Do not order through Amazon if you ever want to see an issue delivered to your door. 12 weeks later and im still waiting.
And reviewers are right about Metropolitan and British Elle being better. I just read the December Elle Decor(at the grocery store!) and the articles, if you find the three or four between the ads,were bad.
What happened to great customer service? :(

As another reviewer pointed out, the British version is much better, with great features and much better graphic layout. The U.S. edition is all ads with very little interest or resources regardless of your budget. Skip the U.S. version totally.

The first Elle Decor that I got in the mail I sat down to flip through it page by page. After going through the entire thing, I had to go back to the table of contents to specifically look for any articles. Yes, there are articles, but you have to do some hunting, and even when you find the page number, the article is usually just a small paragraph in the corner of a page surrounded by ads. On the plus side, the magazine is nicely bound and thicker than most house decorating magazines.

The reason I am not giving it 1 star is because there are some good decorating ideas for someone with contemporary taste. The furniture is pricey (couple thousand for a simple plastic chair, for example) but easy to emulate for the frugally-minded person. You could easily find knock-offs at your local Target. If, however, you wanted the exact piece and had the money to pay for it, you would have to travel to select places in New York or California, or get in contact with the artist him/herself. That is just not practical for most homeowners.

The decorating style is very modern, with simple clean lines, minimal distractions, and 1 of 2 color schemes - either bright colors (think Todd Oldham of Target) or black/silver. Occasionally they will feature eclectic styles, such as log benches from one artist in CA. But for the most part, highly contemporary. The magazine is best geared towards professional interior decorators with elite clients.

This magazine is so full of ads. The worst part is that most of the ads are for things that I could never afford. By the time I flip through all the ads, it only take 15 minutes to see everything that is in the magazine. Also, there is little to no explanation.

While other reviews are far from glowing, I find that I love this magazine and await its arrival each month. While there are plenty of ads (like any magazine), these ads are as interesting and visually stimulating as the wonderful articles. I subscribe to over 10 architecture and interior design magazines and this is by far my favorite. It highlights interiors which are stylishly current while staying traditionally rooted. Definitely an Urbanist's magazine.