I myself don't buy magazines as often as I used to,

so whenever there's a new release, I find myself thinking, "Oh, this is out now?"

It's how I discover new things these days.

 

Even being in this industry, I don't buy interior design magazines, so

I honestly wonder who does buy them,

and how well they're selling.

 

What about you all? Do you buy them?

 

 

This time, I received an offer from stylist Nakajima-san,

and we collaborated on 'GO OUT Livin vol. 11,' which was released last weekend (3/11).

 

 

The theme is

"My favorite things" and my room

25 stylish rooms overflowing with hobbies, where people live surrounded by their favorite things.

 

 

It's truly packed with unique and distinctive rooms.

Completely dedicated to hobbies.

 

As I looked at the interiors, filled with skateboards, surfing gear, American toys, and more,

a peculiar feeling welled up in me. I wondered what it was, and then I realized,

Ah, it's nostalgia!

 

The world of 'smart Betsu-satsu Interior,' 'Boon,' 'Popeye,' 'Kaji Kaji,' and other magazines I devoured in my student days.

 

Putting grass-like mats in the toilet,

or making the room lighting red or pink (lol).

Back then, fashion magazines' approach to interiors was more geared towards "rooms for attracting partners," but

there was always at least one room in every feature that was completely filled with hobbies.

 

I guess a "hobby room" is an eternal aspiration.

 

Especially for men.

 

 

In Hideo Okuda's book, 'Iebiwa,'

the protagonist says, "I think the only time a man can have his own room is when he's a poor bachelor. But what he really wants it after he turns thirty. You can buy as many CDs and DVDs as you want. Even an expensive audio system can be managed somehow. But by then, you don't have your own room..."

 

I sometimes wonder if there's an unexpected truth in words like these.

 

 

 

As for me,

the "hobby room" I longed for so much in the past

doesn't resonate with me at all now....

 

In reality, the boundaries of what I like are much more ambiguous,

and I find it more interesting, more human, when the things in a room are unbalanced and lack uniformity.

It's more fun to look at, you could say.

 

 

However,

 

such rooms rarely appear in magazines,

so in the end, you don't get to see them.

 

 

Ah, that's why I don't buy them then.

 

My initial question has been answered (lol).

 

 

It's not about good or bad; it's a matter of preference.

 

 

(I'm ignoring the voice next to me saying that releases will stop coming from now on, and pressing the publish button... here goes!)

 

 

posted by A. Imoto