Paper vs. Pinterest.

I used to be a complete home decor magazine junkee. I subscribed to no less than 6 monthly magazines, and I picked up more whenever there was anything that looked inspirational at the grocery store.

I would tear out pages and put them, by category, in manila folders for inspiration at later dates. Some of them had been in these folders for years. They were always a great inspiration for me in the evenings, curled up in my bed, with a cuppa cocoa, and my basket of folders, laid out by room, or topic.

After moving so many times in such a short time span, I began to see that schlepping all this paper everywhere wasn't the easiest thing to move, nor to find storage spaces for. Also, I was spending a decent amount of my mad money on magazines. I wanted to be more efficient. More thrifty (thrifty-er?) frugal. More organized.

Then, along came Pinterest.

Let me tell you, it rocked my world.

I quickly migrated from in-your-hand magazines, to snagging pictures form anywhere and everywhere online. Inspiration  abounds, on all topics online, from how to make ice cream to cute outbuildings and log cabins, and to be able to save pictures (Along with links back to the origin to re-read up on things!!!) has become my replacement addiction to old school magazines.

Thousands of pins later, one day while getting groceries I landed on the magazine aisle. Whoa, baby. There were many new (to me at least) publications. (I was shocked for two reasons. First off, the economy, and second...Pinterest.)There were several on the topic of Flea Market Decor, including Flea Market Gardens. There are also many, many new ones popping up online, with the option of buying the magazines either electronically to read, or, for four times more you can get  hard copy mailed to you via snail mail...obviously a lot of us still enjoy hard cover magazines, whether the budget is tight or not.

Anyway.

Before I knew what hit me I had loaded several magazines into my cart and whisked them home. I was like a crack addict, I tell you.

That got me thinking later that night, while curled up in bed perusing the magazines, with my laptop sitting on the nightstand, (feeling oh-so guilty that I had paid nearly full price at the grocery, as opposed to a subscription.) about my old friends I'd been missing, (Romantic Homes, and a few other favorites) and so I ended up subscribing online right then aand there, to three magazines that I had said goodbye to more than a year ago.

Now, I am torn between feeling guilt ridden for having slipped back into my magazine addition, and wondering how many more weeks until I find fabulous new issues in my mailbox.

So.

My mind is now whirling and twirling with questions for you: Do you still buy, and read, hard cover magazines? Do you Pinterest for your decorating fix? Do you do both? (like me?!) If you do buy hard cover magazines,how many do you buy? Do you subscribe? What do you do with them when you are finished with them? Do you share them? Toss them? Dismantel them???

Do tell.

I'm dying to know!

Comments

[Sommer]

I love this post!!! I do get a few magazines in the mail (Real Simple and Better Homes and Gardens) for the purpose of building my "dream book" back up again. (I had one years ago and it got lost in the divorce.) So for the last few years, I've been collecting the magazines in a box and just this last week I started going through them again and taking the pages of the things that I love and adding them to my notebook! It was so fun to do this again even though I am a complete Pinterest addict as well!

When I am done going through my magazines, they will be donated to my nieces school so they can use them for school projects. :) (Although, there have been a few cute things on Pinterest that use magazine pages so I may have to keep a few on hand for a project here and there.) :)

[Brooke]

I have not bought a magazine since last July ... when I found Pinterest. I MIGHT find 5 decor ideas/recipes in a magazine and it's just not worth the cost to me. On Pinterest I can search for anything I want ... this weekend I was looking for coffee table tablescapes. Quick and easy.

[Iva Miller]

I read few magazines--can't afford them. But when I DO see pics in magazines (at newsstands or at the library)that I like, I go to the magazine's website and pin the pic! I refuse to do paper anymore because it contributes to the clutter I battle already with a large family. And if I miss a lovely picture...big deal! :) So many out there that inspire me already.

