Off the Shelf : The Best Online Magazines

Our "Off the Shelf" post this month is truly not to be found on a shelf.  We're crazy about online magazines and want to get you hooked on them, too.  The four we're featuring below are our top picks for style and design magazines.  They are all formatted like print mags and, wait for it...they're free!!!  Just go to their websites and subscribe to get an email every month letting you know there's a new issue waiting for you.  Easy breezy way to get some terrific eye candy, fashion tips and great decor advice!

Matchbook

www.matchbookmag.com

Katie Armour and Jane Lilly Warren, Editors

Matchbook has the most beguiling tag line: “A Field Guide to a Charmed Life.”  How can you not start flipping through this magazine after reading that?  It reminds me of a throwback to my pre-teen years when the first stirrings of woman-hood were resonating within me.  I’m not talking maxi-pads here…I’m talking about that time in your life when you start composing a vision of what kind of “feminine” you want to be when you grow up.  And the gals at Matchbook muse on this theme with perfection.  Their regular columns include quips on what it means to be a “Matchbook Girl,” which immediately makes you want to be one; the “History Lessons” which feature a glimpse into the life of past style icons, complete with a current-day shopping list to imitate the look; and several pages on staff picks for beauty, fashion and home décor, each curated with a new theme.  As for their featured columns, I love the designers they interview each month, introducing me to new people and concepts that I always want to explore further.  Matchbook has this feeling of optimism and delight running through its pages and I always look forward to the newest issue!

Lonny

www.lonny.com/magazine

Irene Edwards, Executive Editor

Lonny is one of the big boys in the online magazine world and one of the first to do an online shelter and design mag.  And I think the staff has set a pretty high bar!  I adore Lonny’s “Scout” pages.  This section is devoted to a wide range of staff picks, presented in multiple formats. They cover design and fashion trends but also movie and book reviews, eateries, boutiques, and weekend travel itineraries for your browsing pleasure.  And then they also include tips from tastemakers, short interviews with clever people, roundups of the coolest objects d’art, different aesthetic takes on a single design question…it’s the way we at Little Yellow Couch think of lifestyle: a compilation of all aspects of living a life connected to culture, food, design and real people.  And all of this is before they get to their featured stories!  From there, the editors continue to add a “Lonny” layer to their featured homes and interviews for the month, infusing these multi-page spreads with notations on design, collecting, shopping and living.  Lonny has a sophisticated feel, reflecting a cultivated but eclectic style.  Which is pretty much how I’d like to be described myself.

Cover Photography by Emily Johnston

Rue

www.ruemag.com

Crystal Palecek, Founder & Editor In Chief

Best way to spend a Sunday morning: coffee and waffles in bed, pouring over Rue.  Each issue is it’s own mini-course taught by the pros in interior design.  Rue covers the well-known to the up-and-coming in the industry and never fails to impress.  Not to mention other regular highlights such as the monthly picks by four editors and a new mouth-watering recipe.  And the ladies behind the mag are true fashionistas and they don’t forget to include personal style in their musings.  My favorite pages, though, are the ones covering a fabulous soiree.  Attention to detail and all-out indulgence seem to be the criteria for a party to make it into the pages of Rue. So whenever you have time to allow yourself to sink into pleasure reading, Rue magazine is waiting. 

Adore Home Magazine

www.adoremagazine.com

Loni Parker, Founder & Editorial Director

Adore is an online mag published in Australia and it has me obsessed with every town, bar, hotel and shop they feature from that country.  Thanks to Adore, I'm now crazy about the design coming from the land down under.  (That saying has to be so annoying to Aussies).  Anyway, if (when!) I go, I’d want the staff from Adore to be my personal tour guides.  Adore has a very accessible vision on design, probably because they know how to clarify the catch-all descriptor, “eclectic,” so well.  When I read through the magazine, I feel like I can truly picture myself fitting right in because they celebrate good design from multiple aesthetics and include a range of perspectives from ultra casual to minimalist sophistication.  Of course, in this whole-globe era we live in, the magazine isn’t really about Australia, it’s about cultivating a style for your home no matter where you live.  But to me, the photos that capture pure Australia are a vacation for my brain.  A very exciting vacation!  

Hope you enjoy perusing through some or all of these great magazines.  And maybe some will become staples in your life like they have in mine. 

