Most organizational books and popular television programs about organizing and decluttering are likely to tell you that one of the best things that you can do to clear out some clutter is to get rid of all those magazines laying around. The ones you never read and that are gathering dust and taking up space. "Get rid of all but the latest issues!" they tell us.
Well, that happens to be one organizing tip that I have never followed! ;-) I keep lots of my old magazines because I do refer to them for inspiration and ideas. In order to do this, though, I need to keep the magazines stored in a way that will make getting to and using the magazines practical for me.
I store my magazines in six rubber maid containers. This keeps them safe from dust or potential water damage. In the containers, they are organized by month. 
I keep all the containers under the bed. They are easy to get to, but are also hidden from view. The key to making them useful is to take out a few issues of each magazine for each month.
I store these in my nightstand. I have about two dozen "September" issues in the drawer right now, just waiting to be looked through in the evenings or when I have a little extra time. The articles, crafts, recipes, and ideas will all be relevant to the season, and if I didn't get to something last year, maybe I will this time around. At the end of September, I will put these back in the containers under the bed and replace them with October issues. 
My monthly Taste of Home issues are stored in two binders in the kitchen so they will be handy for menu planning.If you are a maggazine addict like me,
I hope this gives you some ideas
for keeping your magazines around a little longer.
Happy magazine reading! :-)
I just couldn't end this post without sharing how I acquired these binders. They are very special to me. :-) I purchased them with a $20 gift certificate that Riemann Publications sent me for contributing to an article in Country Woman several years ago. It was about funny things that children say and I shared a story from our supper table when my son was about three years old. We were having spaghetti that evening, and as soon as we sat down, my son quickly reminded me that I hadn't put everything we needed for our meal on the table. He requested the "pizza sugar". It took me a moment, but I soon realized that he was asking for the parmesan cheese! ;-) We had a chuckle that night and down the road it earned Momma a gift certificate for a storage solution! :-)
8 comments:
That's a great way to keep magazines neat & organized. I agree with you; there are just some magazines I have that I don't want to get rid of so I really like how you cycle them in & out.
Have you thought about organizing your magazines by month so you just need to open one container at a time? All the January editions would be together, all the February, etc. That way you wouldn't have to go through all six containers. You could store two months' worth in one container (separated from each other) so you wouldn't have to buy any more containers. Just a thought. :-)
Loved the story about your little boy and the pizza sugar!
womanofthehouse
Anonymous,
I keep all of the January, etc. of each magazine together, so it's really easy to just grab them, but I don't like to separte the types of magazines. Like with like! ;-) Also, I do like to sometimes just go through all of one particular magazine, so I want them to be all together! :-)
Hi Mrs. H. It is nice to meet a fellow magazine keeper. I am a magazine-aholic!! I can't resist.. I try, but it calls to me, and then bam, it is in my shopping cart. Then I find it hard to get rid of it. I started way back.....keeping my Victoria magazine, Romantic Homes, then Martha Stewart, then Family Fun, Faith & Family, now it is Tea Magazine. It keeps growing! I have them in baskets. I also like to look through them for the seasons. I am not as organized as you. I like your ideas. Thank you for sharing them. Now you have me thinking that I really do not go through ALL of them. Maybe it is time to part with some. MAYBE..... ;)
This is a great idea. I love magazines. I especially like Taste of Home, Country Woman and Simple and Delicious (Quick Cooking), and Family Fun. You've motivated me to organize my magazine stash.
I hate to admit it - but I toss all the old magazines. I don't really want to keep them but there has to be a better way to recycle/reuse them in some way.
Jennifer,
You might want to check with your library. Mine has a table set up of free materials for patrons. The libary puts book donations on it that they don't plan to save for their anual booksale and there is always lots of magazines and catalogs on it, too. Sometimes schools might take magazines to use for arts and crafts for the students or projects that they need to cut out pictures from magazines.
I love magazines too. I used to have a file cabinet full of them, lol. I went through a phase though where I wanted no clutter or stuff so I just ripped out the pages I liked best and put them in folders. I do love my magazines!! I like your idea too, keeps them out of the way but easy to get at when you want them.
Jenn
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