[Teresa]

I was having this conversation with friends just the other day. One asked me "why Pinterest? What would you possibly use it for?" I love being able to pin things (recipes, cool ideas, home decor, random tidbits) that normally I would have either right clicked and saved to a photo file that would unlikely ever be organized, or would have ripped it out of a magazine and filed it (once again, not organized), or...worse yet...keep the entire magazine. My name is Teresa, and I am a magazine horder. Pinterest has definitley streamlined my addiction. The good news...many magazines are active on Pinterest, so it's easier to keep abreast of current magazines that way.

[Lucinda]

I still enjoy a magazine! To carve out 30 min or more to lay down before I go to bed and read my new mag...joy! Don't get me wrong I love Pinterest and blogs but I'm on a computer all day I still like the feel of a book or a mag. I think there is room for both!

[Sharon Avinger]

I must admit that I am still a decor magazine junkie, but I am much more selective about what I buy at the grocery store or bookstore. $10 for a magazine is ridiculous. I flip thorough the whole magazine and if I really like it, it goes in my shopping cart. If not, back it goes on the newsstand. I subscribe to Victoria, Better Homes and Garden and Country Living. I do not like the way Romantic Homes has gone with the new editor and stopped that subscription when the editors changed several years ago. I can't bear to rip up my magazines and save them all intact.

[Joyce]

I love both. I can't pass the magazine rack at Barnes & Noble or even my grocery store without loading up on Home Decor (love all of the flea market themed mags)cooking and paper crafts publications. I subscribe to many and buy others...I'm a magazine junkie. I've been on Pinterest for about 8 months now and I love it too! For a crafter, there are so many inspirational ideas out there and I love that, in fact, I had to limit my time on Pinterest at the biginning because it was sensory overload for me. Now, I log on in the morning over my first cup of coffee and before I go to bed. (on my Kindle Fire) I will never give up magazines, though. They are my first love.
Joyce

[Helen from Brentwood CA]

True confession time:....subscribe to Country Living,Better Homes and Gardens, Oprah, Woman"s Day, English Homes, Country Sampler,Real Simple, Taste of Home!! Some are gifts/some are subscriptions through grandchildren fundraisers....Buy at the bookstore if the current issue has enough interest for me:Romantic Homes, any Flea Market publications, British Country Living (my fav and I don't want that one digitally so buy almost every month), Special Country Home publications (now that they are no longer monthly/bi-monthly) and Where Women Create and Where Women Cook. My neighbor just spent 8 days picking up our mail for us while we were away and she had plenty to say about the LARGE number of publications in our mail box(my guilty little secret is out!) Addicted much?? My drug of choice:). I do have a pinterest act. but don't browse all that much....following blogs however is a daily pleasure. When I am done with current periodicals, if I haven't cut anything out we take them to our local hospital/clinic or pass on to daughter and some I leave in the library at our development's rec center. If I cut up the magazine, what is left goes in recycle. I have a large scrapbook that I paste favorite images in - have been doing it for years and so fun to see how my style has evolved - more fun for me than pinning on line and my grand-daughters have a great time looking through it as well. More feedback than I'm sure you ever wanted:)

[Gretchen]

I still subscribe to British Country Living, Southern Living, Better Homes & Garden, Martha Stewart Living and The English Home. I can't give up my paper. As I tell my husband, I need these. I can read on my Kindle but I must have paper of some kind for real pictures. I must be one in a million but I don't really get Pinterest. I'm at my computer enough without going to it all the time. Thanks for asking about this.

Gretchen

[Janet Magina]

Both. I still love the magazines I subscribe to (at least most of the time), but I do love Pinterest as well. So much decor, so little time :)

[Kim]

Loads of questions and how to answer. :o) I use Pinterest but want to use it more as it is def a cheap fix for ideas. Way back in the dark ages when I was an interior design student we were encouraged to rip pics and ideas out of magazines and organize just like you did. I had file boxes that I kept everything in and, like you, moved those boxes several times - that and my design portfolio. But now I subscribe to 5 magazines that I love for recipes and design ideas and can't go near a book store without buying more :o) BUT I do pass them on to my daughter and she then passes on to her mother in law. I figure that gets my money's worth out of them. :o)

[LindaSonia]

I stopped ALL magazine subscriptions awhile ago, like you, but I've also resurrected a few - Better Homes & Gardens, Country Living & Romantic Homes. I subscribe to these few because they are at least reasonably priced - but I'm getting bored with Country Living and Romantic Homes, while beautiful, seems to be just the same old same old. I'm thinking of canceling everything but BHG. I still do like the feel of a real magazine.

