Good Reads (Gone): Domino Magazine is No More

Domino magazine is ceasing publication, it was announced today. The March issue will be Domino's last.

There have been rumblings that the magazine was in trouble for awhile -- and plenty of other home-design titles have been shuttered recently due to this piss-poor economy -- so it's not like the news is coming completely out of the blue.

But still, I'm speechless. And sad. I guess I'll have no choice but to console myself with $9 imported copies of Living, Etc.

Where will you be getting your shelter porn now?

That's Random: The Dogs of Domino

Photo of Max the bulldog by Paul Costello

With two growing kids of my own, I'm fairly immune at this point to the twinges of "baby lust" that used to draw me like a magnet to other people's small humans. But puppy lust? That's another story entirely. (The other day, in fact, a girl at my daughter's softball practice practically had to pry her family's new, 8-week-old Labrador puppy out of my arms when practice ended.)

If you, too, are almost as passionate about pooches as you are about home design, then you mustn't miss "The Dogs of Domino."

Photo by Melanie Acevedo

The slideshow showcases some sweet pups in a series of beautiful rooms shot for the magazine over the last couple of years. One thing you won't see? The dog hair that clings to the furniture and blows like tumbleweeds across the floor in just about any home blessed with a canine resident.

Photo by Lucas Allen

Oh well -- we buy shelter magazines for the fantasy, right?

Photo of actress Ione Skye's puppy by Paul Costello

See the entire slideshow right here.

(P.S. This actually makes my ovaries ache. Thanks for the link, Barb!)

Good Reads: Trends That Are "So Over"

All photos by Raeanne Giovanni-Inoue for The New York Times

There's an interesting piece in today's New York Times on the big decorating trends of 2007 that are due for demise -- at least according to prominent designers like David Netto and Celerie Kemble, tastemaking editors like Domino's Deborah Needleman and Metropolitan Home's Donna Warner, and the doyenne of design bloggers herself, design*sponge's Grace Bonney.

One of the most intriguing reasons given for certain trends playing themselves out is the so-called "democratization of design." With the proliferation of companies such as CB2, West Elm, and even Design Within Reach interpreting high-end modern design for the masses -- and so many design bloggers out there writing about them -- these designs are destined to lose their exclusive cache.

Though the statement comes off sounding pretty snooty (I mean, if just anyone can be savvy to -- and possibly even afford -- things like baroque mirrors and geometric rugs, then of course those things are no longer desirable), the author does have a point. When we all see the same thing over and over again, of course we're bound to grow weary of it -- no matter how fresh the concept may have seemed at first. Even good ideas, like eco-friendly products, eventually inspire design fatigue when everyone jumps on the bandwagon, writer Penelope Green asserts.

Among the decorating fads on their way out?

Antlers

David Hicks-influenced design (that means you, Jonathan Adler)

Suzanis

Cowhide rugs

Flatscreens over the fireplace

Ironic takes on "Hunting Lodge Chic"

Over-the-top Baroque Modern and Hollywood Regency style

"Green" products like bamboo sheets

Check out Ms. Green's article right here -- then tell me what you think: Do all of these trends deserve to be relegated to the design dustbin? Are design blogs and the burgeoning interest in design among the hoi polloi (that would be me and you, people) causing trends to cycle in and out ever faster?

Post a comment and let me know.

Cool Tool: Domino Before-and-Afters

I eat up a good decorating "before-and-after" -- like the new series of room makeovers that the Domino magazine site recently put up.

I just find it especially inspiring (and heartening) to see a room that looks like one that you or I might actually have in our home: Maybe the architecture is nothing special, the paint color a bit drab, the furnishings and accessories tired and worn. Then, via the magic of good design (not to mention a generous budget and great photography) -- BAM! -- it's suddenly magazine-worthy. It gives us amateur do-it-yourselfers a glimmer of hope.

Plus, seeing the "before" shots somehow makes it easier for me to break down what the designers did -- in other words, exactly how they infused those ho-hum rooms with a touch of magic. Perhaps they chose a truly transformative paint color, or really great bedding, or a bold piece of art to anchor the space, or maybe they did something simple and ingeniously clever to disguise the room's architectural shortcomings.

