Although we hate to admit it, some of the best new, home/lifestyle magazines to hit newsstands in the last year or so have been shopping magazines — those magazines that are all about buy-buy-buy, no heartfelt essays on inner peace, no recipes for peach cobbler. Conde Nast’s domino (now a year old) is the current, anointed one in the category. But the brand new ShopSmart (from Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports) is a soon-to-be shining star, aimed at time-crunched women age 30 and up. Unlike domino (and more like Consumer Reports), this magazine is not about decorating with the goods, but about which goods make the best and worst buys. Products in a variety of categories (kitchen, home and yard, electronics, etc.) are reviewed (by the same testing labs used by Consumer Reports) and the best and worst in each category are revealed. It’s more feminine-looking and -reading than big brother Consumer Reports. Check out the story on washer/dryer pairs (don’t fall for the pretty matched set, says ShopSmart) and on countertop choices (quartz gets the “best overall” rating). We also liked the nuggets of consumer info sprinkled through the issue — e.g., the fact that electrical cords (yes, power cords of all sorts, extension cords, holiday lights) may contain lead and it’s important that you wash your hands after touching them. Find ShopSmart ($4.99, dated Fall 2006) on newsstands starting Tuesday. … SPEAKING OF NEW MAGAZINES, we eagerly await the arrival of CRAFT, a quarterly do-it-yourself magazine/book scheduled for an Oct. 17 debut. It’s targeted to the young, hip crowd that can skateboard and crochet — OK, not necessarily at the same time. California-based O’Reilly Media (known for its techy focus ) is behind it and plans to deliver a project-oriented magazine that mixes craft and technology. Readers/crafters will find some 20-plus projects in the first issue. … WHAT’S THE FATE of “underknown icons” of Midcentury Modern architecture, given the building boom, the tear-down trend, the mass market’s general intolerance for anything too quirky? The August issue of Metropolis takes a look at this next wave of preservation — saving the Modern period — and the survival challenges facing four lesser-known but important gems from the period, including the family home of Eliot Noyes in New Canaan, Conn. … CHICAGO SCORES A HIT in the July/August issue of Elle Decor. The magazine offers a nice six-page picture story on the home of Chicago antiques dealer Mary Jeanne Reese, owner of Au Coin du Feu. Her place (a 3,300-square-foot, 1920s apartment with “sparkling views of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago”) got a gut job and renovation by Chicago architect David Pickert and decorator Nate Berkus. … GOT WHITE PAINT? Get brushing. The July/August issue of Cottage Living shows the transformation of a “dark and dated” cottage in Maine — done with 24 gallons of primer and 42 gallons of white paint over lots and lots of dark-stained bead board.
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