Month #1: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

It’s been about a month since Domino made the sad announcement, and a month since we’ve been blogging here at We Love Domino, in our quest to keep domino alive in our hearts and minds beyond the lifespan Si Newhouse saw fit for the magazine.

What are some of your favorite things that you saw here on We Love Domino?  What do you want to see in the upcoming month(s)?  Here are a few of my personal favorite things from the past month:

Miles Redd's Front Door

I had forgotten about this door until Beth reminded me…I remember falling in love with its elegance the first time I saw it, especially the silver hardware (and the blue is beautiful, too) and the way the moulding curves around the handle in the middle of the door.  (It also made me wonder, how hard is it to open a door when the force is in the center of the door, as opposed to the opposite edge from the hinges–does anyone else wonder that??)

This dressing area can be made on an average person’s budget, but still is incredibly chic.  The “custom” shelving is actually just from Ikea, the stool recovered in fabric to coordinate.

Any chic way to display a bar is going to get me excited, but especially when combined with a DIY idea to increase the light in a room?  I go ga-ga!

Not only does this showcase a great use of elegant pink paint, this was another favorite article of mine in Domino, focused on an incredibly chic, very compact space.

April 2006

Averill showed us great outdoor spaces that don’t require a green thumb, including this rooftop deck transformed.

If there ever were a picture that epitomized yours truly, this would be it: glammed up family kitchen, kids underfoot (in a few years), gourmet appliances, a modern edge in the seating, luscious marble accents, the color blue dominating and colorful but limited accents, and a place for friends to gather (including your friend, Domino).  Yup, that’s me!

Announcing: The Domino Inspired My Home Contest

The greatest legacy of Domino was the approachability of the designs it presented, and we know many of you have taken action on the inspiration Domino provided you – and we want to see how you’ve created a life of style within your own home.  Besides sharing in the Domino love and inspiration, we also have fabulous prizes to give away to the winners!

There will be two categories: Whole Room, and Vignette. Sometimes doing the Whole Room is more than your budget can handle right now, so we created the Vignette category.  We’re expecting this to be a slice of a room, not just the top of a dresser, for example, but the whole dresser included with what’s on top and above it, and even the side of it.

Prizes: Prizes are the same for both the Whole Room and Vignette categories

First Place – Domino: The Book of Decorating, Simon Doonan’s Eccentric Glamour, and $25 Gift Card to Goodwill (or your favorite thrift store)

Second Place –  Ty Pennignton’s Good Design Can Change Your Life, and a $15 gift card to Goodwill (or your favorite thrift store)

Third Place – Sheetrock and Shellac: A Thinking Person’s Guide to the Art and Science of Home Improvement by David Owen, and a $10 gift card to Goodwill (or your favorite thrift store)

The books were provided to us by Simon and Schuster.  Thanks for your help, Nina!

The contest works like this:

1. Photograph your Domino-inspired room or vignette within your home.  For tips on photographing your home, check out this Apartment Therapy post (including the comments).
2. Submit your photographs and information via email to ilovedominomag[at]gmail[dot]com; email the photos between now and 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, March 15th.  You may email up to 5 photos. Label your email with your entry category (you can only choose one category, and only enter one room or vignette). Provide details about what Domino inspired you to do (extra kudos for exact issue(s) and story info), as well as sources and links for your decor whenever possible.
3. We will post your entry as soon as we are able to, in the order received.  Comments on the photos by the readers of We Love Domino during the submission period are highly encouraged – provided that they are only positive; no negative comments allowed! We’ll open things up for constructive feedback after contest is over to those who have specifically requested it.
4. Judges will narrow down the field and post the finalists by Tuesday morning, March 17th.  From that point until 11:59pm on Sunday, March 22nd, people will be able to vote on their favorites.
5. Winners will be announced on Monday, March 23rd and score the sweet swag mentioned above, as well as the title of Domino-Inspired Genius!

And keep in mind, if you already have any of these books and you win, you’ll have part of your Holiday gift list already checked off.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us and we’ll do our best to answer, and anything that might be relevant to the whole group, we’ll add the question & answer to the comments of this post.

Key Point: You can’t have hired someone else (or bribed with money, wine, or traded services like kid-watching for decorating expertise, for example) to do the area you’re presenting in the contest, though you can be a professional and present your own space.

The “Fine Print” for the contest is available here.

Good luck – we’re looking forward to seeing what Domino has inspired you to do!