I used to buy some of the Somerset publications - Somerset Home, Somerset Life, etc. (talk about a chunk of change going down the tubes - Yikes!) but have stopped even periodically buying them.

I'm on the computer a lot browsing blogs - to spend even more time on Pinterest is just something I can't do. I let others do the pinning for me and do a search for projects that are on my radar at any given time.

My used magazines go to the recycling bin promptly. I think I'm very concerned with clutter these days. :)

[Lisa~A Cottage To Me]

Wow, popular post. With all these comments you won't have time to look at your magazines! Ha,ha! I may be the only blogger that has no interest in and no account for Pinterest! I Don't! Why, when all you have to do is look at all of the bazillions of pictures/pinterests from other people already available. I may be missing something, but that's my reason for not having it. I do however, subscribe to several magazines. I rarely buy at the grocery store and if I see a new one and it costs over $5.99 like most do, I move on. I hoard....well, almost, my magazines! That's the only bad thing! It's like an e-book. Took me awhile to get used to my Kindle, I like the feel of a real book in my hands....don't you?

[Kathleen Grace]

I still have w-a-a-a-y too many old issues around that I really need to clip and toss. I used to love magazine, still do in fact. I subscribe to country living because it's cheap, but last time I went to the store to peruse the mags, the ones I really wanted had such shocking prices I just couldn't buy. $12-$19 for a magazine! How many really beautiful and lasting things could I buy for my home instead of just dreaming about them if I saved that money! Love them, I always love the real thing over reading online, but I think they are on teh way to pricing themselves out of business.

[The Sewing Queen]

Sounds like someone else I know. My mags were all about sewing. I'm working on the ones I've saved. Subsription free - for awhile at least.

[Kathy]

To be honest the most I ever subscribed to was two monthly. I never like having stacks of stuff all over the place. I would rotate which ones I'd order. It seemed like the ones I used to love either kept getting more ads or the styles just weren't for me. The only one I get now is English Home. You just can't beat the quality. Also I mean how many white rooms can be interesting? I really don't spend time looking at Pinterest. At night in bed I read novels. I have to say when my ONE magazine comes it still feels like a nice surprise!

[Tracey Buxton]

Okay, I have to jump back in here and add to Kathleen Graces comment....(how did I skip this part???) The prices on some of the in store hard cover mags these days are...well, horrifying to say the least! (Higher than a hard bound book on Amazon in some cases!) I adore some of these magazines, but couldnt actually bring myself to pay $19.99 for a magazine that I know full well I will be burying under another magazine within weeks. Thanks for mentioning this Kathleen!
Tracey

[Jana T]

Ohhhhh there is nothing better than a magazine. The prices are truly frightful these days but magazines are my one guilty pleasure! I haven't caught the Pinterest train yet but I'll never give up my favorite mags. Jana in Texas

[Audrey Hansen]

I've been a magazine addict for 35 years or more. But blog-reading is starting to edge them out. I get the magazines in the mail and they sit there for days before I look at them. Still, I love when they arrive, and I'll probably always subscribe to a few. I have a Pinterest account but it bugged me when some guy in Japan started following my boards. I don't like the "public-ness" of it, and to me it's kind of a hit-and-miss mess. So I rarely even look at it.

[Dinahsoar]

Magazines are a rip off. Overpriced, full of adds and staged. I bought one recently--which is rare for me-- and the editor 'confessed' that many of the pics in the magazine were set up in her own home to save money. I can find better ways to spend $6+ dollars of my hard earned cash. And I'm already spending money on an internet connection.

