Magazines, My Guilty Pleasure

Oh boy do I love magazines. I love the glossy pages, the ideas, the recipes, the pretty pictures, and the articles. I get a thrill when a new edition comes out and a subscription lands in my letterbox, or when I bring a magazine home from the newsagent.

I know I could get these digitally but it’s just not the same. I need to feel the pages in my hands to get the full magazine-loving experience.

Now here’s the thing. For an organiser who lives in a small apartment and runs two businesses, with a good measure of hobbies, interests and family commitments that keep me busy, I have a LOT of magazines.

Some weeks I don’t have time or inclination to sit down and read them. You may be wondering what on earth I do with so many magazines. I can hear you thinking, “Don’t they pile up and create clutter?” You may be right. They are a vice, a guilty pleasure, until now.

As I said, there are times when I don’t read my lovely magazines. They flow into the house and stay, piling up on my coffee table. It’s not unusual for me to have a pile of twenty or more. Please don’t judge. 😉

My favourite time to read them is when I’m a passenger on a long road trip. I pack the well in the passenger door with Mindfood, House & Garden, Better Homes & Gardens, Home Beautiful, Australian Traveller, Taste, and the free magazines from the major supermarkets. Once we’re on the open road, I open a magazine and the hours fly past while I peruse. Whenever I come across a design idea, recipe, image, or article I want to keep, I tear it out, ready to share, implement, use on a vision board, or file away when I get home.

Once I’m back home, the piles of magazines are heavily reduced. The magazines are passed on to friends or family, with the warning that pages are torn out. Those magazines get a second life in another home.

That’s the story of my guilty pleasure. But what about other magazines I’ve organised?

I once worked with a client who had a beautifully decorated guest bedroom. Unfortunately, guests couldn’t use it because of the piles and piles of magazines all over the floor and around the bed. Those magazines had all been read and then kept “in case”. My client wanted to reclaim her guest bedroom but parting with those magazines was getting in the way. After some goalsetting and a few tears, that client agreed she didn’t need those magazines anymore and let them go. They filled an entire trailer. Her beautiful guest room was back in use.

Here’s the thing. Yes, my magazine piles may seem like clutter to other people, but I know my limits. I know their purpose. Those magazines give me great pleasure. They flow into the house and then eventually do leave again.

They are organised enough for me, which is all they need to be. It will be wonderful when I can go on a long road trip again and whittle down my pile of magazines. Hopefully soon.

What’s your guilty pleasure?