apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

smoking is wack.

Maybe in most of Europe this would work, or be considered quite classy even, but here in America, I'm finding the smoking trend phasing out more rapidly than ever, don't you?

We are finding new addictions here, and based on all the alcoholic beverage advertisements, 1,001 variations on the classic martini, and the pics of yet another young Hollywood celeb barely dressed and glazed over, I'm thinking we've exhanged the solids for the liquids.


Holly

I just can't bring myself to let people smoke in my home! That smell lingers forever.

However, I do provide ashtrays on the fire escape and out in the hallway!

Marie, I'm the person who lives the next window down from the 'smoker apartment where they don't like to smoke inside' and I can tell you that your neighbors will not appreciate you sending your smokers their way. The smoke curls right under my door and into my apartment window.

At home, not. But it was very hot at the bars on the night before the public place smoking ban went in.

I love Domino - but this was one of their WORST articles ever. The tree was hideous (white with black balls) and the food even worse - they wanted you to serve POPEYE's fried nuggets. ICK!!!!!

Did they also recommend giving your friends cancer for christmas?

oh please. let's all try removing the stick & appreciating the kitsch factor of some of their suggestions. Popeye & cupcakes sounds like fun to me. and those personalized napkins, matches & invitations? awesome.


i wouldn't do the cigarettes in my house, but i think it would be kind of a sweet throwback.

ah! this makes me nostalgic for the days of the obligatory bowl of cowboy killers at the craft service table and curls of smoke wafting up to the grid during shoots.

I think smokers tend to hang together, so if you're part of a smoking crowd this would be fine. But the smoking crowds are dwindling - I jumped ship 3 years ago - which is why it seems so bad.

Never at my house. Yes, I used to smoke, but even then I always hated the smell in drapes, carpets, and upholstery...and my clothes and hair. Never got used to it and don't want to face the horrible "dive" smell in my house after a party. I'm glad that workers and patrons in restaurants and bars no longer have to face the health risk of 2d hand smoke. I pity the kids I see "rebelling" by smoking; nothing sophisticated or adult about it. It's just totally lame.

It's definitely a NIMBY, or a NIMHW (hallway) thing...totally cool if I actually smoked, didn't hate smelling it long afterward, and was with a group of smokers...and wasn't at my place.

But otherwise, hell no to the smokes; definitely yes to the kitchy use of a silver platter.

Although I have yet to do it, I do like the concept of comfort food served at a party, though my own belief is a party is for food you don't eat everyday.

What do you think about the comfort food vs. party food?

i really loved the domino party. it didn't take itself too seriously and was a great throwback without being boring kitsch. obviously the cigarette thing is not for everyone, but i thought it was really charming. and as someone who enjoys a cigarette occasionally after a meal or with cocktails, i would have loved it. but then, most of the people i know are drug-addled, chainsmoking, alcoholic trustfunders with a fabulous sense of style, so. you know.

Cupcake - I should have added - I live in a small building and my three closest neighbors are all smokers! Most of the time, they are the ones smoking me out... They are also usually at any party that I would have, which makes it easy to ask them if they mind or not! If anyone had an issue with it, all the smokers would be out on the fire escape or up on the roof.

I wouldn't dismiss it summarily, but agree that it'd be best for a party of smokers. I'm 15 months without a cigarette. (Thank you Mayor Bloomberg he says, gritting his teeth.) I've totally lost the desire and no longer appreciate the scent. Perhaps the best use would be on New Year's Eve to encourage a little communal smokeout. Put the cigarettes out with the understanding that they'll be removed at midnight.

i liked the elegance of providing cigarettes at a party. esp since i find that at EVERY party i've ever been at, there's always one guest who still admits to smoking and then when they light up, half the party converges on him/her to bum cigarettes.

i adore kitsch as much as the next girl, I can't for the life of me understand why you would spend as much money as the woman in this article clearly did in decorating your home (including expensive upholstered pieces) and then ensure that it smells like crap.

I don't know anyone who smokes inside any more, but it particularly surprises me that a design-conscious person would do so.

It's definitely a funny throwback, and there's something to be said for offering guests something they'd like to imbibe in, be it sweets we shouldn't have, or smokes. But this idea is best used for a smoking crowd that actually wants to misbehave that way. One could say the same for the all meat meal at this party, as it didn't take all kinds of diets into account.
Next thing you know, articles like these will get judged more for the chicken that was cooked in trans-fats, if the brand-new law against serving that has anything to say about it. Boooo.

