Domino magazine plans return to newsstands in April

When Domino succumbed to declining advertising and folded in 2009, fans of the youthful home decorating magazine were heartbroken. Apparently sensing that their love is still alive, Conde Nast Editorial Director Thomas J. Wallace announced Tuesday that a special Quick Fixes edition of Domino will be available on newsstands April 17.

Domino's Quick Fixes, which is still in the planning stages, will mix new and previously published content, said Susan Portnoy, vice president of corporate communications and digital strategy at Conde Nast.

"We love that there is still that Domino lover out there,"  Portnoy said. "The best thing about the magazine will remain the same -- all the great ways that you can make a big difference without a huge amount of time and effort."

A news release described Quick Fixes as "Domino's best home decorating stories, focusing on easy, often inexpensive changes that make a big difference -- from quick spruce-ups of dowdy furniture to more involved DIY projects like painting stairs or reorganizing a home office." 

Quick Fixes will be available through July 16. Price: $10.99. A second issue is planned for the fall, although the subject matter is not known at this time.

Portnoy dismissed the idea of a campaign to bring the magazine back, but she did acknowledge, "We know that we have a very passionate audience."

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-- Lisa Boone

Photo: Domino's premiere issue in 2005. Credit: Conde Nast

King house, three L.A. architecture firms among 2009-2010 Western Home Awards winners

The winners of Sunset magazine's 2009-2010 biennial Western Home Awards demonstrate why Los Angeles has a reputation for cutting-edge architecture: Three of the eight winners are based here. 

The awards, sponsored by Sunset and the American Institute of Architects, were given to: the Opie-Burleigh itHouse in Three Rivers, designed by Taalman Koch Architecture (best small-space); the King house, shown above, designed by John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (best custom home); and the Vienna Way residence, at right, designed by Marmol Radziner, (best indoor-outdoor living).

In addition, three local firms earned honorable mentions: Jesse Bornstein Architecture, Marmol Radziner and Ras-a Inc.

The winners were chosen by a jury including David Baker of David Baker + Partners in San Francisco; Barbara Bestor of Bestor Architecture in Los Angeles; Wendell Burnette of Wendell Burnette Architects in Phoenix; Jeff Kovel of Skylab Architecture in Portland; and Sunset editor Allison Arieff.

The Home section wrote about Erin and Matt King's best-custom-home winner back in February 2009. For a look inside the house in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Santa Monica, click to our photo gallery.

-- Lisa Boone

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Photo credits from top: Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times; Joe Fletcher

What We're Reading: ReadyMade magazine's idea for a DIY modernist menorah for Hanukkah

This modernist menorah from the most recent edition of the do-it-yourself lifestyle magazine ReadyMade resembles artwork by George Segal.

But this piece won't break the bank, as it will be made (by you) with cheap recycled bottles. With Hanukkah running from Dec. 12 to 19 this year, you’ll be lighting the first candle Friday.

That means you have plenty of time to make this unique holiday essential. Here's how:

1. Gather eight clear bottles of one size (they used small Lorina Lemonade bottles) and one slightly taller bottle.
2. Soak the bottles in warm water to remove the labels. (Use Goo Gone to remove any stubborn areas.)
3. Cover the surface with spray paint, adding a second coat only if necessary — too much can result in cracking and peeling.
4. Insert taper candles into bottle openings, arrange with the taller bottle in the center, and light each night.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: ReadyMade

Metropolitan Home magazine closes

The publisher of Metropolitan Home announced this morning it was shutting down the magazine and laying off the staff. The December issue will be Met Home's last.

Hachette Filipacchi Media said it will focus on its other shelter title, Elle Decor, which the company touted as "the ad-page leader within the U.S."

The entire home magazine category is suffering because of the housing slump. Ad pages for the first half of 2009 were down 27.8% compared with the first half of 2008, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

For the first nine months of 2009, Met Home's ad pages were down 32.7% compared with a year earlier. That compares with a 34.1% drop at Elle Decor, a 49% drop at Architectural Digest, a 45.8% drop at Dwell, a 29% drop at Martha Stewart Living and an 11.9% drop at Sunset, according to the PIB.

The closing of Met Home, which stated its circulation at about 560,000, follows the demise of Domino, House & Garden, Cottage Living and O at Home, among others.

-- Craig Nakano

Correction: A previous version of this post said Home & Garden instead of House & Garden.

What we're reading: Fresh Home, Reader's Digest's DIY design magazine

The second issue of Fresh Home, a quarterly magazine published by the Reader's Digest Assn. that trumpets "Easy Ideas for Hands-On People," has landed at newsstands. 

(How did I miss the debut, below, which featured catalog-model versions of Meredith Vieira and Anderson Cooper overcome with color choices, paint fumes and, apparently, each other?)

The summer edition, right, substitutes a faux Jason Schwartzman and Scarlett Johansson in what might be a bid for ReadyMade and Make readers. New magazines generally put all their best stuff into debut issues, and that could explain this somewhat lackluster sophomore effort. Some highs and lows:

1. Building projects -- rolling planters and potting benches with corny heart-shaped cutouts -- are basic, yet exhaustively detailed. For graduates of the tool academy, the DIY can be a bit D-U-H. 

2. The decorating ideas and "favorite things" product pages border on stale. There are five pages on painting a table three ways and a story called "Not Your Grandma's Chandelier?" (Yawn.) And one genuine head-scratcher: installing library-style bookshelves around a toilet?

3. In step with the times, the magazine emphasizes affordability over fabulosity. A story about using hardware store supplies to create clever garage storage lives up to its name.

4. Looking for more content online? Sorry, the website is still "currently under construction." 

-- David A. Keeps

Photo credits: Fresh Home