Happy Reading!

xoxo Zandra

Off The Shelf: DIY Wardrobe Embellishments

For our “ReFresh” theme this month, we’ll soon be writing about our clothing exchange party, which we’ve decided to host as a way to creatively refresh all of our wardrobes.  We’ll share ideas for taking a gently used garment and either fixing up whatever’s gone wrong with it or adding an embellishment to give it a second life.   For inspiration, we’ve looked to the following books written by fabric genies…those magical people who have put a modern, highly fashionable twist on the time-honored art of changing up a bunch of old stuff and making it look like a million bucks.

Custom Couture: 32 Easy Ways to Transform Your Wardrobe With Needle and Thread by Helene Le Berre

To my eyes, the projects in this book would help you create a DIY Anthropologie inspired wardrobe, which has my heart all aflutter!  Ms. Le Berre shows you how to add all of the little details that make a piece of clothing go from nice to WOW.  She also offers some creative twists on refreshing a piece.  For instance, my faves are outlining an entire raincoat with contrasting trim or taking the sleeves off of a sweater and replacing them with poufs of patterned fabric.  I’m drooling all over the photos and itching to cut up a pair of chinos and see if I can turn them into a beaded evening gown or something.  I’m in love with this book!  

Embroidered Effects: Projects and Patterns to Inspire Your Stitching by Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching

For those of you who don’t know Jenny Hart’s work, she’s brought embroidery out of grandma’s closet, dusted it off and given it her signature modern aesthetic.  This book includes a lot of practical information to get you started as well as instructions on a variety of stitches.  While it’s not only about updating your wardrobe, we’ve included it here because of the chapter she’s written on how to embellish clothes with embroidery.  My favorite is probably the design of a tattooed heart on the sleeve of a shirt, right where a real tattoo would be on your arm.   Very cheeky!  

Chic on a Shoestring: Simple to Sew Vintage Style Accessories by Mary Jane Baxter

Mary Jane Baxter has written one of those books you want to mark with a thousand sticky notes, putting them everywhere you see another idea you can’t wait to try.   What I love about this book is the breadth of projects she covers, using all kinds of materials.  She uses buttons, fabric, beads, felt, even pantyhose to create fantastic embellishments.  And she goes from head to toe, showing us how to update hats, tops, skirts, belts, bags, and shoes.  This book has my pulse racing because I can’t slow down enough to even decide which project I’ll do first!  

200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments and Trims: Contemporary Designs for Embellishing All of Your Accessories by Claire Crompton

This one is fairly straightforward: a wonderful beginner’s intro to crochet, focused on small embellishments for clothing.  I especially love the trims Claire Crompton is teaching us.  I want to make a whole slew of them for the bottoms of all of my skirts!  

I hope you are inspired to pick up one of these beautiful books and try out a new project.  You’ll feel immensely proud of yourself as you walk down the street and strangers stop to ask where you got your wardrobe!  

xoxo Zandra

Off The Shelf: 4 Books for Getting a Handle on Life

 I’m one of those people who get sucked into buying a slew of new “Makeover My Life” type books every January.  In fact, I start dreaming about the prospect of purging and replacing before I’m done wrapping presents in December.  Bookstores are happy to oblige my obsession…you can’t escape the displays of resolution centric reading materials as soon as you walk in.  So here I go again, looking for inspiration to get my life in shape.  I happen to think these offerings are pretty tempting….

I already own “It’s All Too Much” by Peter Walsh, but I’m a sucker for anything that has the word “workbook” in the title.  I imagine filling out a ton of forms where I plumb the depths of my psyche and come out on the other end with coordinated desk accessories.  And, I happen to love Peter Walsh’s writing style.  He’s funny and sounds like a normal person rather than an overachieving, index tab wheeling, cheerleader.  Another bonus is that his core principle is pretty much the same as ours: Own What You Love (and stop buying the other junk) and you’ll find your organizing dilemmas are cut in half.   

