have a subscription to Sunset so I guess that will have to suffice, but I do wish BH&G would take that into consideration.

Otherwise, I LOVE this magazine.I used to get several magazines, but this was always my favorite.It is chock full of ideas that we can really use.And I love the photography.What sets BH&G apart is that you can see a hint of life in these beautiful houses.Slippers on the floor, newspaper on the table and often the owners of the home are in the pictures too.They are sometimes blurred from movement which is actually nicer than a posed shot.It helps set the feeling that this home is lived in and is attainable.

I would say get this magazine right away.I would have given it 5 stars except for the whole garden thing.

AKA...Better Homes and Advertising
I ordered this magazine recently only to cancel my subscription.There is way too much advertising in the magazine and none of the crafts or projects really enticed me to get creative.It's too bad.Go with Martha Stewart Living or Sunset magazines instead, both high quality.

Hello...
For those of you that complain about advertisments in magazines, what are you whining about? How do you think
magazines get a nice chunk of their funding? They have companies pay to have their products advertised in the mag.
so shut up.

On a happier note, I love this magazine. It has wonderfuly lovely ideas for make your house look beautiful though some of the ideas do seem a little pricey. ... Read more

Asin: B00005N7OV
Sales Rank: 108
Subjects:  1. Home (Houses, Homes)    2. Gardening (Garden, Gardens)    3. Interior Decoration   

Country Living
by Hearst Magazines
Average Customer Review:
Magazine
list price: $42.00 -- our price: $12.00
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Features

• Magazine Subscription

Reviews (6)

Great
I love this magazine.Itprovides great ideas that look good.Country is a lifestyle.This magazine exemplifies that.It shows all different styles of country.You don't have to fit into one look.I prefer this to Country Home, which generally is dated in their decorating.

Too Many Ads
I used to like this magazine. However,it is so difficult now to find the text due to the ad-heavy format.I would pay more for a subscription and have a cleaner, less cluttered format.

Country Living is geared Toward American Antiques
and especially the family heirlooms that have been passed
onto you. The ordinary everyday chairs,linens,and china that
belong to the agarian era of the Family Farmhouse.
In an inventive an unique way, Country Living uses the antiques
to compliment our modern way of living.Nothing is wasted.
Beauty can be found in the placement of objects.
A kitchen will have a dishwasher camouflaged among a one
hundred year old table and chairs.
The pictures are beautiful and the price of the magazine is
very reasonable.
Usually there is an article for the 20 somethings. It
is 60's retro, or how to be country in a city loft... ... Read more

Asin: B00005N7PN
Sales Rank: 218
Subjects:  1. Home (Houses, Homes)    2. Interior Decoration    3. Decor   

Martha Stewart Living
by Martha Stewart Living
Average Customer Review:
Magazine
list price: $59.20 -- our price: $28.00
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Even if you will never make a "gourd candle" or a "Fortuny-inspired tablecloth," Martha Stewart Living can't be beat for its wealth of ideas concerning what Martha calls "good things." A crafter for craft's sake, and an obsessively organized woman (just look at her personal calendar, included in the first few pages), there is no concept or task that is too mundane for Martha. Like Martha herself, the magazine is impeccably organized--recipes and decorating instructions appear with full-color photos, each filed in their own sections of "cooking," "keeping," "crafts," "home," and "collecting." Learn to slip matched sets of bed linens into one of their pillowcases for easy and convenient shelving, make washcloth mitts, and coordinate mismatched towels with decorative ribbon. A whiz at flower arranging, dinner parties, card and sewing crafts, and decorating, Martha covers and conquers all areas of the home--plus weddings, baby showers, and holidays. --Daphne Durham ... Read more

Features

• Magazine Subscription

Reviews (64)

inspirational but...
I have had a hard time, not only finding the ingredients for recipes and crafts, but also getting them to work out the way they claim they should in the magazine.

style for the masses
This is a fine magazine with truly scrumptious recipes if you're into the kitchen/food thing, home ideas that one can actually use (or that will inspire one to do something similar), and exquisite photography, usually quite stark and simple, of ways to enhance the aesthetic beauty of one's life.
One can serve a plain meal of soup and bread, and make it look like a feast, if you get into Martha's way of looking at things, and it does not take a spending spree to have a "Martha Look". Her basic table settings tend to be white china (one can use mix and match white plates from the local thrift store), clear glass, and colorful fabric...add some well shaped twigs in a glass vase for a centerpiece, and voila ! you have a table that could be shown in this lovely magazine; a rule for "The Look" seems to be the absence of clutter.