It's all fodder for my mental notebook of design tricks -- and my actual notebook of decorating inspiration.

Check out Domino's new "Before and After" slideshow right here.

Objects of Lust: George Nelson Bubble Lamps

Every time I see George Nelson's iconic, 1947 Bubble Lamps, I love them more. They're so incredibly simple in form, and yet so beautifully sculptural.

Just one Bubble Lamp in a gorgeous setting is enough to take my breath away -- so the image above completely knocked the wind out of me. It's from the new issue of Domino, featuring clothing designer Lisa Perry's super-colorful and graphic Long Island beach house, where she hung fourteen of Nelson's classic light fixtures in the dining room.

Hey, if I had 18-foot ceilings and $4,300 to buy and install more than a dozen of these babies over my dining table, I'd do it too.

For now, though, I'll just drool over this picture.

(Photo by Douglas Friedman for Domino magazine.)

Sound Off: What's Your Favorite "Little" Magazine?

Sure, everyone in the design blogosphere is drooling over Domino and buggin' about Blueprint, and I love those magazines, too. (On the other hand, Dwell, which my fellow design junkies all seem to worship, leaves me utterly cold. And while I like ReadyMade in theory, I don't have a crafty bone in my body.)

But the home magazine I live for is the U.K.'s Living, Etc. I have been known to drive across town in search of the latest issue, and to happily fork over close to ten bucks -- damn that exchange rate! -- for it. (I really ought to look into subscribing ... )

And I'm just loving the new-ish, Birmingham, Alabama-based Cottage Living (which, despite the name's shabby-chic connotations, is actually really fresh and even modern). I appreciate the fact that the homes featured are not in New York or L.A., as well -- who knew that the South was so stylish?

I'm really digging Canadian House & Home, too -- it's full of stuff that's different from the things you see in every American home mag, but that's still "get-able" (both literally and figuratively) for those of us not living in the Great White North. That's actually how I discovered Vancouver's One + Only Custom Headboards, which I blogged yesterday. I recently bit the bullet and subscribed, which wasn't cheap -- but I think it's worth it.

Now I want to hear from you guys: What lesser-known shelter magazines do you think are worth seeking out? Please post a comment and let me know!

(Photo: "Nice Rack," by flickr member vw-busman.)

Object of Lust: Ghost Tree

I saw this white tree sculpture on the table of contents in Domino magazine awhile back, and fell hard. There was no buying information for it, though, so I sent a pleading email to the magazine asking where one could find this thing of beauty. To my amazement, one of the junior editors actually wrote back with the 411.

The tree is by Seattle artist and product designer Erich Ginder. It stands nearly six feet tall, and is constructed from rubber-coated resin. It can be used as a coat rack, though I would simply place it against a bare wall (painted an intense color for contrast) and admire it for its gorgeousness alone. The price? A mere $1,700.

Here's the thing: I'm cheap -- and more often than not, broke as well. So as much as I totally dig this, it seems to me that you could just find a nice dead tree somewhere -- or even a large dead tree branch -- nail it into a base, and spray paint the whole thing glossy white for a similar effect. (Cost: Nada, plus spray paint.) I think that's what I'll do.

If you want the real (fake) thing, though, you can find it here.

Objects of Lust: Found It!

I feel a bit like Monika in Domino magazine ...

Soon after I blogged about the seemingly unattainable lotus ball chandeliers and lamps from London's Graham & Green, I got an email from Jim B. alerting me to a virtually identical chandelier from our very own shopping-mall staple, Z Gallerie.

Z's 16-inch version, which costs $279, is currently out of stock -- but it sounds like more will be arriving soon. (Somehow, knowing that one of these can be had at my local home decor chain makes it a little less swoon-worthy. But it's still a gorgeous light fixture at a reasonable price. Wish they had the black, though!)

Check it out here.

(Thanks for the tip, Jim!)