Tuesday, October 16, 2012

November Elle Decor

Whew, this is tough. November's Elle Decor killed me. It was all about luxury. Pages of pointless facts about when certain luxury items came into favor, followed by features of luxurious homes filled to the brim with things that almost no one can afford.

There were dozens of quotes from designers on what "luxury" means to them and several of them said that money has nothing to do with it. They praised restraint and a couple of them called excess "burdensome" and technology a waste of money, as it is constantly changing. And then the magazine went and profiled homes that were completely excessive, layered with luxury (read: expensive) custom made finishes and furniture that precisely 1% of their readers can ever attain. I am completely dumbfounded and after a five minute perusal tossed my copy in the trash - understand I usually save every Elle Decor as there is at least one project inside that I want to draw inspiration from in the future.

My favorite quote in the entire magazine is Da Vinci: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." The older I get, the more I want to simplify and have fewer meaningless things around me. There were actually a few ads in the mag that I thought were beautiful and inspiring and exemplified this quote. So enjoy the only pages of this month's Elle Decor that I thought lived up to the description luxurious...the advertisements!







I included the Jean de Merry ad for the chandelier, I swear......hahahaha
E

P.S. **Disclaimer - the eat-in kitchen Bill Sofield did is gorgeous and simple, with the best things money can buy. The entire project is probably considered a masterpiece by many. I can't hate on how stunning it is, just that it took two years, trips to Paris, and millions of dollars to create.

P.P.S. Heather called me out on my love for fine things. I do love luxury items, my friends - it was the message of accessible luxury portrayed in the design quotes vs. the homes profiled. There could have at least been ONE project that was more simple or attainable. 

7 comments:

Heather (love your space) said...

This makes me think of the Veranda cover that said something about accessibility or humility or something and then had a picture of a horse coming in the front door. Silly.

Interesting to hear this critique from you--you have such an appreciation of what I would consider fine/expensive things (I'm such a budget whore) that I am sure it is WAY over the top!!!

Lots of people hating on this issue. Curious to go check it out--mine just arrived yesterday.

Elizabeth said...

Ha! I absolutely adore fine things. I love hand crafted furniture and art and beautifully made objects. For sure, Heather! But what I didn't like was the message of accessible luxury vs. what they portrayed in the photos. They had an Italian prince's mountain retreat in there...I mean, c'mon...
E

Anonymous said...

Bah. That's disappointing. I haven't gotten mine yet over here. Now I know not to be too excited about it. October's was so good! I especially love the London Assurance spread. Ah well...win some, lose some.

xx
Kecia

Melissa Crochet @ The Insane Domain said...

Couldn't agree with you more! I was so excited when I saw the cover but the more I got into it, I was more and more dissapointed. I love "fine" things just as much as the next person but I feel like there needs to be a balance like Domino used to do or even Living Etc.

Shannon said...

"Less is more."

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe


Thank you for your perspective here. It very much needed to be said and you did so very eloquently. At what point do we finally have enough and how much must we spend to achieve our desired environment?

Unknown said...

I haven't seen this issue yet. I flipped thru and thought the same, like "too much for me." You are so right about the ads tho! Love the second one!

Heather (love your space) said...

I am circling back here because I finally got a chance to go through my issue. And it's funny: I realized that I only ever look at the pictures in Elle Decor (I actually read House Beautiful and others), and I find it inaccessible always, so I did not really notice a difference this month.

But it does feel like that magazine is missing the mark in a lot of ways. I wonder if it is changing (deliberately/strategically or accidentally), or if the appetite for the high end is changing among readers.