House Beautiful is my favorite. Leans towards traditional, but does have modern flare.

I think someone posted that House and Garden is going under.

My daughter does that fundraiser too and I love the excuse to get my fave mags for cheap.

You're best off going to the bookstore or newsstand and flipping through each one. As another thread noted, House & Garden is going the way of the dodo. Personally, I find House Beautiful to be somewhat snooty and oriented primarily toward folks with serious buckaroos to spend, while other people think it's just marvelous. (I just got a stack of these from a friend who was cleaning out her closet.) I sometimes get Home from the library; although it is not often to my taste, it is generally more in touch with the more ordinary echelons of society, and has more DIY-oriented stuff.

Just as a side note, though... unless you really WANT the magazine and would get it yourself anyway, the actual band would very likely be better off if you just made a direct cash donation, perhaps for the amount of a magazine subscription. The profit margins on these fundraising sales in general just plain SUCK, sometimes it seems almost criminal how little the kids' organizations actually make by peddling all this stuff.

I'm a snob so I love House Beautiful :oP But find H&G to be too pedestrian for me. Home is more DIY and I'm too busy for DIY (I'm with johnmari on that one).

I would also have to agree that a direct donation is better, but sometimes that's not what you want to do (I know that my niece wanted to win the prize for most sales) which is why I subscribe to three magazines I don't want :oP

I like HOME a lot...I never noticed it being DIY...now Better Homes and Garden is DIY. House Beautiful is OK, but I stopped subscribing a few years ago as it wasn't as appealing as it used to be - sounds like I might need to take a look again. I agree - browse through them at the bookstore first before committing to a subscription.

Well, that's weird that they would have H&G listed if it's going away. Are there any others that y'all like that I don't have listed? These sounded good to me, but they also have quite a few others like Southern Living, Cottage Living, etc. I just don't like anything contemporary.

Laurie

I did forget they mentioned at the beginning of the school year about making a donation instead. I was originally thinking that's what I would do, but DS is looking forward to the prizes he gets if he actually sells the magazines :)

Laurie

It was in our local paper yesterday that House and Garden is going under after 100 years.

I don't know about your fundraiser, but my kids did a similar one and the organization got 40% of the cost of the orders.

My problem was the prizes were usually pretty crappy unless you sold a bazillion magazines. The one prize that my kids always enjoyed was "Limo Lunch". Kids who sold 20 subscriptions or more had a prize choice of going in a limo with a group to a local fast food restaurant for lunch during the school day.

Is there a prize your son has his eye on? Perhaps you could suggest to him that you will make a donation equal to what he would bring in by selling magazines, and then let him purchase one of the prizes that he would get based on selling that amount of subscriptions. My guess is if you are only talking about a few magazines, the prizes are pretty minimal. Now, if you have a lot of family and friends that he can hit up, or if you would allow him to do the door-to-door thing in your neighborhood, or a parent could take the thing to work and get orders, then you are talking a much higher level of sales, and worth doing versus a donation.

Perhaps you would like Traditional Home? Although it certainly features high-end homes it isn't as snooty as House Beautiful. (Maybe because it is published in Iowa and not New York?)

It is definitely _not_ DIY! I also like that they seem to feature homes from all across the country as opposed to just the east coast. I like to see the glamour in Wyoming!

Nicole (who is waiting for the New Yorkers to flame her!)

I love House and Garden, it's always a delight to read, great visuals.

I started getting House Beautiful because of the dreaded orchestra fundraiser. Gyad, I hate all the fundraising. I usually do just give the money when I can get away with it.

I didn't love HB at first, but it has grown on me. I love their paint color column every month. And I enjoy the Ina Garten cooking articles.

I don't really get the snooty thing, btw. Yikes, does that mean I'm snooty?? (nah...)

I also started getting Cottage Living again after a year-long break. It all started to look the same after a while. But since I'm moving to New England, if feels appropriate again.

Mari's idea about spending a bit of time at the bookstore is a good one.

I have been reading Southern Living for years and years, so sometimes their decorating articles seem like "updated repeats" to me, but would probably seem very fresh to a new reader. They have good articles on gardening if you live in a Southern zone, and always have *great* recipes, especially for entertaining.

I love Traditional Home, Veranda, and Southern Accents if any of those are listed.

I dance a little jig at the mailbox (or want to..)when either House Beautiful or Cottage Living is delivered.

Browsing through Cottage Living is a mini-vacation for me, and House Beautiful is inspirational and educational. I can't afford most of the things they feature, but I love, at least, knowing about them. I also glance at Ina's column first, then the last page that usually has designers' favorites.

I love House Beautiful. I never felt it was snooty. Or if it was, it was lost on me ;-) Virtually every single decorating magazine features things that are waaay expensive, don't they? HB has a really great fabric feature every month that is my favorite part. I really like Ina Garten's column and their cookbook reviews too.

I liked House and Garden too, and I'm bummed its going under bc our local library subscribes to it and that's where I get it :-(

okay, I just checked and I can get Cottage Living, Southern Living, Traditional Home, Southern Accents, and Veranda. How will I ever decide now :)

les - I know you're right, and I would probably come out ahead making a donation and buying him the prize, but I've decided that I would really like to get some decorating magazines. He wants the ipod speakers and he has to sell 7 subscriptions, so that's not too bad. I refuse to do every fundraiser they bring home (this is the 4th one so far this year, plus his boy scout one), but this is one I decided I would do.

Laurie

Laurie, please don't think I was criticizing you for doing magazines. I have two boys that went through that for orchestra, and believe me I ordered my share, gave subscriptions as holiday gifts, etc. I was just thinking that the prizes often aren't worth the effort, but if he has a particular prize in mind and you are a magazine lover as I am, then order. He would probably tell you not to choose, but to order them all! LOL

Oh no, I didn't think you were criticizing. I was just explaining why I decided to do this particular one when I don't always do them :)

Laurie

Laurie, as a band parent for many, many years and now a band grandparent, buy the magazines. The proceeds go to a good cause and just do it. Good Lord, I probably bought more magazines than anyone could read in a lifetime because I was the fundraising band parent for years and I had to set an example. Just do it. Read the magazines and if you do not like them, do not reup your subscription. IT's so simple. Don't be deterred by what others think. Just help the kids!

I personally prefer mags which are loca--like Chicago Home magazine. Then all the ads are local to boot!

House Beautiful is the one I love, and I read over and over. Snooty? I don't think so. I love the descriptions of the rooms. Like all of them, however, the resources section leaves a lot to be desired. For example, I fell in love with a pendant light in a kitchen, and the resources didn't describe it even though it was front and center and likely to grab a lot of attention. It took me days to track down the home owner to get information. I have two hanging in my kitchen now. Success!

I *love* Chicago Home, too (I bought it during a school fundraiser! ;) and I'm not even from that area. It's a great magazine.

I like Traditional Home a lot as well. Of course if your stle is more modern than traditional it may not be of interest. Veranda is OK, but it has or used to have a ton of ads. I also enjoy Cottage Living.

I like magazines to offer almost perfection, and that usually translates as upscale and unlimited budgets; I get a lot of ideas from well appointed rooms, I look at the art especially, in regards to scale and placement.

I think people can interpret down to their budget most of what they see in magazines as inspiration.

One of my favorites is Southern Living. You mentioned that that one is available. It has great recipes, gardening ideas, as well as lovely rooms. As with every other decor mag available, sometimes it's a treat, and sometimes it's only so-so.

Red