I think the idea of the party is all the things that are "bad" for you. Chemically injected toxic trash like popeye's is almost as bad for you as smokes are...but come on... who eats that crap normally, or at all, that would read Domino? So I think its supposed to be a night of indulgence. That said, i think it's hot.

The person who thought cigarettes were "elegant" should go hang on a Hospice floor for a bit...

I read all these comments and tried to stay neutral. But let's be serious. Smoking kills. Nothing elegant about that. Nice party for your friends, hot decor, good food...and you give them drugs. Cigarettes are like all other addictions. It may not be yours, but it might be the drug for someone you love. I agree with Jean. Visit a hospice ward. Worse - have hospice at home for your spouse. Suddenly the party isn't so glamorous.

Abby, I wonder if the other half of your party ends up cursing under their breath when folks light up, and excuse themselves shortly after.

But whatever the host opts for is fine --I'm not going to dictate someone else's party. That would be far too rude. Besides, I can always leave a party if I find smoke bothers me. I usually find out at parties where their smokers that all the non-smokers left early and the smokers decided to hang until the wee hours of the morning. Nicotine is a stimulant after all.

oops. I meant to say ..

at parties where 'there are' smokers...

And yes, I've left plenty of parties when someone lights up. It's just not worth sending my allergies into a tailspin.

I totally agree with Abby that smokers do end up providing a lot of cigs to so-called "non-smokers," and I would consider having cigs available for that reason alone. But guests would still have to smoke them on the balcony. The smell is absolutely disgusting, and it not only lingers for a long time, it eventually coats everything in an ugly yellow-brown film.

My neighbours smoke inside, and the smell gets into my apartment constantly (I can smell it now)...the smell of fresh smoke is not so bad, but the smell of stale smoke makes me long for the smell of the local pulp mill's effluent (which smells like dirty sweatsocks being boiled alongside cabbage). And it never, ever goes away.

I am an ex-smoker (6 years) who refuses to criticize others for maintaining the habit, but I don't think anyone should have to be subjected to second-hand smoke indoors - not only because of the smell, but because second-hand smoke really does injur the health of non-smokers. Letting people smoke in your home around non-smokers is like letting them get stinking drunk or stoned and then waving cheerfully as they get in their cars to drive themselves home. Yeah, hosts do it all the time, but how many innocent victims are created because of it?

How about having a hookah instead...a friend of mine who entertains frequently painted the coffee table to look like a "magic carpet" and the hookah looks beautiful centered on it. Also, at parties the hookah keeps the smokers inside away from the non-smoking neighbors who used to complain about the smoke all the time. And the smoke smells like the flavor of tabacco...jasmine, vanilla, ect. Problem solved.

Reading between the lines on this Domino article, the hostess seemed a little pro-ana and kind of anti-food in general, so maybe for her the ciggies were the food?

The other Domino article that struck me as truly weird was the one about the reluctant weekend hostess-- did anyone read that? After scanning through the thing, with its scheduled "alone time" and "video time" (= "alone time" in disguise), and her nervousness about a "detour" to target, I was just really amazed that Domino would print this like hah-hah, "isn't this cute" when really it was kind of scary.

Next layout Domino does should include a group of women both stick thin skinny and everywhere from slightly overweight to extreme overwieght in a gorgeously decorated room displaying beautiful tables of clothes, food, liquor, weed, cigg. and lots of anti-depressant pills, diet pills, sleeping pills, deserts, and coffee. On the coffee table of this elegant layout should be an illustration of some magazines like Elle, Vogue, and Seventeen; where it all begins. Also, a Victoria Secrets catalogue preferably the Holiday season one. And on the way out should be a beautiful black laquer bowl filled with goodies to take home like a brochure of one of New Yorks best board certified plastic surgeons along with a list of board certified therapists in the New York Metropolitan area. Also, and most importantly the nearest rehab clinic to deal only with women addicitons.

well, i'm living in a GORGEOUS apt that was occupied by a guy who had to leave b/c he was a chain smoker. so... no!

it's gross. plain & simple. & i'm not judging anyone. i realize it's hard to quit thing. however, if you are having a party, i assume you care for the people you've invited. we all know what these things do though.

why encourage something that is proven to cause cancer? why would you do that to a guest? we go to so much trouble trying to make a guest COMFORTABLE. it seems a bit of a contradiction. it's not modern & trendy. it's foolish.

The self-righteous, dogmatic denunciation of smoking that is coming to dominate in the U.S. is extraordinarily tiresome. Perhaps we would all live longer if we served only broccoli florets and Perrier at our parties, but I doubt we would be happier.

I don't smoke inside, but I consider cigarettes to be part of a well-stocked bar. I like the silver tray idea--I'll have to start doing this!