Simplify Your Magazine Habit (And Store Them Stylishly)

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Feb. 11

Do you still have magazines around the house or have you gone digital? I have to admit, I gave up buying hard-copy magazines a couple of years ago as a way to both simplify and consume more sustainably. I switched to a monthly service and got access to more magazines online than I could possibly keep up with. But that was the problem. I felt overwhelmed because I had so much content to go through but never enough time and always felt like I was missing something by not getting to them all. And I missed having a glossy magazine in hand and sinking into my favourite chair with a cup of coffee to relax away from computer screens. After all, I've been trying to simplify life by getting away from screens that I spend most of my working hours on. I don't want to spend even more time on them when I'm relaxing.

So I've recently gone back to buying hard copy magazines once in a while, but I'm being much more selective. I've limited my reading to a few home and garden favourites every now and then, and I make sure to get rid of any issues that are getting out of date, so the piles don't get monstrous. I've also started trading issues with friends, which is a great way to cut down on spending and accumulating too many around the house. I've actually gotten down to one basket of magazines beside my reading chair; once it's full, it's time to recycle some or give them away.

Simplify Your Magazine Habit (And Store Them Stylishly)

Here's how to declutter your own magazine habit and simplify your storage of them:

1. Take stock of your purchasing habits and subscriptions and intentionally cull down your magazines to only those that are your favourites. You know, those ones you can't wait to devour each month or that you always rip a good recipe out of. You'll have to spend some time calling to cancel your subscriptions, but it's worth it.

Tips for organizing magazines — It's Overflowing

2. Then, decide how you'd like to organize, store and display the issues that you keep. Try to keep it to one or two dedicated spots so they're not left scattered around everywhere. It could be wall storage on one shelf, in a basket on the floors, or a neat pile beside your bed. Once this spot gets full, it's time to get rid of some.

3. Purge all old catalogues and flyers hanging around, and take the time to call and get off their mailing lists if you don't look at them.

4. You know all of those pages we tear out because they have a room with the paint colour we want or a DIY project to try, and stash somewhere but can never find when we need them? Start taking photos of them with your phone instead, and store them on a cloud folder that you can access wherever you are and eliminate paper and folders hanging around. If you must keep the paper copy, perhaps for recipes that you want to keep with your cookbooks, try creating a pretty file folder system like this lovely one below.

Below are some fun ways to store your magazines and keep them contained. Happy decluttering! (Click on photos for source links).