I still remember exactly when I bought my first 'Real
Living' magazine. We had just driven
seven hours down to Esperance where Paul had to work for the week. In need
of some good reading material to keep me occupied, I wandered into town and
made a stop at the local newsagent where I discovered issue number two on the shelves for the first time.
I curled up on the couch and read every word of it from cover to cover, returning home inspired and with a whole heap of ideas to try around our home.
Since then, I have religiously bought every issue of the
magazine (for the past two years I’ve had a subscription) and have
bookmarked many a page for future inspiration.
My pile of magazines on the coffee table beside our lounge gradually grew
and grew into two and then three piles, weighing the room down visually with its clutter and creating a hoarder-like corner in our home.
Not one to usually hang on to unnecessary items, my collection was one area I was happy to overlook…
Until recently.
Firstly, my magazine tower was a stark contrast to my
simple living mantra. Secondly, I have chosen not to renew my 'Real Living' magazine subscription. I’ve recently found myself drawn to other magazines with less of a focus on trends
and style and more of an emphasis on lifestyle and homemaking articles. Last year, I discovered 'The Simple Things' magazine. Stumbling upon it was like discovering a publication that had been
written specifically for me.
As part of my beginning of the year de-clutter, I’ve decided
it’s time to tackle and pare back my stash.
The pile has since been moved to our bedroom where I am gradually working
through each issue, re-reading and tearing out favourite pages and stories to
be added to a ‘file of favourites’ and keeping only cut-outs that I really and
truly want to refer to again. I have a feeling this will be an on-going task for at least the next little while...
Is there a magazine you buy without fail each month? Do you have a hoarder’s stash or do simply tear
out pages which are ‘keepers’?
I have been culling my years of Real Living mags as well tearing out pages and passing the mags to friends with post it notes on the pages I think they'll like. I only keeping a year's worth in the living room, luckily my coffee table has drawers so I can hide them away! I'll have to keep an eye out for The Simple Things mag :)
ReplyDeleteI have plans on passing on my old copies too... different pages and articles will appeal to different people I guess :)
DeleteI buy way too many magazines and I hoard loads of them (Delicious, Donna Hay, Frankie, Real Living) . I've recently stopped my subscription to Real Living ( I think I've outgrown it) and am beginning a slow cull of most of my magazines (not Frankie yet) - its slow but feels sooooo good!
ReplyDeleteI used to bookmark so many pages in Real Living, but lately, the last few issues haven't really done much for me. Perhaps it's me and the way I've changed my priorities and what I spend time on :) Glad to hear it's not just me :)
DeleteYou spoke right to my heart!
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Brissy, I bought 'Real Living' religiously, and i trucked them all down to Sydney when we moved home, but recently I gave them all away (after tearing out a few pages and filing them for another day)
But Pinterest is a fabulous way of filing ideas too, and as space is limited, i'm forced to use it.
But that new mag might just slip into my shopping trolley this week ?!?! xxx
Space is definitely a factor too... I have to be selective about what makes the cut when we don't have a whole lot of storage space.
Deleteoh yeah. I LOVE my magazines too Amanda and like you have to do a bit of culling. My favs are Home Beautiful and Australian Country Style, both of which I have a subscription for. I also love The Simple Things and there's a another lovely one (Australian) called Slow which is also great. and... listen to me getting all excited... the other day at the library I borrowed a few issues of another aussie one called Peppermint, which I've seen at the newsagent but never bought. Oh isn't the world full of wonderful magazines!!! One thing we must NEVER do, is add up how much money we have spent on them over the years! have a great weekend. Jane x
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I haven't spent much money on my magazines as my subscriptions have always been Christmas gifts from my mother-in-law! Besides Real Living, I never really bought other magazines :)
DeleteI used to be a magazine hoarder - at one time I had 10 years of NZ House & Garden. Now I keep my favourite magazines for a year, then in January - tear out any inspirational pictures for my decorating files, those magazines are usually thrown away, The intact magazines are donated to my local hospice for some nice reading material, that is not gossipy or trashy.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of doing a tear-out session yearly. Donating your magazines is a thoughtful idea...
Deletei have years of Country Style mags. I was thinking yesterday about culling the numbers and you have inspired me to really do it. I still love the magazine, and re-read them over and over again but i think i could probably get rid of at least 3/4 of them.
ReplyDeleteSame as you Amanda!!! I don't consider myself to be a terrible hoarder, but magazines.... argh. I love my magazines. I started reading 25 Beautiful Homes as a teenager, and find that one the hardest to get rid of... except when I go through back issues and find myself laughing at how much my personal taste has changed. What I was obsessed with back then is totally different to what I am all over now! Happy to be the benefitee of your cull! xx
ReplyDeleteI find myself laughing at some of the pages I've bookmarked too :) Had already thought you might like my unwanted magazines :)
DeleteOh my goodness! I never go without about 8 different magazines each month, local and UK ones! Love the Simple Things too! My dream is to own a huge Provincial Home Living bookcase with a ladder for my ever growing collection of home magazines that I can not part with! I don't smoke, drink or gamble! I spend it all on my 'investments' of magazines that I re-read over and over again!
ReplyDeleteAnd as Jane said, never, ever add up how much money we have spent on them! (probably could have bought the 'dream house' to put my bookcase in!!)
Have a lovely (long) weekend! x
Your dream library sounds delightful!
DeleteI have watched my Mother spend literally thousands of dollars on magazines and she has rarely changed anything in her home as she can't afford to. The irony. She buys so many she has often bought duplicates within a month as she can't remember! So I try not to even look at them in shops. Since building our house and working out our style I am not really even interested. I did have a subscription to Gourmet Traveller a few years back but recently chucked them out as the recipes always had far too many special ingredients I could never find!
ReplyDeleteGoodluck with the culling.
The irony! I've been lucky enough to have been gifted my subscription by my mother-in-law for the past few years at Christmas. However this year, I decided the magazine just wasn't 'me' anymore...
Deletemy mum has a pile just like that in her lounge room...and she keeps saying she is going to cull and starts going through them and then ends up seeing trends recycle and ends up keeping them all!
ReplyDeletei don't buy any magazines...but i do enjoy going to my mum's (even if just once a year since she's in adelaide!) and looking through hers. i must say that although i enjoy flipping through a mag, firstly i just don't have the time to do that anymore; secondly i don't have the space to keep all those magazines and thirdly it's an expensive habit and i'd rather look at blogs, websites and pinterest and keep up to date that way.
(though in saying that i've just realised that "little one" magazine is one that i do like to buy and flip through every now and then...)
great post!
Yes, so much inspiration online thesedays. Good old Pinterest! I find so much more inspiration these days from fellow bloggers and shots they post on IG... my own version of 'Real Living' I guess:) I often found a month or two had passed and I'd not yet sat down to read my magazines so time is a factor for me too. I'm enjoying being able to read more books and pursue other hobbies lately.
DeleteMagazines are one of the few things I don't get into and hoard. I'll buy them very occasionally, but usually cooking ones and I think last year I bought less than 5 for the whole year. I find I use the internet more for recipes. Home ones are lovely but then I just want to shop so I stay right away from them!
ReplyDeleteam with you. i was a mag hoarder and finally gave most away (still have some real living to chop up) and will never chuck frankie. always had a thing for country living and a big fan of apartmento when i can get my hands on it. x
ReplyDelete