Magazine Organization

If you love magazines even half as much as I do, you have a ton of them lying around. There’s the stack on the table that just came in the mail, the pile by the couch you’ve been reading when you get a few spare minutes, and the mountains of magazines in the office that you just can’t part with. How to keep them organized?

Easy. The first step is to sort through those piles. Weed out the magazines you know you’re not going to read—and be honest. I say I’m going to read every magazine I receive from cover to cover. But if I did that I’d have no life—ever. So be realistic about which ones you’ll actually get to, and toss the rest into a “To Recycle” or “To Give Away” pile.

Then take what’s left and divide them into more stacks. Make a “To Read” pile. These might go in a big basket or handy magazine organizer in the living room, on your desk, or somewhere where you won’t forget about them. Next make a “To File” pile. These are the magazines that you’ve read and that have stories you want to save but that don’t need to be stored away forever. Third, make a “To Store” pile. These are the keepers—those magazines you just can’t part with.

The “To Read” pile is easy enough to deal with. Just make time to get through those magazines regularly, and as you finish reading one, recycle, store, or file accordingly.

The “To File” pile is a bit trickier. If you’re a magazine lover like me, the thought of tearing pages out of precious issues may be startling or even horrifying. But when you move once or twice and realize you have more boxes of magazines than you do of anything else you own, it’s time to purge. If there’s only an article or two worth saving from a given magazine, rather than taking up precious space with the whole issue, tear out those pages that you want to hold onto. I have a file cabinet with folders labeled by topic, ie “Decorating,” “Home Repair,” “Recipes,” etc., and once I pull out the pages I like, I file them in the appropriate folder for easy reference.

If hanging folders aren’t your style, binders with plastic pages work wonderfully. And Jeri has some great tips for organizing those pages you just can’t part with.

Once you move onto the “To Store” pile, there are plenty of options for corralling your precious issues. Upright magazine files are inexpensive to buy—I have some clear plastic ones as well as the playful teal ones I recently purchased, above. Why not make magazine storage part of your décor?

Then you just have to decide how you’re going to organize your issues. Do you stash a year’s worth of a single title like I do? (That way I know exactly where to find my National Geographic Traveler collection or my back issues of Sunset.) Or here’s a great pointer for storing magazines by month so you always have seasonal ideas on hand.

There are plenty of other ways to stash your magazines too. Readymade shows you how to keep entire issues of magazines in binders. Or have fun with your organization. Real Simple (which, by the way is one magazine I make space to store), has a great aha! idea: Stash magazines in a wine rack.

Want more magazine storage ideas? Check out these options on Amazon—you’ll find something that works no matter the style you like or the space you have available. (I especially love the Adesso Zurich Magazine Rack).

And be sure to visit Design*Sponge, where you’ll find a terrific magazine storage guide that includes all sorts of cool organization products—many of which are as fun to look at as the magazines you’ll store in them! My favorite? The magazine rack sofa.

Learn more from Ms. Organization, Sumina Bhatti. Her video will have your magazines in place in no time.

Until tomorrow,
The Home Know-It-All

Comments

[magazine-lover]

I bet I don't have even half number of your magazines but with my little collection, managaing those are really giving me a hard time. Thanks for the tips anyways.. that could help a lot especially when children would roam in my house this holiday!