Organizing Tip of the Day: How to Organize and Style Magazines

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When it comes to magazines in the home, they can go one of two ways: chic and cool, or a big cluttered mess. You need to be honest with yourself when it comes to organizing magazines. Are you the type of person who can style your shelves and surfaces and keep them looking that way? If so, you can make your magazines look awesome by styling them in your space (read on for tips on how). If not, it might be difficult for you to keep magazines looking organized in your space, so you might be happier just getting rid of them and going the minimalist route. Either way, I strongly recommend going through your magazine collection with a ruthless editor’s eye and only keeping the ones you truly love and/or want for reference. Once you’ve whittled down your collection to only your true favs, it’s time to make ’em look good! Here’s some inspiration for styling magazines in your space:

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Magazines look fantastic in lucite holders as shown above, adding a shot of color and fun to a bookshelf when you leave the spines showing. Lucite holders available here, budget version here.

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See the black magazine holders inside the Expedit shelves? They’re creating a cool, minimalist, and modern look. That’s a great solution if your magazine spines aren’t looking great and you don’t want them showing (black magazine holders available here – just remove the white paper label and leave the metal part empty).

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Here we’ve got a shelf full of white magazine holders, with the magazines again facing out. You can get white holders at Container Store or West Elm. Lots of stacks on the shelves above as well – and it looks great – casual, unfussy, not trying too hard.

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Here the pile looks purposeful and almost acts as a stand-in for a tray, since it has objects arranged nicely on top of it. It looks casual and not overly styled.

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Here’s another example of stacked magazines. They’re nice and neat and the spines are lined up, which is why they look good and deliberate, instead of messy.

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More artful stacks. Granted, you can’t see where these are actually located, but have that messy, insouciant look going for them. Kind of hard to pull off, but again – know yourself. In the right context, this can work.

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Here’s a great idea – stack a few magazines on an x bench (or any entryway bench). Since the stack is small and contained, it looks casual, purposeful and inviting – a guest would probably feel comfortable grabbing the top magazine from the stack and perusing. The colors on the spine are fun and I also like that the clear console allows you to see through to the books and magazines on the bench.

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Here, three stacks on a bottom shelf. They look neat and again, purposeful, due to the objects atop them. Tip: make sure the mags in a stack are all roughly the same size, to keep it looking clean and streamlined. Easiest way to do that is just use one type of magazine per stack (a Vogue stack, a House Beautiful stack, etc) – they’ll automatically make a straight, clean pile.

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I like this magazine holder from Anthropologie as well, for next to a couch or bed – much better option than leaving magazines strewn across your coffee table!

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Last but not least, my own modest stack of domino mags that sits on my Expedit (for now). I love the little rainbow of logo colors, not to mention the cute little quotes on the spines – makes me happy.

Takeaways:

  • Thin out your magazine collection, first and foremost.
  • Put the remaining collection into holders (lucite, black, or white are great options), and arrange on shelves.
  • Another option: artful stacks – but keep them neat and looking purposeful, not messy and strewn about.
  • Make sure to place stacks strategically, on shelves or tables where they have some room to breathe.
  • For an easier solution, choose an attractive magazine holder like the one from Anthro above.

And there ya have it! Any other tips or suggestions? (and ps – whatever you do with your magazines, just please don’t store them in this).

Leave a Comment

  1. Dale wrote:

    Thank you Jackie! I sure do need this lesson!

    Published 1.22.16 · Reply
  2. elena wrote:

    Thank you for this post!! I love the styling in these and plan to incorporate several of these ideas. 🙂

    Published 1.22.16 · Reply
    • York Avenue wrote:

      Yay I’m so glad! Thanks Elena!

      Published 1.24.16 · Reply
  3. Elana wrote:

    These are all so great. I know where we can get those lucite magazine holders 🙂 Another trip to West Elm stat.

    Published 1.22.16 · Reply
    • York Avenue wrote:

      Yes, I was about to order them online…haha so lazy 🙂

      Published 1.24.16 · Reply