I've been browsing the Dwell website again recently and must say I really quite like a lot of the contemporary style items and furniture on display. It is a lot more interesting than some of the so-called contemporary furniture on offer elsewhere, with thoughful use of design, textures and materials.
Years ago I visited a neighbour who was, in my eyes, a total fashion victim. Everything in his house had to be the absolute up-to-the-minute style which, at the time, meant black ash furniture. Now apart from the fact that it wasn't my cup of tea, it ocurred to me that being slavishly up to date with the latest styles has two potentially unhelpful side-effects.
The first if that you're always going to be dumping furniture to make room for the replacements. Not only is this expensive it seems pretty wasteful and not a particularly environmentally sensitive strategy. The second point is that some avante-garde designs really do look terrific but are very difficult to live with on a day to day basis. If you're are trying to create a home, then all of us need a place where, at the end of the working day or working week, we can flop down and relax in comfort.
My experience of laminate floors and designer furniture is that (a) you've got to keep it spotlessly clean all the time to avoid dustballs scudding across the floor like tumbleweed (b) hard floors are cold and noisy and (c) its hard to relax if you make a mark on everything you touch (have you tried handling glass or chrome without leaving marks?).
I guess what I'm saying is, Dwell should keep up the good work on the design front - but those of us creating homes should be careful not to overdo the designer/minimalist look. Surely the best approach is to get one or two really good 'feature' pieces from Dwell and incorporate them into a practical living space with slightly more classic furniture that will not date too quickly.