Another thing I discovered years ago: Many of the magazines are produced by the same publishers...like Better Homes and Gardens...and many of the photos in their hard cover books and magazines are recycled from year to year. I'd buy one of their expensive hard cover books and see a photo that looked familiar and realize it had been published prior, in a magazine a year or two earlier. In other words, they are recycling the photos.

They won't be getting my money. And if they can sell those magazines by subscription for $12 a year, why can't they sell them in the store for a dollar each???

[debbie @ happy little cottage]

Hi Claudia,

I used to be a hardcore magazine addict. I don't even want to think about the dollars I spent...YIKES! I am so thankful for Pinterest. With the downturn in my personal economy, buying a magazines is a thing of the past. But I really don't miss them, especially the clutter. The only magazine that tempts me EVERY time I see it is Mollie Makes.
xoxo Debbie

[debbie @ happy little cottage]

Hi Tracey, I was looking at another blog and typed the wrong name. Nyquil will do that to a girl :) Sorry!

[Annette Tracy]

I've cut way back on magazines. Still get Country Living, but I'm not happy w/the way they made it bigger. I find it uncomfortable to handle, so I'm not even sure I will continue, BUT THEN AGAIN I've taken it for sooo many years not sure I can cancel it.
I'm afraid to even start with Pinterest as it seems like blogs take up enough of my time. This was certainly a great post. And you're right, it is so relaxing to crawl into bed with a new magazine and pictures that just draw you in at the end of a long day.

[Lisa]

Hi Tracey! Such a great post topic. I am in the same camp as Gretchen; I spend enough time on the computer without adding my magazines to the mix! Besides, I am a paper-lovin-girl and viewing pictures on a computer screen just isn't the same for me. I subscribe to three home/life magazines and look forward to their arrival every month! It is a comforting pleasure to sit down with a fresh magazine and a cup of tea. Call me old fashioned, but I just can't curl up with a computer screen the way I can a paper magazine. It's a tactile and visual thing for me. Some issues are saved intact, others I clip a few bits from and recycle the rest.

[Jan R]

Just wanted to add my view really fast.... I still love my magazines. I don't like to sit glued to the computer for that long. A few times I posted a recipe on Pinterest only to find the3 actual recipe wasn't to be found. To me, I still enoying reading all the great articles, etc. in a magazine. I subcribe to probably 6 magazines and love each one. Just my opinion...... I also save them all my favorite ones to look back over them.
Jan

Jan

[Carolyn]

I haven't read any of the above comments, so this response is totally individual. While I love the internet and all it has to offer, I still like to have tearsheets from magazines in my hard copy files. To me, it's much easier to pull a folder out of the filing cabinet than it is to scroll through all the internet ideas. Then again, I'm of the "old" school.

[Angela @ Cottage Magpie]

So funny that you posted this! I was just feeling kind of... homesick I guess, for lack of a better word, for my magazines! I loved getting them and saving my tearsheets and thumbing through my favorites over and over....

ALthough then I also feel guilty about all the space that my old collection takes up! They're HEAVY! :-)

I have no idea how to resolve that. But there you go! :-)

~Angela~

[Adrienne]

I'm still a magazine junkie! I love Pinterest but have a need to hold a magazine in my hands! I subscribe to Country Living and Victoria magazine and I can't help but pick up one or two once in awhile when they 'call' me from the newstand.
~Adrienne~

[Barb]

I do both. I have lots of boards on Pinterest and am inspired daily by what I see there. I still love magazines, but there aren't as many as there used to be that appeal to me. Some of the newer magazines aren't as nice as my old favorites (Mary Engelbreit, Country Home). It seems the photos tend to be dark or kind of blurry. So I still subscribe to BH&G and Country Living, and I peruse mags at the check-out counter. Lots of the special ideas issues are repeats, so I try not to buy those. When I'm done with the magazines, I still tear out my favorite ideas and file them in a three-ring binder for future reference.