More shelter magazines go homeless

I've mewled about this before: so many shelter magazines (my favorite cheap thrill) are going under or have already disappeared. The latest to bite the dust is Domino. What? The darling of the industry, the brave new upstart that thought to include a page of removable sticky tags to mark your favorite articles. It's just too sad.

RIP: Country Home, Cottage Living, and House & Garden. All were good escapist magazines if you're into design. You can tell how desperate magazines are getting when you get offers in the mail to renew for two years for $12, plus get a subscription for free for a friend. They're trying to get their readership up (even if we only pay pennies per copy) so that the numbers look good, so that the advertisers will advertise.

What's left? Elle Decor. Check. It's good, but there's something sort of soulless about it sometimes. Maybe a bit of warmth or sense of humor is missing (same reason I rarely look at Architectural Digest). House Beautiful: check it out, check it out! It used to be sort of a dowdy, fussy, grandma magazine, but they've taken huge strides to make it hip and interesting. This month the focus is on makeovers, including some easy, quick tips. Photo above is from their article about redoing a 900 sq. foot bungalow. Love this room: it mixes traditional with modern, soft with edgy, little splashes of color with neutrals.

Sunset magazine still doing a great job. I remember reading it as a kid ("hey dad -- look at this deck railing -- let's do that!"). And I adore Western Interiors. They are finding some really unusual homes to showcase; have to admire their vision, even if these places are homes us mere mortals could never afford. Still, it's all about eye candy, isn't it?

Such inexpensive escapes. Pour yourself a cup of tea, put on some good music, and lounge with your magazine. It's a vacation.