Good grief, Charlie Brown! How times flies! It's been quite a while but I'm back.
So what have I been up to? On the biz front, I staged a condo, wrote my first article for my new column launching in November in an online magazine and this month in addition to my own business, I start work as a Design Consultant/Space Stylist for Manny Machado Designs.
On the home front, I just went through my magazine collection. You see, currently I have 4 magazine subscriptions. All design. House and Home, Style At Home, House Beautiful and Elle Decor. Oh wait...I forgot about Lou Lou magazine. I know that's all about fashion but maybe one day they will come out with an interior decorating/design edition. Hey, for only $1 an issue, who am I to say no. One of the "perks" of being with Rogers... I think.
You can imagine how much real estate 3 or 4 years worth of 5 magazine subscriptions take up so last year I made the tough decision to keep only one years worth of each publication at a time. I painstakingly went through each one and tore out the pages that I liked with the idea of creating an inspiration/reference binder for myself and future Interior Styling clients. The magazines I was keeping (which include all of my small space editions and the odd O mag that I purchased) would live in a vintage suitcase in the bottom of my bedroom closet. Through this process I amassed quite a collection of tear sheets and though it will be ongoing, I'm very happy with the end result so far. My own "look book" that I can refer to whenever I'm about to embark on a new creative project. After I finished going through the magazines, I donated a huge pile to my doctor's office so there'd at least be something interesting to read while in the waiting room. They were more than happy to take them. In fact, I have a hunch some of them went home the receptionists.
So the plan going forward was that whenever I received a new issue, I would get rid of the one from the previous year after ripping out what I wanted to keep. Yeah right! Things went well for the first couple of months but I gotta be honest...I fell behind! This little thing called life got in the way and month after month, it was open suitcase, insert magazine. I finally decided I'd better get a handle on this before it gets out of control and becomes a fire hazard. When I pulled out old issues I was pleasantly surprised to see that I only had to go through 9 magazines, which I started last night and completed this morning. Takes a little longer when you're watching tv at the same time!
No matter what type of magazines you read, ask yourself if you really need to hang on to every single issue. My decision to keep the ones that were specific to small spaces was a no-brainer but at the end of the day, the chances of me looking back at the other past issues was slim to none. I suggest keeping your favourites editions, articles or pictures that inspire you and before you toss the rest into the recycling bin, try gifting them to a place that you think could benefit from them. Just be sure to blank out your name and address if it's on the front. If you do insist on keeping them invest in some magazine holders. You can find them at the dollar store or Ikea or anywhere that sells storage products.
Do you Toss, Recycle or Keep your old magazines.
If you have an organizing question send an email to info@theurbanorganizer.ca
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