Loving Me Some e-Magazines

If you know me you know how much I love and am addicted to magazines. (If you didn't know that about me, now you do.) It's a straight-up addiction. I love everything about magazines... pretty pictures, pretty things, great or trashy writing, celebrity stalking, inspiration, vicarious living, travel ideas, recipes, everything. I've been known to have upwards of 10 subscriptions at times in my life. It's a source of great irritation for my husband. I also keep magazines for a long time, and tag and pull out pages left and right. He especially loves that. I've recently gone in on a new idea to share subscriptions with a friend (why did it take us so long to think of this, RK?!). BUT! I've also recently gotten over my skepticism and jumped full-force on-board with e-magazines. I was wary. I am a flipper of pages (that's another thing I love about magazines), and wasn't confident that reading a magazine electronically would work for me. But I can say confidently that it does. It works! And there are so many incredible, beautiful, flat-out amazing magazines out there that only come in an electronic subscription. Plus, the electronic flipping feature utilized by these magazines (or your iPad or other e-reader, probably) makes it so like actually flipping magazine pages that it's basically the same as reading a hard copy -- some even make the page-flipping sound! Heh.

Here are four I've been drooling and swooning over recently:

LONNY

Launched in October 2009, Lonny is a bimonthly online magazine focusing on lifestyle and home decor. Founded by designer Michelle Adams and photographer Patrick Cline, Lonny highlights extraordinary interiors, innovative bloggers, and the latest market finds. Lonny speaks to linking design choices with personal happiness, and their mission is to open the doors to accessible design and connect our readers to products and resources with the click of a mouse. It's a beautiful magazine, and they have a great blog, too. Great ideas, beautifully styled photographs -- what's not to love? AND, they have a weekly blog feature called "Watercolor Wednesdays", which, if you read my previous post, you know is making me really happy right now.

RUE

Another great style and design e-mag, RUE's jump-off point is anything that inspires. Their "About" page sums up just what that means: "[They] believe...

• That every color can be your favorite color.
• That great taste comes in many forms: the fringe of a carpet, the pull of a drawer, the lines of a sofa, the curve of a smile.
• That a good can of paint atones for a multitude of sins.
• That friendship can be forged across continents by only a kind word and a shared lust for leopard print pillows.
• That a glass of pink champagne really does a party make.
• That everyone has the talent and drive to design their most beautiful life–we all just need a little nudge in the right direction.
• That inspiration is everywhere."

RUE also has a great blog, which features pulls directly from the issues but also other cool related inspiring ideas, designs, and the like from all over the design world - fashion, home, travel, etc. It's great.

MATCHBOOK
Matchbook is new, so I jumped on board with Issue 1. Launched just in January, Matchbook is an online lifestyle publication that covers past and present fashion, decor, the arts, travel, and culture. "Brimming with intriguing interviews, stately homes, captivating memoirs and swoon-worthy fashion spreads, matchbook seeks to inspire women around the globe to design a life they adore." I WANT TO ADORE MY LIFE! Bonus for me, they are ipad-friendly, which makes it even easier to read, say, when traveling (like I will be doing this evening!).

ADORE

My friend AS just introduced me to Adore today (by way of this blog post), and it's, frankly, adorable. Click the "read" heading at the top to flip through the current issue (I just did from cover-to-virtual-cover). I caught a typo on the home page (I am an editor, whether I like it or not), but I'll forgive them, as their colors and images are so bright and cheerful and fun. Adore Home is a relatively new home and lifestyle e-mag out of Australia. The mag's mission is to bring you beautiful homes from across the globe, tips and design advice from interior experts, as well as easy online access to the latest home treasures. Bring me those things! I want them all! Just perusing through this new issue is already inspiring. It's, in a word, lovely. Great ideas, great products, great great great. My favorite spread right now is the "A Little Bit Woody" feature in the Decor Adore section (p.12).

Do you know of other e-mags I should check out? Send 'em my way!