As a professional organizer, I often visit homes overrun with collections. Common amongst many collections are the piles of paper and various magazine subscriptions.

What are your options? To keep or not to keep? The logical decision would be that if you have limited space, then the magazines must go. Emotionally, however, people grapple with the “what ifs.” What if I might need it again? What if I haven’t read everything? Not to mention, magazines are neatly bound with a nice cover page.

Using Your Magazine Collection

Keeping your resources organized and accessible is one thing, but actually using them is a whole other beast. When looking for information, are you searching the internet first instead of your personal library of resources? If so, reconsider why you are keeping magazine articles in the first place.

The old saying is, “Information is power.” But in reality, access to information is power. So, if you must keep the information, sort and organize it, then you can easily access what you need when you need it.

Organizing Solutions

When it comes to the articles in the magazines that you can’t bear to let go of, tear out your favourite sections. Then you can leave the ads behind (which are likely two-thirds of the bulk anyway). Create a personal library of resources in a filing system with headings such as:

• Recipes
• Crafts (e.g., knitting patterns)
• Activities for kids
• Social media tips & tricks
• Marketing ideas

You can store these articles in binders. Either punch holes in the pages themselves or slip all the pages from each article into a sheet protector and place that in a binder. If you must keep your magazines intact, you can use inexpensive magazine holders. Another option is this unique designer solution where function meets form – the Hockenheimer Stool by Germany’s NJU Studio. They provide the pillow, two leather straps, and a waxed-birch base in one of two sizes. Take a seat – and give this a ponder.

Image courtesy NJU Studio.