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Shelter Magazine Digest
Welcome to a new feature for FL&LS: a shelter magazine overview. As furniture retailers across America, your customers are the consumers who read the major home, decorating and lifestyle magazines. The titles in this “shelter” magazine category inspire your customers with ideas and dreams for their homes. After poring over magazines and catalogues for hours, those consumers then shop your store looking to make those dreams a reality. Our goal for this section is to help prepare you to know about and have on hand what consumers will be looking for.
To that end, this feature will be a quick overview of the ideas, products and trends that major shelter magazines are showcasing. Each issue of FL&LS will summarize different magazines in this category. We have mentioned only those articles and photo spreads that seem applicable to home furnishings retailers.
Our hope is that this section will send you to the newsstand in pursuit of staying on top of the design and décor realm. We have included demographic information for each magazine so that you can quickly pinpoint which ones might appeal most to your store’s target demographic. You can then incorporate the latest looks into your merchandise mix and product displays. Ultimately, the consumer will benefit by more easily being able to create the homes they can see in their imaginations.
In this issue: Veranda, O at Home, House & Garden, Dwell.
Veranda
www.veranda.com
Circulation: 423,566
Issues per year: 6
Demographic:
Median age: 48.8
Gender: 80% female
Median Household Income:
$138,769
Median House Value: $386,275
September/October 2005 issue
Editorial
• History of vanities/dressing tables
• History of porcelain
• An Art Deco radio collection
Shopping spreads
• “Trade Secrets,” Door Dazzlers shopping spread. High-end doorknobs, pulls and hinges.
Trends
• “Color Boards–The Shades of Fall.” Fabric samples in warm, earthy shades from purple (plum) to red (paprika). Stripes, jacquards, damasks, ethnic prints (ikat and batik), dots, subtle tone-on-tone flowers.
• Rug overview. Re-imagining antiques, Persians ever popular, botanical, some subtle geometric designs.
Homes
• Trump Park Avenue Penthouse– Veranda showhouse. Blue and brown, French influences, fur throws, outdoor fountain on terrace to mask street sounds.
People/Products
• Profile of Edith Wharton–First Lady of Interior Design. She wrote “The Decoration of Houses.”
Other
• Directory listing for art and antiques dealers around the country
House & Garden
www.houseandgarden.com
Description: “Design for the well-lived life. House & Garden is a monthly celebration of the life well-lived, the muse for men and women of taste and élan whose passion for the good things in life is eclipsed only by their affection for home.”
Circulation: 890,244
Issues per year: 12
Demographics:
Median Age: 48.6
Gender: 70% female
Median Household Income: $110,385
September 2005 issue
Shopping Spreads
• “Fabric Obsession”–upholstery and accents in shades of green; many different fabrics and textures layered on each other “to imitate nature’s complexity.”
• “Things We Love”–candleholders clustered together. White candles in white candle holders, blue candle holders against a bright background, silver and glass candle holders in unique shapes
• “Vanity”–vanity table laid with pink and black toiletries and accessories “embraces Parisian glamour and Hollywood retro.”
• “Setting the Table”–after-the-party fold out photo, showcasing mix-and-match black, white and red dishes.
Homes
• Italianate Villa in California. Old World style–exposed stone walls, heavy hardwood furniture, wrought iron, lush fabrics, fabric hangings on walls.
• 7,600 sq. ft. apartment in Manhattan. Minimalist design, predominantly white and black with a few color touches in some rooms.
• Diane von Furstenburg’s Paris apartment. Riot of colors and patterns. Bohemian and ethnic accents.
October 2005 issue
Editorial
• Extensive special section all about floors–wood, rugs, carpet, tile and stone, alternative flooring.
Homes
• Cover story–a 12-room penthouse in NYC. Modern furniture combined with old-world touches like ornate gilded mirrors. Neutral palette punctuated with animal prints such as tiger and leopard upholstery.
• Home in Milan. Particularly interesting is the use of clear plastic chairs (Louis Ghost from Kartell) in classic styles mixed with antique pieces.
• The 2005 Hampton Show House.
People/Products
• A peek inside the new High Point showroom of designer Barbara Barry, done in shades of light blue, ivory and dark brown.
O at Home
www.oprah.com
Description: Shaped by the notion that your home is an extension of who you are, O at Home showcases inspiration as a more vital and more positive force than imitation. Written for real people with real design needs and challenges.
Circ.: 600,000–newsstand only
Issues per year: 3
Demographics: No demographic data available
Fall 2005 issue
Editorial
• Women who make beautiful things. Sahelia bed linens; Stray Dog Imports (lamps, etc. in tole, iron and glass); Bespoke Porcelain Company (plastic tableware is her newest thing).
• Safe Horizons domestic violence shelter makeover by O at Home. Liz Claiborne donated $47,000 worth of merchandise, including Liz Claiborne Home chairs, loveseat and ottoman. (Upholstery in blues, yellows, celery. Walls in buttery yellow.)
Shopping spreads
• Who says a dining room has to match? Photo spread–round dining table surrounded by mismatched chairs–different styles, materials, eras–some visually linked with similar shades of green upholstery.
Homes
• 2-bedroom second residence in Manhattan. Black coffee-colored floor, silver ceiling. Palette–dark brown, taupe, white, and robin’s egg blue. Upholstery in taupe with blue floral motif.
People/Product
• “Take Nate Home!” Nate Berkus’s collection for Linens ‘N Things.
Dwell
www.dwellmag.com
Description: At Dwell, we’re staging a minor revolution. We think that it’s possible to live in a house or apartment by a bold modern architect, to own furniture and products that are exceptionally well designed, and still be a regular human being….we want to demonstrate that a modern house is a comfortable one….And the only way we know to demonstrate that a home is truly livable is to show it as it is lived in.
Circulation: 220,000
Issues per year: 9
Demographic:
Median age: 42
Gender: 50% female
Median Household Income:
$86,405
Median home value: $303,934
September 2005 issue
Editorial
• Pop culture’s fascination with modern design. “Everyone from the Incredibles to the people in allergy commercials is living in a modern house.”
• Design spotlight. Of note: product spotlight on IHFC’s modern design highlights. “While this furniture fair in High Point, NC, is not yet a mecca for modern design, we remain forever hopeful as we sense the shifting winds of change.”
Shopping Spreads
• Dwell Labs–Loft living room dividers, such as Molo Designs’ softwall (www.molodesign.com).
People/Product
• Ad–Multy sofabed by Ligne Roset (www.ligne-roset-usa.com)–similar to a futon
October/November 2005
Homes
• Home in Tijuana. Warm cream and black interior. Dark furnishings, exposed beams and paneling with silver accents on cream carpet and light hardwood flooring.
• Home in Alaska. Concrete floors, yellow and blue modern furnishings. Upholstered bed. FL
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