Good Questions: A Satisfying Shelter Magazine?

Hello AT,

Hi, my subscription to Dwell is about to expire. I always have a subscription to one house magazine or another, but none of them satisfy very long. They are not about comfort or beauty, they are about trophy houses and spending large amounts of money. They are not even really about good design, and there's nothing to *read* in them. I've done Architectural Digest, I've done House Beautiful. Dwell was a big improvement for a while, but in the year I've been subscribed I've seen it change towards the Standard House Magazine Model...

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My ideal house magazine should have an article about a fascinating artist/designer/environmentalist/architect. It should have some practical advice about how to make or fix or care for something. Of course it has to have pictures of a beautiful house, and it should be a house that you can actually imagine someone living in. (Conran's books have that virtue - those rooms clearly belong to real people.) It should have some book reviews. It should have an advice columnist(house advice). And a regular before/after article.

So what magazines are out there that I don't know about? What do you recommend?

Many thanks, Joanne

Dear Joanne,

You've got us, and it sounds like a great outline for a magazine. Anyone?

Comments (2)

Thank you for all of your inspiration! I never really look through any of these magazines but now I know where my style falls in regards to the magazines... a big thank you!

I do have to say that my grandma brings me home old magazines that come into her thrift store and has me give them to her when I am done looking at them. I have been looking at them for ideas for furniture projects and layouts. I like the old ones because there aren't as many ads, and then I give them back to her and she sells them and I don't have to toss them!

I've noticed that Architectural Digest has made subtle changes since Margaret Russell left ElleDecor and took over AD. It seems lighter and airier and not as static as it once was. The featured interiors seem approachable but still deluxe. I don't know, AD is on watch as far as I'm concerned. I actually look forward to thumbing through it lately.

Did anyone ever get these one-off magazines put out by...was it House Beautiful? Anyway, the magazines were called Living Room. I think only three ever came out. Very pre-Ready Made and Dwell. Lots of what I like to call democratic design--thifted furniture, repurposed junk, and DIY projects. I still have my copies and look through them periodically for ideas and inspiration.