Most lifestyle magazines sell either because they’re worth a cheap read in the loo or because of the masochistic pleasures they afford. And with an array of temptingly glossy design journals to remind them that they are no better than dirty little piggies rooting and snuffling in their own filth, the average consumer is not likely to pick Better Interiors first—it’s not any cheaper nor any prettier than the competition. It also has cover lines such as Calculate Flooring Costs!- which despite the hopeful exclamation mark at the end, fills the magazine-stall browser with the leaden feeling that often accompanies the deadening of a once-vibrant soul.
I picked it up anyway, since I kind of like that leaden feeling. To begin with, the tiny densely packed print used throughout the magazine makes it decidedly reader-unfriendly. The quality of pictures is also not quite on par with other magazines in the segment. The combination of these attributes with articles such as “Exemption Debate” is almost lethal-when one picks up a magazine on better interiors, one does not expect to be assaulted with statements such as “CHSs in Maharashtra are constituted to comply with the requirement of Section 10(1) of the Maharashtra Ownership Flat Act, 1960…” And that was one of the zanier bits in that feature.
While not all stories are quite so filled with painful legalese, one too many employ the most tedious language and point-wise formatting of the kind favoured by Pustak Mahal guidebooks. Even the gardening section reads this way, perhaps to distract readers from the fact that it has absolutely nothing useful to say—for instance, point six in one article advises emphatically, “Locate good sources for the materials listed above.” That’s the entire text of a point that’s supposed to tell you where to find bricks and seeds and containers and compost or whatever it is gardens need. Dang, I’m glad you told me that Better Interiors, or I’d have totally tried to find all the worst sources because I’m just so darn stupid.
Still, if one manages to decode the minute print, the magazine has some very nicely put together articles on interiors(homes, offices, and restaurants included), along with useful fact files at the end, which explain the practical details of how the space was created—from concept and materials to the name of the designer and the duration of the project. This kind of presentation is extremely helpful not only to people on the lookout for designer/architect portfolios—without actually going to them—but also acts as a quick DIY tip for others wanting to refurbish their homes. A similar treatment is also given to the reasonably well-written features on retail spaces and offices, while international design trends are engaged with quite effectively.
Unfortunately, however, the good stuff is overshadowed by pieces that seem to have been transplanted straight out of the cheap self-published pamphlets sold in Daryaganj—such as the regular and consistently incomprehensible Vaastu Shastra column. Nonetheless, design enthusiasts, professionals, and people who like to make paper aeroplanes should give this mag a look and decide for themselves.