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Your Home
by Fibee
Have been buying this magazine for a few years now and it's definitely one of my favourites. Sad, I know, but I really look forward to getting the next issue as it is released each month! I seem to have a bit of a homes magazines addiction and comparing "Your Home" to all of the others that I have bought at £1.99 it is ... fantastic value. I keep meaning to take out the subscription offer, £8.00 by direct debit every 6 months which is a great deal and definitely next on my to do list.
It contains loads of ideas that can be achieved at affordable prices. One of my favourite parts of the magazine is the Makeovers feature. Every month they focus on a different room of the house; in the September issue it was the living room, and August issue, the kitchen. Three different readers' show how they have made over these rooms in their own homes on different budgets. Each makeover featured includes a picture of the room as it was before, a room plan and step by step details of how they did the work and how they made their design decisions. There's also a break down of what they have spent their budget on and a shopping list of the things that they have bought for the room. These things, teamed with plenty of photos of all aspects of the room makes for a really useful and informative read, with lots of design inspiration and practical tips for anyone about to embark on a similar project of their own. The fact that these are real life makeovers in actual houses gives you the confidence that they are practical room solutions for people to live with and aren't just for show. There also seems to be more personality in the schemes than if a designer had done them. The cheapest of the kitchen makeovers was just £362 and the most expensive was £3,203, all of them looked completely different but great and were all affordable.
Another good feature is the pull out and keep "You Can Do It" section which includes smaller craft projects, make do and mend and furniture facelift ideas, for you to try at home yourself. Some of the furniture they've transformed you would hardly recognise and the detailed instructions would definitely give me the confidence to have a go myself, it's amazing what a lick of paint can do. It's a great way of recycling old furniture, saving money and creating something completely individual.
Other regular features include ideas from Interior Designers on how to work current trends, consumer news, kitchen and bathroom ideas, real-life readers homes, recipes and gardening inspiration.
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Amateur Gardening
by greenpomme
I first found this magazine back in april 2010 when my nan bought it for me because she had spotted a free packet of sweet pea seeds on the front. Since then it has become a regular purchase and either one or the other of us gets it and passes it on. The magazine is packed with useful features on all sorts of seasonal stuff, giving ... advice on all aspects of gardening inlcuding veg growing, seed sowing, lawn and tree care, I could go on for a while here. It has columns from well known names in the gardening world including Anne Swithinbank, Tony Buckland and Bob Flowerdew that give insight into a range of gardening techniques and introduce us to different plants. Other features include readers' letters, gardening jobs for the week, and tea break puzzles which includes a prize wordsearch. I find the magazine covers a wide range of gardening interests and is a lot more affordable than Gardeners World which is what I used to buy but could only afford to get occasionally. The free seeds with Amateur Gardening make me feel as though I'm getting a really good bargain (note that they are only on the mag during spring and summer months) and sometimes there are even two packets!
All in all I am really pleased with this magazine and find that it teaches me a lot of interesting, topical things that I would not have known otherwise. A good weekly read.
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House Beautiful
by karlsm93
House Beautiful is a monthly magazine that I often have the opportunity of reading, thanks to my mother in law, who often passes on these magazines to me once she has finished. Each issue is currently priced at £3.20, which although it is the average price for a glossy magazine, I am glad that I am not paying, as it is the kind of ... magazine you often flick through rather than always read every article.
Anyhow, as I said, this is a rather glossy magazine, that is packed with beautiful homes and gardens, as well as its fair share of advertisements. On the front of each edition is usually a very colourful room, which later in the magazine, you can read up on, finding out more about the colours and furniture used to 'get the cover look', of course what might work well on the cover of the magazine, will not always suit your home, and neither may the price.
Over the years that this magazine has been passed down to me, I have found that it has become better and putting in more budget buys, along side the more expensive ones, and also more cost cutting methods of decorating. I am presuming this is due to the present and continuing economic circumstances, but I think that it is something the magazine should continue to do, to appeal to the widest audience.
Issues of the magazine usualy follow a similar pattern. THere is the editor's welcome with some furniture or accessory ideas and suggestions. Then there are usually a few pages devoted to the latest trends in furnishings and decorating, such as colours, patterns, inspirtaions, and where you can pick up some of these trends.
There is then usually a double page devoted to advice for readers from the experts, where readers can write in with various questions about anything from furnishing ideas to legal problems and issues related to the home.
Following this is the part that most people like - the readers homes. These are usually out of this world top notch homes, finished to perfection, although I have to admit that there have been those that I have found horrendous and not to my taste, but the vast majority are beautiful and deserve recognition. I particularly enjoy seeing the before and after pictures which many of the homes feature. There is also usully a good mix between ultra modern and more cosy and homely cottages which is good.
There have also been the recent addition of 'credit crunch solutions' with tips about budgeting for your home. Some of these are, as usual, common sense, but some ideas have been very useful, with some reader tips being thrown in as well.
There are also pages devoted to the outdoors and garden, so again catering for those more interested in the outdoors of a house than the inner interior, as my husband would be. I usually give him those couple of pages to look at when I am finished.
Near the end of the magazine are issues around healthy homes, food information, eco living, and even some recipe ideas, although I have never made any of these recipes. After this a few more glossy magazines brings the magazine to a close.
All in all, I enjoy looking through this magazine, particularly the glossy photographs of readers homes, for inspiration or very often sheer nosiness. Only when I have a lot of time on my hands do I thoroughly read the magazine, although I have read more of the credit crunch parts recently, as there have been some good ideas. I don't know that I would like to pay £3.20 for this magazine on a monthly basis as there are more magazines out there, for the same money, with more in them, but as I don't have to buy these, I am happy to look at them.
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