What Are Your Favorite Kitchen (And Home Design) Magazines?

14 years ago

I know some of you are active clippers who've filled folders with inspiration photographs and articles. What magazines are your favorites to read, muse, and scissor?

Fine Homebuilding and Fine Woodworking are usually on my nightstand. They're more on construction techniques, not so much on kitchen design. I've occasionally browsed American Bunglaow and This Old House. They, too, are a bit lacking in the TKO-ness.

There's a store near me with a huge collection of old magazines, for $2-3 per. If I can get some good title suggestions, I'll go down there and come back with an armful to pile up around the armchair. SWMBO needs something new to grumble about.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (15)

cawaps
14 years ago
I read the Fine Homebuilding Kitchen and Bath issues and This Old House. I used to buy Inspired House (or Inspired Home?) from Taunton Press, but by the time I got around to subscribing, they stopped publishing. Great publication, based on the "Not So Big House" concept of Susan Susanka. So if you can find vintage issues of that, I'd highly recommend it.
ncamy
14 years ago
American Bungalow and Arts and Crafts Revival are about the only two I read now. When I built my last house I read Southern Living because that was the style of house we built. I am trading lots of heavy white moldings and formal areas that were supposed to be actually used for tons of dark stained wood and colorful tiles and rugs.
Related Discussions
What are your favorite garden/rose magazines!!
Q
Comments (20)
Carol, No, they don't have lots of photos typically. Usually there is a featured colour rose bloom on the cover and then there might be a few coloured pics inside the edition to support one of the articles. Please note this is not a magazine or high gloss type publication. Its main purpose is for information sharing and updating on initiatives that interest rose growers in general, but particularly those in Canada. It is a low tech publication that comes our every two months, but that is extremely well written and has exceptional regular contributions from its various members and guest writers. The 2007 publications were particularly informative with the articles by Dr. Felicitas Svejda regarding the Explorer breeding program, the specific details around each rose and some thoughts on the future of rose development. I'm mentioning this only so you understand the nature of the publication and aren't expecting some sort of magazine type publication with a wealth of glossy photos.
...See More
What's your favorite gardening magazine?
Q
Comments (14)
everytime i think I've found a great magazine, after a few issues nothing seems to appeal to me anymore. I've finally decided to give up the magazine subscriptions and go to the public library to read the ones i want-- it has fine gardening, horticulture, organic gardening, garden gate, herb quarterly and one or two others-- so i'm lucky. Usually i pick a rainy saturday or sunday and sit and read everything current. I finally had to do the dame thjing with cooking magazines and no just get cook's illustrated, bon appetit, and food and wine. about 2 years ago we decided to trim down subscriptions (we were at 65 total) have whittled the list to 40. and we oly are allowed to get 2 new subscriptions each year, if we want more we have to drop something off the list. I know the mailman hates coming to us on the first of the month. Anyway I was just suggesting a alternative to gatting a subscription. digger b
...See More
What is your favorite gardenting magazine?
Q
Comments (4)
I don't necessarily have one simple favorite, but there are some I find more useful than others. My favorite regional magazine is Texas Gardener. Yes, I know we are in Oklahoma, but this is a superb magazine. I read it for many years before moving here and didn't stop reading it just because we moved here. It is published by the same parent company that published the best vegetable gardening book I've ever read...The Vegetable Book: The Texan's Guide to Gardening by Dr. Sam Cotner. I also read Neil Sperry's Gardens magazine when I lived in Texas but haven't kept up with it here....Texas Gardener is available in stores near me but I'd have to subscribe to Neil's and I just never 'get around to' doing that. I've read Oklahoma Gardening from the state-by-state gardening empire and it is OK, but I don't like it as much as I like Texas Gardener. Many years ago, I read all of them....Fine Gardening, Horticulture, the National Gardening Association's magazine (athough I can't remember the name of it now), Country Gardens, Kitchen Gardener or Kitchen Gardening (now defunct, it was published by the same folks who publish Fine Gardening), Organic Gardening (now a mere shadow of its once superb self, I'm sad to say) and Garden Gate as well as various other ones published seasonally by Better Homes and Gardens, like their annual Rose specialty mag or their annual Perennial one or whatever. That was long ago, and I don't read as many of those as I used to. Since moving to the country and getting more and more into growing crops as opposed to ornamentals, and having animals and many other country interests, my reading interests have changed. Now I am more likely to read Hobby Farm, Hobby Farm Home, Mother Earth News, Grit, Countryside and Urban Farm. Of all these, my favorite is Urban Farm, which is brand new. I enjoyed the premiere issue and an anxiously awaiting the second issue although I don't even know if they have a target date for the second issue. I think it is published by the same folks who brought us Hobby Farm and Hobby Farm Home, and they started out slow but gained readers quickly and began to appear more often....quarterly now I think. For sheer beauty and inspiration, I enjoy Birds and Blooms magazine which features not only birds and blooms, but lots of butterflies and moths as well. I think you have to find the magazine that best suits your interests. If you are more into ornamentals, you might like Fine Gardening the most of all. Or, if you're looking for practical ways to beautify your landscape, Garden Gate is top-notch. If you're into homesteading, it has to be Countryside and if you are into homesteading and ecology, it has to be Mother Earth News. Another fine publication that seldom gets mentioned in these discussions is Green Prints, which is a magazine of little stories and tales more like the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. It is superb, but I don't recall that is has any hands-on stuff...more inspiration and heart-warming stuff. I used to buy it occasionally when I lived in Fort Worth, but haven't seen it on the newstands here. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Gardener
...See More
Your favorite home decorating and design websites
Q
Comments (10)
Hi everyone. Thanks for all the great suggestions!! Many I've never heard of so can't wait to bookmark and explore. One I forgot about is Lonny.com. The online version of a magazine I would probably never spend the $ to buy, but what I like about it is you can run your curser over many products in the photos and it will provide price and purchase info. Like the immediacy of that. Always hate having to flip to the product pages in the back of magazines. bethohio3. Good suggestion. I've tried that in the past, but had trouble remembering them and or passwords! Maybe I should try again. Thanks.
...See More
firstmmo
14 years ago
Elle Decor, Remodel, California Home+Design.
rjr220
14 years ago
Since I've been frequenting this site and oogling the kitchen that GW's have put together, my desire for design magazines has dropped considerably. I see so much more creativity here that between the glossy pages.
pirula
14 years ago
House and Gardens, Homes and Gardens, World of Interiors (all British).
rhome410
14 years ago
I look forward to Fine Homebuilding each month, and particularly love the 'Houses' and 'Kitchen and Bath' special editions. I also used to love Inspired House. Years ago, I like Home, but stopped getting it and don't even know if it exists any more.
springplanter
14 years ago
I think this depends on your preferred style.
Before you seek out spending monies on the mags, why not look at your local freecycle. I recently got about 200 (everything from natural home to renovation style to house and garden, fine homebuildig,etc etc etc ) Have been looking through and am offering to others in 20-30 batches