Aaaah, Time, you elusive little bugger.  Karen June and I are truly loving everything about running Little Yellow Couch.  We get swept up in a project and find we haven’t showered, we’re having cereal for dinner (again) and our kids are wearing “double clean socks,” which is what we’re calling dirties that we’ve turned inside out.  But it’s not only the oft-repeated “life balance” issues we want to get better at, it’s that we don’t even seem to have enough time for everything we want to do within Little Yellow Couch.   I’ll be looking to Julie Morgenstern for help with this using her signature approach, which is that no system works unless it’s personalized to fit your own natural tendencies.  She’s a guru in her field and I’m counting on her to help me see the errors of my time-wasting ways.  

 I wanted to include one book in this list that was for the anti-organizing reader. Lee Silber is using the term “creative” to broadly describe the person who gets a little bored with traditional systems.  Silber’s approach is right up my alley: I can’t even begin to think about getting organized until I go buy that 48-pack of Sharpies in every color ever invented, design my own labels and then spend 5 hours making them line up on my printer, and scouring antiques shops for interesting tea cups to hold odds and ends on my dresser.  Even though I already own 21 of them that I’m not using.  (But I love them, so it’s ok to keep them.  See review of book #1).  Karen June and I are cut from the same cloth on pretty much everything and she agrees that no organizing system could possibly work for us unless it was pretty. 

Because I love Peter Walsh so much, he gets to be on this list twice.  (I’m sure he’ll include this achievement in his annual holiday letter next year).  And what would a list of resolution-type books be without one on dieting?  I’m psyched to read this one because I like the idea of learning how to organize my refrigerator rather than actually dieting.  No, really, I think figuring out how to manage my time and my food supply so that I do eat healthier is a great strategy and I’m sure Mr. Walsh will be the perfect guide on this alternative way of approaching my weaknesses.  (Anything in the “bacon,” “coconut cream cake,” or “butter” foodgroups, in case you’re wondering).

So, happy reading to you all and good luck!  (And please write to us about any life improvement books that you’ve found to be actually helpful)!

xoxo, Zandra

Off The Shelf: Cooking for Cozy Weather

We’re doing a lot of cooking this month.  If you’re in the mood for soup or even hosting a  soup exchange party, I recommend The New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker, who co-created the restaurant of the same name, and Clara Silverstein.  I love soups because they require the melding of several layers of flavor, which is why they’re so satisfying.  For example, one of my favorites from the book combines butternut squash (a fairly typical base) with the surprise of Calvados (apple brandy) which gives it depth, prosciutto for richness and Gorgonzola for a biting finish.  YUM!  

This month, Karen and I also discovered a straightforward, no-fuss method for making bread to go with our soups, courtesy of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day 

I usually hit an energy slump around 3:30, which is when I’m often figuring out what to make for dinner and dragging myself to the grocery store.  Once the weather gets cooler, I love dusting off my Crock Pot.  The convenience of leaving everything to cook while you’re gone and then having a meal already made by late afternoon feels like a relief.  But I’m pretty bored with the three recipes I’ve been rotating so I’m looking at The Italian Slow Cooker by author and Italian culinary tour guide Michele Scicolone for inspiration.   This cookbook, with an emphasis on fresh ingredients, will help you make food you’d expect to be eating in Tuscany!  (And, for those of you who know me, I’m ga-ga over all things Italy and this cookbook is a definite keeper).  

Finally, I’m starting to think about gifts I might make for friends around the holidays. While Homemade With Love isn’t about food gifts per se, it perfectly reflects the cozy mood I’m in and that feeling of home and warmth that I want to convey to my friends through food.  So I’ll be seeing which of these recipes might easily translate to little gifts I can wrap up and share.  There’s a lovely children’s book I like reading with my sons every year called You Can Do It, Sam  by Amy Hest and illustrated by Anita Jeram.  It so encapsulates that feeling of having a snow-bound day, when you’re “forced” to stay in so you bake something and then deliver simple treats to near-by friends.  It’s hard to make time for these kinds of things, but when you do, you realize how much it’s worth it.

xoxo Zandra

Off the Shelf: Zandra’s Picks for Civilized Living

The Flower Recipe Book by Jill Rizzo and Alethea Harampolis

I am hoping that some family member of mine is reading this post and seeing that this would make for a really, really, REALLY good present for me!  First of all, the photographs are to die for.  I mean, truly.   Second, because the authors have presented their arrangements as recipes, you feel like you could actually re-create the sculptural knockouts they show you.   Third, they give you a little course in how to set up your flower tool box: what kinds of vases work with which kinds of flowers, structural tips on how to work with stems so that you achieve the look your going for, and an illustrated list of tools you’ll need to have on hand.  I’m going to start by choosing a flower recipe for the beautiful handmade vase by Cara Taylor we’re offering in this month’s box!

