Period Living & Traditional Homes

Period Living and Traditional Homes magazine claims to be the leading period homes magazine within the UK. As the latest issue due out will be issue no 190, then I am guessing it has been around for 15 years or so, and so has built this reputation over the years.

Having been a home owner for some 19 years myself, I have always been attracted to home magazines, although invariably, I read them, let them gather dust in a collection ...
...it is refurbished to a period style, but yet not overly fussy or dark like so called quaint cottages, and as there is a significant amount of both general building upgrading and a complete redecoration, it was worth buying as many home magazines as possible to glean as many ideas as possible before we dash in and do anything.

Home magazines are never cheap, and this one currently retails for £3.25 (Feb 2006), compared with £2.95 for ... more

Period Living and Traditional Homes magazine claims to be the leading period homes magazine within the UK. As the latest issue due out will be issue no 190, then I am guessing it has been around for 15 years or so, and so has built this reputation over the years.

Having been a home owner for some 19 years myself, I have always been attracted to home magazines, although invariably, I read them, let them gather dust in a collection for a while then bin them. Occasionally they make their way to the dentist or doctor's surgery. Rarely have I directly made any home improvements as a result.

However, I have now bought a Victorian property in a beautiful village, but a property which has not been touched since the 1950's. (It is my 6th house purchase and hopefully my last, but I doubt that part!!) It is still rich in some features, thankfully, having original windows, including stained glass, floors, fireplaces and the odd picture rail or two. However it has also suffered from 1950's modernisation, and is covered in yards and yards of woodchip, blocked up fireplaces, and an excuse for a kitchen which is neither fitted nor unfitted. We want to ensure it is refurbished to a period style, but yet not overly fussy or dark like so called quaint cottages, and as there is a significant amount of both general building upgrading and a complete redecoration, it was worth buying as many home magazines as possible to glean as many ideas as possible before we dash in and do anything.

Home magazines are never cheap, and this one currently retails for £3.25 (Feb 2006), compared with £2.95 for the BBC's Good Homes; £3.10 for Beautiful Homes and £3.30 for Homes and Antiques, also a BBC publication. If you buy a few a month, then this can quickly add up. So many women's magazines in particular are full of pictures and fashion but little in the way of articles, and home magazines can be much the same.

This magazine however, has grabbed my attention in a short time frame, and I have even taken out a subscription. They have a slightly different subscription offer every month. For example in January's issue, the free gift was two Edinburgh Crystal Champagne Flutes. Not bad really. Alas, by the time I had bought the magazine and tried the link, I was out of luck. I subscribed to the latest offer, which was six months for £15, and a gift of 10 gift boxed Kenneth Turner tea lights and a Room Cologne, worth £19. Yes I would have preferred the glasses, but equally this offer represents 6 issues for the price of 4.5, and I can always get another gift later! (www.greatmagazines.co.uk/turner)

However, there is no point subscribing until you know that you will like it. And I certainly do in this case. Firstly size wise it is slightly smaller than typical magazines of the type, and is about 1" shorter than an A4 equivalent. AS you would expect from a magazine of this type, the covers are attractive, with warming living room scenes and feature fireplaces guaranteed to make you want to turn the cover and view the rest of the featured home which they belong to.

Typically magazines are full of pictures, and adverts, and this one is no exception. However this is one magazine where I find myself WANTING to know suppliers. Starting at the back, there are about 30 pages of classifieds, but this also includes Reader Special offers, Dates for the Diary (homeshows, antiques fairs, etc, and a good 10 pages of what's going on around the country, property-wise, plus a "Dream Homes" two page spread which allows subscribers to actually market their home for free! Given the cost of Estate Agent Fees and advertising, that has to be a plus! If you're not moving, it is still interesting to see homes from across the country, and prices, so you can feel green with envy at those you cannot afford..

Although, like any good magazine, the reader will not browse these contents in a linear fashion, there are some key sections which are consistent with every issue. There is always a letterbox, but then the magazine moves into the area it calls Open House. This consists of several pages of shorter articles, which concentrate on the finishing touches which can help make a house a home. Inspirations concentrates on offers in the shops and online.

Sections like this are probably the most read of the magazine. Apart from being quick and easy and giving you all the information you need to make a purchase, it is a great source of inspiration and ideas.

Typically there are three longer articles under the banner of Shopping and Sourcing. This month concentrated on shopping on a shoestring - e.g. EBAY and Auction. It focused on the auction house which is a walk from my current property in Nottingham (although not the reason I went and bagged all the bargains I did on Saturday!) There is often a premium for "Period" products and true restoration and this article was motivating as an alternative. (In fact I also bagged a Range Cooker on EBay for £500 yesterday, saving myself £1200 on a new one!) I knew exactly what I wanted, having read a few issues, drooled over many unfitted kitchens; and I knew was willing to take the risk…this section has also concentrated on fridges, doors, dressers and bizarrely I thought, a one pager on vacuum cleaners.

Home transformation articles are always an interesting read, and certainly more so, if the house in question bears some resemblance to your own. These articles usually run to 8-10 pages. While I feel largely inadequate that I never manage to quite complete a home, before I move on, (I've actually had 12 homes in 20 years) there is a huge source of inspiration from reading true life stories. There is also a feature on Renovation Diaries, which follows three couples as they refurbish their respective properties - something I should probably feature in for 12 months!

Gardening is not my priority, firstly because I am no gardener, and secondly because I have inherited a beautiful and mature garden. However this magazine does do a regular monthly feature garden and provide gardener's notes, so there are enough ideas without having to resort to buying a separate magazine.

Finally there are several "How To" articles, such as renovating fireplaces, fixing broken floors, reclaiming banisters, cleaning marble, you name it. These build into a decent library of work instructions, and even if they only remind you on how NOT to do something in the interim, then they are worth their weight in gold.

Overall, I have found this magazine fairly inspirational. There are enough glossy photos and articles within it to give ideas, and if the ideas are there, then they can be recreated without going to expensive suppliers. I have looked at so many kitchens that I now have a fairly clear idea of what I want to achieve AND I am able to achieve it at the fraction of the cost of a typical kitchen fitter, and at higher quality.

If I had one negative, then it would be the classifieds, but that is because there are a lot that don't currently appeal to me. Equally there are actually a lot that DO, and so it would be impossible for the editors to get a perfect balance here. The cover price is slightly high, but not overly so, and I have probably saved the cover price 50 fold already, in the inspiration the mag has given me.

Period Living and Traditional homes has its own website - www.periodliving.co.uk. They also sponsor the "Best of British" Awards, which cover various aspects of British life, from the Fish and Chip shop, to Antique Fairs, Stately Homes and Country Pubs. You can subscribe on line from this address and even enter their competitions - 17 to enter at the moment (09/01/06)

Recommended.
 

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