Condé Nast will launch yet another shopping magazine later this month, following in the footsteps of its own very successful Lucky. Domino, unlike its fashion-mad older sister publication, is about the home. It will try to prove that young women in their early 30s are as passionate about adding another chair to their living room and another set of sheets to their bedroom as they are about buying this season’s hot new bags and shoes.

In fact, the magazine’s very name reflects what the editors believe is “the domino effect” that occurs in shopping for the home – after you buy a new sofa, you then want to buy a new coffee table and, maybe, new end tables and new lamps. On the magazine’s very first editorial page is the “Domino manifesto,” which includes the admonition: “It’s okay not to be finished.”

Still the magazine, which has a 400,000 rate base, will be elbowing its way into the shelter category, which is as crowded as a furniture warehouse. Readers who care about their homes, are actively decorating, or just like to look at well-styled rooms wistfully can already choose from any number of magazines.

There’s the grande dame of the group, Architectural Digest, also published by Condé Nast, which is a monthly house tour of the homes of the rich and famous, as decorated by today’s priciest interior designers. There are also long-time upper-middle-class favorites like Hearst’s House Beautiful and Condé Nast’s other shelter title, House & Garden. Middle market competitors include Hachette’s Home, Hearst’s Country Living, and Time Inc.’s Cottage Living, a lively new launch. And there are dozens more.

Michael Brownstein, publishing director of Meredith’s Country Home and Traditional Home, told me, “I spent 16 years in the women’s service field and it’s very competitive. But I’ve never seen anything as competitive as this category today.”

Still, Domino aims to be different, first of all by trying to attract a younger consumer. Shelter magazine readers are, typically, in their mid-40s. Deborah Needleman, Domino’s editor in chief said, “Half of the first time home-buyers in the country last year were under 35. The way people in my parents’ generation decorated their homes was that, once they finished, they didn’t change a thing for decades. Then maybe they redid it all again. That’s not the way younger people decorate today. They are always working on their home.”

Domino’s style director, Sara Ruffin Costello, also noted, “The rate at which people today want to trade up is amazing. They buy placeholder furniture, then the buy something else. And, remember, so many McMansions are being built and bought. You need lots and lots of things to furnish those big houses.”

There is no doubt women over 30 these days are very home-focused. Joseph Lagani, publisher of House and Garden, told me that a recent marketing study his magazine commissioned reported that the no. 1 passion of woman over the age of 30 is their home. “They feel it is the way they can really express themselves, more than the car they drive or even the clothes they wear,” he said. Mr. Brownstein agreed: “Advertisers have always wanted to reach that young consumer. The question is whether there really are that many young consumers who have the disposable income to be able to spend on their homes.”

The magazine has 106 advertising pages in its premiere issue, Domino’s publisher Beth Brenner reports – the largest amount in any Condé Nast launch for the past five years. Advertisers include shelter-book stalwarts like California Closets and KitchenAid, as well as Lancome, Audi, and Ann Taylor Loft. After the May-June issue, the magazine will resume publishing in September. There will be five issues in 2005 and 10 in 2006. Ms. Brenner hopes to reach a million in circulation within six or seven years.

Domino intends to attract younger readers with editorial that has a more contemporary look and attitude than other shelter magazines. Its bright, busy pages are – like Lucky’s – filled with products the editors claim “we went nuts for,” as well as where-to-buy-it information. The products are at various price points from a $6 tile to use as a trivet to a $7,499 plasma television.

Deborah Needleman told me, “Our DNA is definitely from Lucky. We are a shopping magazine. But we know that buying a couch is not like buying another shirt. If you decide you don’t like the shirt, you can roll it up and toss it in the back of the closet. You can’t do that with a couch. So we know we have to be more instructional.”

Previously, Ms. Needleman was photo editor at House & Garden, then editor-at-large at the magazine. Before that she was photo editor at Men’s Journal. She just might be the first photo editor to become a magazine’s editor in chief, indicating the increasing importance in magazines of pictures rather than words. The magazine also uses editing techniques, such as hand-written captions on the photos, which are reminiscent of the celebrity weeklies. And fashion and home are blended in a feature that asks “Can this outfit be turned into a room?” in which a Sienna Miller sundress and pink cords inspire a casual summer dining room.

There is also an occasional nod to traditional taste. One feature about a Los Angeles shop owner, Ruthie Sommers – who appears on the cover holding her dog – is called “Trad is Rad.” It shows how “cheeky paint and innovative reupholstery” can transform “granny heirlooms.” But one of the imponderables about the young home consumer is how funky their tastes really are.

For years Meredith tried, with little success, to interest young readers in a magazine called Apartment Living. This later morphed into Metropolitan Home and was finally sold to Hachette. Three years ago, when I was an editorial director planning a test issue of a home magazine for this demographic called “Living Room,” I watched several focus groups of young homeowners. I was surprised at what traditional taste many young women had. All they wanted were off-white walls and beige upholstery.

Eleanor Griffin, the editor of Cottage Living, which was recently named launch of the year by Media Week, said, “We find that readers will make small purchases that are hip and trendy – like buying a great set of napkins. That’s instant gratification for them, like buying a lipstick. But when it comes to bigger purchases, they look for quality and comfort. If they are renovating their kitchen they may add a 1950s style I Love Lucy toaster, but they wouldn’t spend $25,000 to renovate in a 1950s style.”

Steve Bohlinger, Cottage Living’s publisher, agreed. “In the past the urban chic market has been very tiny,” he said. “Nobody knows how big it has grown. But Condé Nast has deep pockets and they are fishing off their own pier. They know the young, fashionable reader. If anyone can pull it off, they can.”