good luck!
plllog
14 years ago
I'm drowning in paper so I don't take any subscriptions. I too have found GW better than any kitchen magazine. I had a whole stack before I found this forum, and haven't looked at them since.

My favorite home magazines are Sunset and Architectural Digest. Metropolitan Home and Dwell are okay, but repetitive. A lot of the traditional magazines, like BHG, are very Eastern and just don't fit where I live.
kitchendetective
14 years ago
I enjoy the "Kitchen of the Month" feature in House Beautiful. The kitchens are often lovely and I enjoy reading about the details, even when I don't care for the kitchen. I wouldn't subscribe just for that feature, but, if you can find some old copies or get them at a local library, they have a varied and sometimes instructive content. I do enjoy that magazine, BTW, because the editors include many details about sources. Also, many of the featured projects use one of my favorite vendors: Chateau Domingue in Houston, Texas. A day spent there is the next best thing to wandering around in European ruins. I have stopped subscribing to publications that use mostly non-U.S. sources because, even though they're interesting reads, they usually have items that I cannot access readily or economically. World of Interiors is wonderful, though, if you want just one such mag.
seattle_rain
14 years ago
Dwell, Sunset, and Atomic Ranch.
beekeeperswife
14 years ago
I love Elle Decor, House Beautiful and Veranda. As I was looking for ideas for the kitchen reno, I would look at bunches of kitchen magazines that were out there. I picked up quite a few. What I found was I would use the same magazines over and over again--as I was doing each part of my kitchen I would drag them back out. When I was buying a faucet, I looked at just faucets, then the floors, you get the idea. It's funny, since I really don't have any more decisions in the kitchen--I'm not looking at them anymore! Yay. Back to Elle Decor now!
zeebee
14 years ago
My mainstays for my old rowhouse are House Beautiful, Traditional Home and This Old House. I also like Living Etc. (British decor mag).
three_daisies
14 years ago
My current favorites are Better Homes and Gardens and Country Living - do those count? I love most of the kitchens they feature. When I was looking exclusively for kitchen ideas and narrowing down inspirations, I collected as many BH&G "Kitchen and Bath" issues as I could.

Seattle Rain - Atomic Ranch? Is that a magazine? I'd love to have another kitchen somewhere that I could do in a late 50's-early 60's style - coffee shop/Googie style!

I grew up with Sunset magazines around the house - my parents lived in Monterey and San Diego for awhile before moving back to the East coast and mom always had a stack of them in the living room. Wish she hadn't thrown them out, they'd be late 60's retrolicious.
kathycooks
14 years ago
Consumer Reports online is my favorite for everything I buy and they have a home issue annually that has great ideas for everything. They offer pros and cons for all your kitchen needs (flooring - tile vs hardwood, for example) that you don't necessarily get with the design mags.
busybme
14 years ago
My husband ordered This Old House mag. from my daughters school fundraiser a few years ago and I have been subscribing ever since! It is a quick-read magazine that is very practical and informative, especially for DIYers.

What Are Your Favorite Kitchen (And Home Design) Magazines?

Comments (15)

cawaps

ncamy

Related Discussions

firstmmo

rjr220

pirula

rhome410

springplanter

plllog

kitchendetective

seattle_rain

beekeeperswife

zeebee

three_daisies

kathycooks

busybme

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US