Hot off the Press: House Beautiful September 2010

August 3rd, 2010

Here is my confession (for those who didn’t already know this about me): I am a magazine addict. It is so difficult to walk past the racks of shiny new glossy magazines and resist their siren call. So you can imagine how difficult it is to hold out at an airport with all that time to kill before my flight!

To help my willpower and wallet (or not, depending on how you look at it) I subscribe to a lot of magazines. The rationale is that it’s cheaper to pay a reduced fee to have all the issues magically appear in my mailbox each month than to sporatically buy 3 or 4 issues a year at the bookstore/Target/Walgreens, etc.   Then when I’m tempted buy a glossy magazine with pretty pictures promising me new design inspiration or the best burger joints in town, I can remind myself in my head that I have stacks of magazines at home waiting patiently for my attention.  Usually that’s enough to help me walk away.

But then the flip side of that is that I do literally have stacks of magazines to be read each month. I get through most of them rather efficiently each month, but the design magazines always seem to have to wait a couple of months to get my attention.  So when a new issue of House Beautiful arrived today I had a moment of joy when I spotted it’s bright, colorful cover amongst the pile of boring mail.  Which was quickly followed by dread as I realized it would be ages before I got around to actually reading each article (skimming does not count for me). 

Then I had a moment of brilliance.  I should start a recurring column here that features my 3-5 favorite pages from the newest design magazine, which I will post THE DAY IT ARRIVES.  Now do you see the brilliance?  This will force me to stop, flip through the issue, and find great content to share with you while it’s still on the news stands and accessible.    Since so many great design magazines have been forced to shut their doors in the past 2 years (House & Garden, Domino, Cottage Living, Southern Accents, Metropolitan Home - the design magazine I discovered at age 15 that got me hooked in the first place, etc.) it’s more important than ever to support the remaining design magazines.  So keep an eye out for each new post since you never know what day I’ll get a new delivery of design inspiration in the mail.  And if I cave in and fall for a gorgeous magazine at the book store, I will post that too (my weakness will be a gift to you).

I hope you all enjoy this new project along with me. 

So here are the images that grabbed my eye in the September 2010 issue of House Beautiful:

Like I’ve mentioned in the past, a small bathroom can handle a bold wallpaper. I love how this marbleized paper was mixed with a 1940s French metal mirror and balanced by the paneled white walls and vintage marble sink.

The breezy, worn quality of this room is so peaceful. The texture of the chunky sisal rug against wood floors, old metal and worn wood is so visually interesting even though it’s a very monotone palette.

What caught my eye in this photo is the quatrefoil mirror over the bed. This would not be nearly as eye-catching if the designer hadn’t framed the mirror is a slightly darker paint color than the main wall color, and further highlighted it with a loose mural of ivy in off-white around the darker paint color.   Not to mention the piles of books at the foot of the bed look so inviting in this cozy room.

What a bright cheerful room! I have always loved apple green and chocolate brown, and the designer handled these earthy tones with such a light hand that they almost feel breezy. All the natural light pouring into the space doesn’t hurt either.  Don’t miss the free form pattern of lily pads and flowers painted on the white floors. A bold but fun choice.

 

Finally, I always think it’s fun to see how people really live. So this profile of designers and the sofas they own and how they live in them is fun.  I think the black couch at the bottom looks just like one of Alexander Wang’s chairs in the Black & White color palette post.  I love the high back and sides of the banquette in Liz O’Brien’s office with those colorful pillows. I sat in a off-white sofa upholstered in a fabric like sheep fur with a high back and arms in a showroom in Chicago 3 years ago and I still fantasize about it.  There’s even a sofa that was originally from Crate & Barrel that was reinvented through reupholstery (I hope you don’t have to learn that lesson yourself: there is a reason some sofas cost more and last longer.) 

“Buy the best and you’ll only cry once.”

- interior designer Miles Redd

 

Now go pick up your own copy of House Beautiful and find your favorite images!  

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Tags: Bathroom, bedroom, chocolate brown, dining room, green, House Beautiful, living room, magazine, paint, quatrefoil, sofa, texture, white, Wood

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