I gave my MIL a subscription to SL for Christmas. She has complained about recent issues citing just what you've pointed out. (BTW, if I ever give my MIL a gift she raves about, I will drop dead from extreme shock!)

I subscribed to SL in past years but have been disappointed in recent months whenever I have picked up newsstand copies. However, I flipped through an issue of Southern Accents, which I believe is produced by the same publisher as SL, in a doctor's office this week--it seems to be a great home-dec magazine, but different from SL in that there werenÂt recipes, travel info and the like.

Hi beth...I haven't taken it in a number of years for all the reasons you mention. I imagined I had moved on, but perhaps it has not refreshed its pages? Having narrowed my decor values I'm now enjoying English Home. Too many ads, however. ***Traditional Home is an icon I still enjoy, but I like the less staged, relaxed elegance of English Home. The old Victoria was good in this way, too. Too soon to tell if the new version will display those lovely, real rooms and vignettes. Food network is good for finding recipes, and Victoria used to be wonderful for inspirational entertaining. The recipes could be a bit over the top in time consumption/ingredients, however. I did love the OLD House and Garden...pre Conde Nast.
***Traditional Home gets applause from me for a magazine that is filled with beautiful homes and gardens vs. one or two featured homes.

Southern Living, Southern Accents and Veranda are all from my hometown. I stopped getting SL years ago for the reasons mentioned. If you like SA, look for Veranda - it's even better.

I also like Traditional Home. House & Garden (Conde Nast publication) was wonderful, but recently stopped being published.

I still really enjoy Southern Living. I live in the south and we travel a good bit through the southern states, so I really enjoy the travel sections. I'm kind of hit and miss on the recipes, but there are still many I've tried and like. I also like their gardening/landscaping articles as that's something else I enjoy. Along with the decorating articles.

It may not be quite as good as it used to be, but I still enjoy it. I recently subscribed to Southern Accents, am surprised I had not seen it around town. I haven't received my first issue. Hope I like it! It is put out by the same publisher as it Coastal Living and Cottage Living, I believe.

I do not like Veranda or Traditional Home. I have a Traditional Home subscription but am disappointed. To me, they are a bit stuffy and the decorating seems more *fancy* (for lack of a better word). Fancy is not me.

I love magazines, but I don't seem to find as many that appeal to me lately.

tina

Funny, my issue of Southern Living arrived yesterday, same day as your post, and I thought you were referring to its new format. The pages are thinner and flimsier, which bugs me (weird, I know, but Better Homes and Gardens is also like that, and I stopped taking it.) Just a pet peeve of mine, I guess.

I have thought about stopping SL before, and right before I do, the issue will have articles on just about everything I'm interested in.

Southern Accents I really like. House Beautiful to me is "consistently" good.

I think Southern Living recipes have become a caricature of themselves ~ just put a pecan crust on something, stuff it with pimiento cheese or serve it with a side of grits and it is nouveau southern. They need to reinvent themselves somehow, with a little more thought put into each issue. But I am a transplant to the Midwest, so I seek out things like Southern Living to keep me sane. We all need our familiar!

unless you just love to buy adds... slipped

Although I've read Southern Living, I don't subscribe to it. Phoenix Home & Gardens fits my lifestyle out here in the West better. BUT, I do have a big complaint with SL! I just received a subscription offer from them the other day that looked very much like a bill instead of an offer! My DH almost paid it and that irritated me to no end. I've seen many offers over the years, but this one was so blatantly like a bill that it shouldn't be allowed. I wrote them a nasty comment about it across the bill/offer but ended up not sending it, as they make you pay for your own postage, too . . . how cheap!

I recently stopped my SL subscription but I think it has more to do with me than with the magazine. There's so much more out there to look at now than when I first started subscribing and I tend to focus more on magazines that are more specialized - all food or all decorating. Also, magazines that concentrate heavily on the holidays come fall turn me off, and SL does that in a big way. And then there's the big football issue. Not for me. I think I like it fine January thru August.

I read SL at the library and enjoy it. I used to get it at home but I get so many magazines I cut back. I wish they would include nutritional information on all their recipes like so many other magazines do.

I agree the magazine is not what it used to be - for me anyway. I think it is because we have easy access to great forums like this one - with incredibly talented, real people living in real homes. The cooking forum here at GW has such talented photographers that share their everyday meals just for fun! Their contributions to my recipe files are far better than the same old recipes featured in SL. I am thinking of breaking the subscription habit, it is like saying so long to an old pair of shoes.............

Well, Beth, I'm on the "old fogey" pile, also....I'm 52...I've subscribed to SL since 1975 (the year we married)-and I read my grandmother's before that...it has DEFINITELY slipped...and I'm very disappointed! I've saved so many copies from the years past, and now I'm glad that I did! Every month I had several recipes to try, now, hardly ever do I even look twice. Maybe it's for younger readers, but I don't know why they'd like it, either. The houses all look the same, somehow. It's sad to see such a Southern icon go to the wayside IMHO. Most of mine now go into the trash. I am on their message boards sometimes, and I may refer them to this thread..maybe they'll listen!

I've subscribed for over 15 years. I hate the new format. Can't tell you when the last time I made something from the magazine. I'm not old either, but I think the magazine has really changed. I was thinking I won't renew either, when my subs comes due.

SL hasn't changed with the times. I subscribed from the mid-70s to the mid 90s. It was then I began to notice a boring, repetitive pattern with recipes, gardening info, & decorating. When they started highlighting recipes with processed foods I knew it was time to cancel the subscription. These days I find the Internet a much more valuable resource than any magazine.

Allison, I also miss House and Garden, it was amazing month after month; I have a few piles of back issues I'm still flipping through from time to time.
I'm finding Veranda not as exciting as it used to be but there is always one feature article that makes it worth while.

I discovered Shelter magazine, which I love, you can look at the whole issue on line at

www.shelterinteriors.us

Southern Living doesn't have enough decorating ideas for me. Like the above poster, if you travel, it is great. It also has wonderful recipe's, something else I don't really need. I'll have to check out Southern Veranda.

Shelter Interiors is a nice magazine. Thanks for sharing.

Brutuses, it's Veranda and/or Southern Accents. Two different magazines.

Here is a link that might be useful: Veranda Homepage

Southern Accents.....

Here is a link that might be useful: Southern Accents

This magazine runs articles on the same locations over and over ad nauseum. Articles on these locations were interesting at one time but have become stale and mundane. Some articles appear to be basically recycled. I have given them a suggestion for a town with a rich history that has never been featured and cited examples of the uniqueness several times but they ignored all of my messages. This magazine is not what it used to be. I suppose it is under new ownership. I will not renew.

I rec my Jan/Feb togeather end if Jan. mot my Southen Living magazine withquality