The Flower Recipe Book

By Alethea Harampolis, Jill Rizzo

Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris Lessons from Madame Ch

By Jennifer L. Scott

Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris by Jennifer L. Scott

The thing to love about this book is in the simplicity of how Jennifer Scott sprinkles grace and elegance into daily life.  I was hooked after reading the table of contents.  With chapter titles such as “Deprive Yourself Not,” “Practice the Art of Femininity,” “Always Use the Best Things You Have,” and “Reject the New Materialism,” the book is beautifully aligned with this month’s theme (and with many of the basic principles we live by at Little Yellow Couch).  Think of it as an easy-to-digest handbook for getting started on a fashionable yet thoughtful way of life.

London Style Guide: Eat, Sleep, Shop by Saska Graville

Later in the month, we’ll talk about reviving the Golden Age of Travel.   I’m one of those types of people who enjoys planning a vacation to death, looking for as many out-of-the-way stops as possible so that I feel I’m getting a glimpse of “real” life in a given city, beyond the tourist destinations.   I haven’t been to London since college and this book alone is making me want to pack my bags immediately.  I’m salivating over the artsy photography and having dreams about scouring little antiques shops to find the most incredible, one-of-a-kind souvenir to bring home!

London Style Guide: Eat Sleep Shop

By Saska Graville

Our Guide to a Civilized Lifestyle

When thinking about topics to cover that are at the core of what Little Yellow Couch is all about, we kept coming back to this idea that the little details in life are what make an event, a gift, or even a moment of alone time feel special.  Back when there was a little less “stuff” in the world to choose from…back when anything worth buying actually cost enough that you’d want to take care of it…there was more time to appreciate the details.  There was less rushing, less rudeness, and less of an “everything is disposable” mindset.  In short, life was a bit more civilized. We’ve come to the realization that it all boils down to the choices we make about how to interact with others and how we treat ourselves.  Grace, empathy, and high expectations (for behavior as well as craftsmanship) are this month’s guiding principles.

We’re finding that the fun part of civilized living is all in the details:  we’ve picked up some old quips to incorporate into our conversations, thanks to the entertaining “Let’s Bring Back” series by Lesley M. M. Blume.  From hilarious retorts made by Oscar Wilde to Bogart and Bacall movies to fountain pens and trousseux, we love Ms. Blume’s plea to bring back all that’s worth reviving!    

We’ve immersed ourselves in the world of handcrafted perfumes, thanks to the guidance of master perfume critic, Steve Johnson (he’ll be sharing his tips on how to start your own collection with us later this month).  We’ve also read Kathleen Tessaro’s wonderful novel, The Perfume Collector.  It’s the story of two women, one of whom comes of age in the 1920s and finds herself involved with a genius perfumer.  The other is a young wife, coming to terms with a rocky marriage and making her way to Paris uncovering the life of the first woman.  We highly recommend it!  

And Robert Heiss has given us quite an education in tea culture in preparation for Little Yellow Couch’s High Tea.   He is one half of the duo from Tea Trekker a tea shop in Northampton, MA where you can purchase the teas they have sourced on their trips to India, China and Japan.  We’ll be interviewing him later this month and sharing what we’ve learned on how to treat yourself to the daily ritual of partaking in a cup of tea.  

Little Yellow Couch's High Tea (the scrumptious details of which we will share next week) was inspired by Angel Adoree's The Vintage Tea Party Year.  Angel's book was our guide to thinking outside the box when it comes to tea parties and to allow them not only to be an expression of who we are but to also connect with our guests in a very personal way.  Her book is filled with ideas, recipes and gorgeous photographs that inspire you to take those special details to the next level and really delight your guests. 

Throughout the month, we’ll be offering style guides, DIYs, printables and loads of juicy photos related to our theme.  We’d love to hear the ways in which you’re incorporating civilized living into your daily routines!  Post something on our Facebook page , comment on our Blog, or Drop us a line! 

Xoxo,

Zandra & Karen June