Magazine Review: Real Simple Organize Your Home

I enjoyed the article "The Book Fairy" on page 17 of this one-time specialized magazine published in 2019. Just like the author, I also have a storage unit that stores my books and magazines. I had never retrieved one book or one magazine from my storage unit. I went to the storage unit to drop off my boxes of books and magazines and I never went there to retrieve a box to read or to giveaway. Recently, I have realized that paying high rent for the storage of books and magazines is just absurd, so I have been giving away numerous books to Goodwill.  

It's nice to learn from reading this magazine that there are other places where I can give my books to. Like the author, I also had tried giving away my books and magazines on Twitter. But unlike the author, I never had anyone asking me for my giveaways. The author of this artcile have a hard time in parting with books. But for me, I have an even harder time to part with my huge collection of glossy magazines. All the books that I gave to Goodwill are carried by my local library. So I don't miss them as much because I know if I want to read any of them (yes I keep a record of all the titles that I gave away), I can just check it out from the library. But most of my magazines are not carried by my local library. The local  library doesn't carry magazines that are more than two years old. This is why I have an even harder time parting with my magazines. Overall, I love the many inspiring photos and illustrations in this magazine.

This magazine inspires me to reclaim my living room that is packed with columms and colums of books and magazine, and put a sofa there to watch TV. Yes, I don't have a sofa in the living room since the last one was destroyed by the burst of the water pipe and the plumbers came in to drill open walls and ceilings to cover the watere-damaged sofa with white dry wall dust. The column of books and magazines were then relocated to the living room because the disgusting 50-year-old carpet of the office where they were stored was replaced with wood-like tiles. Now the office is stuffed with other stuff from elsewhere of my home and is very cluttered due to the panic buying during Covid. So, the books and magazines have been staying in the living room. My home was originally organized and nice looking, but it became very disorganized as water and sewer pipes in different part of the home fell apart, and then there was the termite damage and other mold and rots that were constantly requiring repairs. Since all these and then the Covid pandemic, everything in my home has been displaced, including my books and magazines. Now, I just feel overwhlemed, and stuck with clutters in a cycle of never ending home repairs. Lately I've been making some progress in reducing the piles of books in my living room by giving them to Goodwill. I do feel the joy with less books now. I will focus my collection on magazines only and limit my collection on cookbooks that aren't shelfed in my local library.  If only I didn't buy a 50++ years old condo unit, I doubt I would be stuck living in  such disorganized chaos right now.  This is one of my home buying lessons that I learned the hard way.  Never look into a home because it is freshly painted and the old carpet was steamed, and think it's decent and livable. What's behind the walls and filthy carpet of old homes will ruin your lives for a long period of time as room after room starts having different kind of problems and eventually you are displaced in your own home.