
yeah, i know- similar posts lamenting the loss of metropolitan home are going to be on every blog in the blogosphere, but the loss of met home hit me today personally like a blow. i can't say i've been terribly fond of it's editorial direction as of late- it seemed to be trying a little too hard to be zany, and to be what it's sister publication, elle decor,
was not, rather then be what met home historically
is (or
was)- but that's ok, we all go through periods of being unsure of our voice and rediscovering it again. sadly, met home won't be sharing it's voice with us after december, and to me, that feels like losing an old friend...
you see, metropolitan home is the first design magazine i truly *loved*, and the first magazine i think i ever actually subscribed to. it launched in the 80's, right as i was transitioning from kid to adult, so we came of age
together, it's modern sensibility was the antidote for stuffy upscale mags like architectural digest, or magazines my mom would read, like better homes and gardens- neither of which a budding 80's hipster would be caught dead thumbing through! during it's 80's heyday, it was THE home magazine- chronicling both cutting edge high design, as well as realistic interiors you could model your own home after- heady stuff for a broke wannabe adult. outside of spending my week's food money on an imported issue of domus or abitaire, it also was the only place i could find pictures of the cutting edge italian design, so important to me at the time. i literally worshiped at the altar of met home- it was my design bible- and i would read every issue front to back, and then start all over again.
to this day, met home had a viewpoint unlike any of the other shelter mags- it was modern, and inspiring, yet always retained a feeling of accessibility, not exclusivity. you could picture yourself in the homes they featured- if not now, then one day- and you wouldn't have to necessarily win the lottery to do so. it also focused on
modern design, which many other magazines ignore, and brought modern design to us in a warm and user friendly way, which other more 'design' oriented magazines simply don't.
so goodbye old friend- i will miss your high and low features, (my fave) and your annual design 100 issue, introducing us to architects, designers and products we might have been unfamiliar with; i'll miss your regular reporting from milan (
still with the italian design after all these years), and all the rest of your great features focusing on modern design in a way the other shelter magazines just don't. i especially will miss looking forward to getting you in my mailbox every month as i have for the last 25 years- you will leave a void that will not be filled-not by the internet, not by blogs and certainly not by a new print magazine- those days are gone.
again, goodbye metropolitan home, and
thank you- though you may be gone now, for this designer, you will never be forgotten...