Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Simplifying my Real Simples


Thanks for the comments that I received both here & on FB about my little record table. Taking those into consideration, I am keeping it as is for now. I may get the itch to paint it at some point, but not for now.

So, do you remember how difficult it was to keep your room clean when you lived at home with mom & dad? (It was for me, anyway). Well, when you're married (as most of you few that read this thing are), instead of just having your own mess to clean up in your bedroom, you have your spouse's too.
And let's be honest, most guys aren't concerned with
keeping a room tidy. So, in other words, I find myself straightening up our bedroom a lot.

This idea came to me one of those many times.

I have had this little magazine rack for a while now- I think it was purchased at a Home Goods. (I'm hoping you can make out what it looks like, underneath all the magazines piled on it.)


It was once in our living room, then we got a nicer one to replace it, so this one went in our room. I use it for my Real Simple magazines. If you don't subscribe to this mag, you should! It has the neatest organizational ideas as well as yummy, easy recipes. Also, it doesn't seem to have as many ads as most women's
magazines do either.

I was almost, almost going to chunk every one of these magazines in the garbage (the rack was completely full, as you can see by the pic), but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Then, it occurred to me that even though there are some things in these that I would love to keep, I didn't have to keep the entire issues. 

So, it took me about a few nights, all while watching the tube, but I got this project done. I sat in the floor with my
scissors & pen...


...and my Daisy girl keeping me company, and cut out only the pages and/or sections that I wanted to keep. I made temporary labels for "Recipes", "Organization", "Inspiration", "Good To Know" & "Decor Ideas", and started filing.


I ended up keeping a lot of recipes and a lot of organizing tips...

...and sentimental things...




...but the bulk of the magazines were filled with useless pages that were thrown away.

Talk about making some space! Now I have most of the magazine rack left for new issues!

I gathered all of my categorized loose pages, a 3-ring binder, a pack of dividers, and started punching holes. These are some pics of the steps & what I ended up with...

My binder & dividers...and a snout & paw belonging to my little helper in the top right corner. :)

 I found TONS of yummy recipes! I need to keep this binder handy!

To jazz it up a little, I cut the edges of the pages with my zig-zag scissors.

All organized...

So, my favorite part- the Before & After...

BEFORE


AFTER

9 comments:

  1. This is a great idea! So practical!

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  2. I do the same thing! Except I haven't filed the loose pages in a while so your binder looks so much better than mine.

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  3. This is an amazing idea. Our house gets so overrun with paper. I'll have to do this! You have a wonderful blog and I'm your newest follower so I don't miss any other great tips like this one! I'd love for you to come visit my blog sometime. Have a wonderful week!

    Marilyn
    4you-withlove.blogspot.com

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  4. Wonderful!!! I love this idea!! I am going to have to show you one of these days... maybe soon. (Lifts eyebrows here) lol, and giggles alot!! How I store mine... all one billion trillion of them... (so the grandkids say!) But they are pretty close, to the number lol. I will definitely HAVE to do this!! Just think I will free up... one, two, three containers at least!! Oops. FOUR!! Yikes, makes you crazy to just think about that!! (Not to mention the hubs... especially when I leave them out, and he stubs his toe on the way to the "Outhouse" lol. Thanks again!!!!!

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  5. Great idea, getting organized is always a top priority. I will definitely put this to work. Really amazing idea. Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration at Sunday's Best. Love seeing what you've been up to.

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  6. Great organisation! What a difference it has made!


    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  7. I do this too! I put mine in plastic sheet covers. I have a big stack to go through now as a matter of fact.:)

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  8. Great idea, I have been doing this also, but sticking them in files in the filing cabinet. This looks like it would be much easier to find what I am looking for!

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  9. Isn't it a good feeling to get abit organized-following you from TDC-stop by for a visit!

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