Of the regular monthly articles, I like "Ask Martha", which solves problems posed by readers, from health issues to how best to clean your eyeglasses, to "How can I get the coating on my chicken to stay in place when I am frying it ?".
"Clip-Art Craft" is another I appreciate, where in the August '04 edition for example, there are attractive templates for postcards, which one can copy onto card stock, glue a 4 x 6 photo to, and send to your friends. It's another grand idea from Martha !
You'll find articles on antiques, pets, gardening, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and much more, and on the last page, the yummy "Cookie of the Month".

Martha Stewart has brought style and good merchandise at affordable prices for those of us who are budget conscious, but like nice things. I have bought her bedding, and her bathroom accessories have graceful shapes and are an excellent value, and this magazine is one of my favorite aspects of the "Martha industry". The Patricians I know are not usually kind to Martha, but Proles & Plebes like me tend to greatly appreciate her.
Martha, we're going to stick by you through thick and thin !

i love it
This is the most well rounded magazine. Outstanding photography and truly well written articelsmake this a one of a kind. ... Read more

Asin: B00005NIOA
Subjects:  1. Home (Houses, Homes)    2. Food & Gourmet    3. Home & Garden    4. Crafts   

House Beautiful
by Hearst Magazines
Average Customer Review:
Magazine
list price: $47.40 -- our price: $12.00
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Homeowners looking for design ideas will appreciate the wide selection of styles and treatments offered in House Beautiful. From the latest in simplistic style, new takes on Bauhaus-influenced furniture, lighter approaches to Victorian architecture, and a return to the gaudy patterns of 18th-century French room treatments, House Beautiful tends toward no particular school of design. It offers the best of a wide range of ideas, trusting the readers to make decisions of taste on their own. That said, one theme tends to run throughout. People looking for low-cost designs for small homes with simple architecture are more likely to find a sense of direction in these pages than those people of mightier means looking for the full-treatment solutions. --Brian Trinen ... Read more

Features

• Magazine Subscription

Reviews (8)

More Ads Than Anything
I just received my first two issues yesterday. This magazine is page after page of advertisements. The thing that really bugs me about that is - companys run the same advertisements in the same magazines again and again so two issues are virtually the magazine since there are very few articles.

For some reason even the articles in this magazine get lost because they have the same look as their ads. One article was suppose to be tips from over 125 top designers - what it really was - 125 designers listed with addresses and phone #s and a couple of tips on each page of that section.

I'm really disappointed. For a GREAT magazine, try Southern Living. For a REALLY GOOD magazine, try Better Homes and Gardens.

Mostly ads
This magazine comes with lots of advertisements - 70% or more. Plus, articles (less than 15 articles in every issue) in the magazines are not very useful.I subscribed the magazine because it is inexpensive and it is rated high by other subscribers.Now I realize I made a mistake.

Excellent!
I just received my first order, and I love it!This magazine covers a broad range of topics and includes designer techniques, current trends, period styles and so much more.It has tons of vibrant pictures to illustrate the articles.I think this magazine would be ideal for someone just starting out in design to gain a basic understanding on a wide range of topics, and also for the experienced designer to keep up with current trends and fill in the gaps with knowledgeable tidbits. ... Read more

Asin: B00005N7QW
Subjects:  1. Home (Houses, Homes)    2. Home Improvement    3. Interior Design    4. Interior Decoration   

Metropolitan Home
by Hachette Magazines, Inc.
Average Customer Review:
Magazine
list price: $36.00 -- our price: $11.97
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Filled with the latest in home design inspiration, Metropolitan Home offers its readers full-color layouts of innovative and classic homes, insightful commentary on architectural trends and interior decoration, and notes on home peripherals in its "TechNotes" and "Collecting" sections. Beautiful home pictorials offer a wide variety of visual examples for the aspiring designer. The magazine tends to focus on multibedroom homes, but it does sometimes branch out to cover smaller city dwellings such as apartments and condominiums, and even, in one 2001 issue, rooftop gardens. --Jonathon Tudor ... Read more

Features

• Magazine Subscription

Reviews (8)

They'll Take The Money and Run
Don't purchase a subscription to this magazine if you would like to recieve the issues in this century.I purchased a subscription in July 2003.It is now Jan 2004 and I haven't recieved an issue yet.

