This is not the blog post that I wanted to write for today but last week I read this article in The Washington Post talking about the effect our economy was having on shelter magazines. At least four that I read, Blueprint, O at Home, In Style Home and my beloved House and Garden have folded within the last year and the article hinted that my FAVORITE magazine, Domino was in deep trouble.  Then I received a terrible article via email stating that magazine was indeed folding. According to the Post article these magazines don’t fold due to lack of readership and subscriptions but rather the lack of advertisers. And you could see the effect; this month’s issue of Domino barely had any ads in it.

i still miss h+g

say it aint so domino!

So today I had to figure out to turn this gray cloud over Design Wonderland into a glimmer of sunshine. Well, today’s idea is actually a tip from Oprah Winfrey herself via O at Home. Buried deep in this article, it mentions that the wonderful Ms. O has a collection of bound vintage fashion mags. What a great idea If your are a design addict/magazine junkie like me!  So today’s suggestion is to bind your magazines into a classy collection of books. This immediately transforms your stacked pile of favorite magazine into volumes of periodicals (see sounds better right?) fit for the shelves of your personal design library. This is a fantastic way to organize, declutter and is also a beautiful alternative to magazine files. Your magazines can bound in the material of your choice and if you wish, embossed.

Oprah's Home Library

Clearly times are tough and we all aren’t blessed with Oprah’s cash, so I would advise taking on this project a little at a time as opposed to doing the whole magazine collection at once. A simple google search turned several up several bookbinders in my area so you can indeed price different vendors to see who offers the best quality at the best price. If you are more the DIY type, there are tons of book binding lessons on the internet and I even found a book binding class at Paper Source (if you know me, you know I love a class). This allows your magazines to continually introduce color, style  and inspiration to your home long after the publication ends.

examples of bound periodicals

The demise of the shelter magazine is so sad, especially if you have a career in interior design or have a serious passion for it but it actually mirrors what is going on in design, industry-wide as designers lose jobs all around. For many, these magazines are one less inspirational resource to use but those magazines employ editors, freelance writers, photographers, stylists and designers who have lost a source of income. Like so many who have lost jobs recently, hopefully with their gifts, talents and passion they will land or their feet very soon.