A Page Turner
There are days when heading to the mailbox is just a drag. Bills and more clutter fill the space. Then there are days when the mailbox is full of wonderful surprises: Checks owed to me, and almost as exciting is one of two catalogues I love, or one of two magazines.
I really hit the jackpot if a check is in with one or two of my favorite publications! Living smaller is about choosing only to keep the things you love. For the sake of the environment, I’m also a big advocate of fewer catalogues, that’s why I maintain a free account at catalogue choices, a website that allows you to register catalogues you don’t want and contact the companies for you to have them stopped. I’ve registered to halt all but two of my favorites: North Style and Black Forest Décor. As well, I’ve stopped all of my magazine subscriptions with the exception of Country Living Magazine and Mother Earth News.
Now, we all know I don’t need anymore stuff, but a girl can still look!
North Style was once a 50/50 mixture of clothes and home décor (and I bought plenty over the years), but has a bigger selection now of clothing. I love black bears. I have them on my shirts, my jackets and my pajamas. We have black bear lamps, sheets, the little guy holding the sign in the photo and dinnerware, and most of it came from North Style. My mom gave us many of the things we have decorating The Little House. After we built it, coming up with a Christmas list of ideas for her was no problem!
North Style is where I’ve bought most of my “Life is Good” clothing and hats. I also have a tiny log cabin charm necklace that I love, which reminds me of The Little House. I wear it a lot when I’m away from home.
I miss browsing the home décor there – and there are a couple of things they still carry that I hope to one day buy and figure out where to place – but that’s why I’ve kept the Black Forest Décor catalogue. This is my “ultimate dream” catalogue, as most of the items in there are too expensive to even allow in regular dreams. J
If I don’t have a “Dream Book,” as my mother always called catalogues, there’s nothing better than having a current copy of Country Living Magazine or Mother Earth News.
Country Living Magazine is a family tradition. My mom started taking it when it first came out in the 1970s and used the photos and tips to first decorate our little green bungalow and then the 1920s brick Tudor they purchased and restored when I was a teen. I’ve taken Country Living ever since I got my first apartment. Receiving a copy of it is like visiting an old friend each month. I love sitting on the party deck on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon and savoring each page.
Mother Earth News has been around for a while and when we built The Little House, I began subscribing to it, and what a great magazine! Full of advice for homesteaders who live in the country or others who just wish they did, I haven’t received a copy yet, in which I didn’t find some great article with good tips.
My magazines and catalogues give me something to look forward to when peering into our big, rural mailbox and any day I find one of them there, is a good day.
Today’s Question: My magazines get a new life as I donate them to the county nursing home in hopes someone else will enjoy them as much as I do. When I’ve looked at my catalogues about a dozen times, they go to the recycling bin. Where do your magazines and catalogues end up?
ooops! I mean 265 square foot cabin!
I just found your site and am looking forward to more reading on living in your small space. I built and moved into my 26 square foot cabin a couple of years ago and have given away more and more stuff until it’s down to, as you said, only the things that I really love. I love my little home and wouldn’t change it for the world. Thanks for writing on your life. I give my magazines to the local health clinic and to the Senior Thrift Store in my little town of Cave Junction. Welcome to the small house movement!
Welcome to Living Large, Iris! I’m so glad you found our little community. You had me wondering on the 26 sq. ft. ! 🙂 Look forward to reading more about your house and life here as well!
You gave me two good ideas today: to find that catalogue Web site so I can cancel the ones that come to me that I don’t want; and the idea that I should donate the magazines I’ve read to others who might appreciate them after me. Thanks!
Good deal, Jackie. I love it when there’s some take away! 🙂
My husband and I have recently been going through a book and magazine purge. I subscribed to Martha Stewart Living for five years- and kept every issue! I had a book shelf dedicated to the magazines. They were such a good resource for recipes, gardening info and decorating ideas, that I hated to part with them. They are also beautiful- lots of gorgeous photos. However, I finally decided that it was time to clean them out and find them a new home. I discovered that Goodwill accepts magazines, so I’m delivering them to the closest donation site today. I also subscribe to Grit, Mother Earth News’ sister publication, and give my old magazines to family and friends who live in the country. Glad to know about catalogue choices- as we are inundated by catalogues, especially as holiday season approaches. Thanks for that tip Kerri!
That’s good to know, Kathy. I didn’t know Goodwill took them as well.
If I don’t tear out or cut-up items from them, I give them to a neighbor who is homebound and to the Baxter County Library free magazines, books and catalog bin.
Oh, yes, the old tearing out trick, I do that too sometimes. Although since I want to get rid of the magazine, sometimes I will copy a recipe down, rather than tear it out. Or, I will take it and scan the story.
Oh, wow, what a horrible choice of a TV show in the surgical area. Ugh.
That’s great that so many people enjoyed the newspaper while you waited. A medical office or hospital is always a good idea to drop of magazines. I tried giving them to our local library, but they said they didn’t have room for them. It’s a strange library. 🙂
My mom and I pass magazines and catalogs back and forth. I need to come up with something to do with them once we’ve both read the magazines though. I’m thinking of dropping them off at a medical office nearby.
Earlier this week, I spent some time in a hospital surgical waiting room while my husband was having a procedure. It was early in the morning and I grabbed our newspaper out of the box on our way out of the driveway. I read it first and then set it on a table in the waiting room, thinking maybe someone else would enjoy reading it (anything has to be better than watching CSI: Special Victims Unit, which is what the tv was playing, while waiting to hear if your loved one is going to be ok). In the hour and a half that I was there, 6 different people picked up and read parts of that newspaper. And I was out of there by 10 am – I imagine it was read many more times throughout the day.