Decor magazines???

[mistressploppy]

We're moving house! I'm so excited, so I'm putting 'subscription to interiors magazine' on my Christmas list.

Which one's the best though? Elle Decor? Home and Garden? I'm not uber trendy or anything...

[DukesOfTripHazard]

Elle Deco is uber duber. I rather like Real Homes.

[mistressploppy]

Yeah, I thought Elle Decor might be a bit daft/unrealistic/scary.

Hmmmmmm

[ninedragons]

I like 25 Beautiful Homes, but that's only because I am a point-and-laugh sort of person and it is the Readers' Wives of home magazines.

For genuinely lovely interiors that you might want to emulate rather than laugh at, I love BBC Homes & Antiques.

[mistressploppy]

Actually pointing and laughing was largely partly my intention

Will check out Homes & Antiques, thanks for that, new house is Victorian with lots of lovely old bits, so could be a good call

[ninedragons]

25 Beautiful Homes is worth a look whenever you need to feel superior about your cat-hair-covered toddler-scribbled house.

There's always one strangely soulless echoey-looking white Scandinavian house (jesus, you'd think in that climate they'd go for some textiles and a bit of coziness). Then there are several houses where the woman (usually a 50-something "property developer", ie born in the right decade to luck out on the property boom, no talent or hard work to her fortune. Looks like Deborah Mearden) has walked into Selfridges and bought the whole display. And then there is at least one ridiculous black leather bachelor pad with a blank white wall where the "artistic" enlarged photo of the owner's cock used to be until the stylist turned up to shoot the flat and had a whitey.

[mistressploppy]

HA HA HA!

Especially at the whitey-ing stylist! God, I haven't heard that term in years!

Actually, a big photo of a cock sounds like a fab idea....are you an interior designer?

[ArcticRoll]

Living etc-

[DukesOfTripHazard]

Living etc forum has a website where people post photos of their homes which are mostly very nice but scarily all extremely similar.

[lucyspangle]

Ideal Homes -the original and best

[herhonesty]

for my bet homes and gardens is the best magazine, or house and garden if you are posh/loaded.

[hester]

Ideal Homes is best for loads of practical advice, IMO. Living etc is best for inspiration.

[ninedragons]

No, I am not an interior desinger, but I think I should be. I am certainly bitchy enough

[WildPansy]

I quite like Ideal Home, even though in admitting that I am admitting turning into my mum.

[biryani]

May sound daft, but I look at catalogues for inspiration. They are quite good for emulating the more uber and upmarket end of the market even if you don't buy from them.

[SparkyUK]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who uses BBC Homes and Antiques because that really is me turning into (cringe) my MIL.

My mother, on the other hand, reads World of Interiours. She does sort of live in a world of her own creation, but it makes me happy that people are creating homes (or mansions) that are in a league of their own.

[passionfruity]

I was given a years' subscription to Living Etc from a friend and, while it's fun to look at the pictures for inspiration, it tends to show 3,000 pound coffee tables or 400 pound lampshades...

Also lot of the homeowners are pretentious-sounding interior designers who sound a bit loopy and try-too-hard when talking about their 'pieces'

Have a look at www.mydeco.com

[ChateauRouge]

I suscribe to both elle dec and living etc- have done for over 8 years now... this is the first time I have ever been called young and hip- thanks magichomes

Livingetc is great, and their website is good for practical suggestions.

[ChateauRouge]

Too hip for me... only ever bought a couple of issues (sadly don't have £££ to go swanning around Europe every weekend, as I imagine most of their readership does (though I did only buy it when I lived in Paris [swank])

[eeyore2]

I like Living Etc. I also like Ideal Home for a bit more realistic prices. I LOVE Grand Designs Magazine as well but it is not really a 'decor' magazine.