apartamento magazine, an enchanting interiors magazine with heart

Prepare to be enchanted if you are lucky enough to come across a copy of "apartmento" magazine.



I had never heard of the magazine before this weekend but stumbled upon their fourth issue at a Barnes and Noble about an hour from my home. I was about to walk away from the magazine stacks, happy with an issue of Marie Claire Idees tucked under my arm, when I suddenly saw apartamento, with its enticing tag line of "an everyday life interiors magazine." I was slightly surprised to see the magazine peeking out from the section brimming with literary magazines.

I shouldn't have been. Apartamento is definitely a literary magazine at its core, offering readers satisfying essays, musings and artwork on both mundane and life-changing topics. But its focus is quite defined: how and why we live the way we do.

Of course, most of us obsessed with decor aren't really so much interested in creating a home with expensive goods but more with creating a comfortable home that tells our story. Apartmento delves into this area, ripe for the telling with writings and photography of homes of people from various countries.

The cover of issue #04 features a watercolor by Argentine artist Grillo Demo, whose paintings of interiors are amply included.

The current issue also includes a dose of celebrity with an essay on "New York" by actress Chloe Sevigny, who writes "I always ask the cabbies to take a bridge into Manhattan instead of the tunnels so I can enter the belly of the beast from the best vantage points."



I love seeing real-life homes via Flickr and blogs, but I'm often left wanting to ask so many questions about the home. apartamento offers the best of both worlds with essays accompanying much of the interiors photography. The photo below is of a home belonging to a couple whose decorating style has evolved from a rigid adherence to a 60s style to a more relaxed and true-to-self style.



By far, my favorite part of the current issue was a short but sweet essay by artist and designer Geoff McFetridge on why he enjoys making things for his six-year-old daughter. He writes "simple, improvised, handmade, mindless things made in the spirit of fun for someone I love."

apartamento elevates the everyday living and turns it into artwork by capturing those moments with beautiful words and images.



apartamento, based in Spain, features work from contributors worldwide and is available at limited locations, including some Barnes and Noble bookstores and Urban Outfitters in the United States. You can look at more photos from the magazine and take a peek at Issue No. 3 here.