Beautiful classic modern design. But not cheap.
Each issue carefully covers the latest in interior design, focusing on modern, form follows function style.Not a how-to publicaton. Not trendy.Great photos of stunning architecture and design.

missing metropolitan home
I just tried to resubscribe to Metopolitan Home.
I was a subscriber for many years while living in the US, taking many "can't live without" issues with me when I moved to Australia 12 years ago. I found it very inspiring and am sorry to have just found out I cannot be a subcriber unless I live in the US.
Bit too difficult to move back right this moment. ... Read more

Asin: B00005N7RE
Subjects:  1. Home (Houses, Homes)    2. Interior Decoration   

Architectural Digest
by Conde Nast Publications Inc.
Average Customer Review:
Magazine
list price: $71.40 -- our price: $24.00
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Architectural Digest, the leading international magazine of interior design, embarks on exotic adventures to homes of celebrities and leaders in entertainment, business, society, and the arts. Discover extraordinary architectural design in Majorca or travel to a baroness's home in the Greek isles with Architectural Digest's topnotch writers and photographers. Or perhaps that 18th-century villa and estate in Tuscany you've been eyeing is finally for sale? Whether you hold a master's degree in interior design or simply love the pictures, you'll enjoy the fascinating and eclectic styles this magazine has to offer. --Alison Gubser ... Read more

Features

• Magazine Subscription

Reviews (12)

House Pornography
In summary, this magazine portrays houses that you can't possibly ever hope to own in an "airbrushed" presentation that can't possibly match real life; it is "house pornography".It is exciting to read and puts plenty of ideas into your head.

You have to determine whether repeated exposure to this type of media will enhance your life or make you miserable.Hey, if you have a spare million dollars and need someone to tell you what is fashionable or in good taste--this is for you!

People complain about the ads--I complain about the articles.People get in the way.I note that none of the owners of these showpiece homes have children--most are living alternative lifestyles.Actually, the house becomes the product of the relationship instead of children.It is a fascinating cultural phenomenon and this magazine is the leading journal of the movement.

Great magazine!
I love this magazine.Some reviewers have stated that they disliked some of the interiors.That's fine and fun!I show my husband some of the things (he's a graphic designer) and we have a great time laughing at some of the designs.Other times it's absolutely great.The latest issue (Aug. 2004) is one of the best and the theme is Exotic Homes Around The World, and they are all fantastic.

Of course I wish I could afford a lovely home such one of these in the magazine (maybe one day?) but in the meantime I can look at these homes and dream and also get great design ideas.This magazine is wonderful and relaxing to look at and read.

Try 'Architecture' and 'Dwell' Instead
'Architectural Digest' has changed over the years to become fussier and more lifestyle oriented than substantial architecture and design commentary. I still have a subscription, but intend to allow it to lapse when it expires for three primary reasons:

1) The magazine is huge and cumbersome, largely due to the massive quantity of advertisements;
2) The magazine exclusively highlights gazillion dollar homes, that only are a factor for celebrities;
3) Stylistically, the magazine seems stuck in a rut of cluttered end tables and credenzas, overstuffed pillows, and no space on a wall unoccupied by a huge, gold, gilded framed picture from eighteenth century France.

I don't like clutter, and I don't like being ornate to make a house look rich. That's why I no longer think this is a magazine that I really need. For me I will read 'Architecture' for serious architectural commentary, and 'Dwell' for reasonable (and financially attainable) interior design commentary. Thanks, but no thanks. ... Read more

Asin: B00005N7OM
Subjects:  1. Home (Houses, Homes)    2.  Interior Decoration