Log Home Magazines - Fun to Read and Helpful

Visit any well-stocked magazine stand and you'll find a variety of log and timber frame publications. Among these are the following:

• Log Homes Illustrated
• Log Home Living
• Log Home Design Ideas
• Country's Best Log Homes

[ For highly discounted subscription prices - only $19.95 year - on Log Home Living, Log Home Design Ideas, and Country's Best Log Homes, we recommend Magazines of America. Look in the Home & Garden category.]

These magazines contain beautiful photographs of real log homes, owned by real people, which helps to create an inspirational "I can do this too" kind of feeling. It's pretty clear from the articles and photos that many log homes aren't just quaint vacation cottages anymore. Some of the featured homes cost millions of dollars and have the most modern amenities.

Most magazines, however, are careful to present a wide variety of home types, sizes, and costs that appeal to a wide range of reader tastes and budgets. They also present homes from different areas of the country, because styles and building practices can vary from one part of the country to another. A log home in Florida will likely be different from one in Wisconsin where snow load is a primary design consideration.

We especially like Log Home Living's Resource section in the back of each issue. For homes featured in articles, they provide the names, addresses, and contact information for the log home company, contractor, builders, furniture, appliances, and decorations used for each home. Where did they get that wonderful rustic bed? No problem, the information is there.

Log home magazines also frequently contain helpful "how-to" articles related to financing, decorating, and building tips. For this reason, most readers keep their old magazine issues handy for future reference. Some even create their own index of articles to make them easy to locate later. If you are interested in an article in a previous issue that you don't have, most log home magazine companies will sell back issues for a reasonable price.

And then there are the advertisements. The ads in log home magazines can be as inspirational and educational as the articles. Log home companies put on their best face to get your attention. Many include sample floor plans. Dealers and furnishings companies advertise in the classifieds. Mortgage companies who specialize in log home financing advertise here. Window companies, door companies, stair manufacturers, flooring providers, roofing material companies, and wood stove makers all promote their products here.

It is important to note that, because log home magazines make their money selling ads from a variety of competing product and services companies, you won't find much in the way of really objective comparisons of these products and services in the magazines' articles. You won't find, for example, a good answer to which wood type is best for log homes, or which log joining method is best, or which brand of exterior stain lasts longer, or which log home companies have the best customer satisfaction ratings. These magazines are not Consumer Reports.

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