Make a DIY magazine rack or, OR, you can use it as a tea towel rack, a Christmas ornament display rack, a photo rack or the always popular with minimalists - rack with nothing on it.
I, like most sane people, hoard magazines as though they are the cure for cancer, rabies, pimples, the colour "hunter green" and wonky shopping cart wheels. The well known fact that magazines also probably offer 100% protection against nuclear war is just an added bonus.
What the hell are we supposed to do with all these life saving magazines?
Chuck em.
For real.
Throw. Them. Away.
The last time I took a week off I went through all of the magazines I'd been hoarding and got rid of 98% of them. I chose to bundle them up like little glossy babies (that I tied up very tightly with twine) and put them in my recycle bin.
And then, for reasons I cannot explain, I decided to make a magazine rack.
Using only this.
This, by the way, is already going down as one of my most favourite DIYs ever because it is EVERYTHING a DIY should be. It's easy, unique, useful, inexpensive, quick and cures canker sores.
DIY Magazine Rack
Grab some small dowels & a chain you're going to make a rack!
Materials
- 2, 6′ lengths of chain* (if you use brass chain like I did, add $20 to the cost of the project.)
- 2, ⅝″ dowels (4′ long each)
- 12 eye screws (#12)
Instructions
- Cut dowels to 13.5″ lengths.
- Stain the dowels if you want. (I used some of my super-fantastic vinegar/steel wool stain)
- Drill holes into the ends of all your dowels to make screwing the eye screws in easier.
- Screw in your eye screws.
- Using a pair of pliers or a screwdriver, carefully pry open all the eye screw so you can later fit them onto the chain.
- Attach your dowels to your chain approximately 10″ apart.
- Squeeze the eye screw openings tight again.
- Hang it up!
Prefer to keep your bomb shelter magazines tucked away somewhere safe? I don't blame you. Not to worry though. This magazine rack is both flexible and adaptive.
With no arguing whatsoever it will become a tea towel rack for you.
I know.
Best DIY ever. Seriously.
Guess what? It's about to get even better ...
Behold the mid-air, hanging magazine rack.
This just turned into a love story.
WE always seem to have corners or sections of rooms that feel like they're missing something. BINGO. Hang the rack there.
I used to have an antique church pillar in that corner which you probably never noticed because no one ever noticed it. I had no intentions of keeping this hanging magazine rack in my living room, but I wanted to show you how you didn't have to hang it against a wall. It has a lot of impact hanging mid-air. It's instant sculptural art. So I was just going to stick it up in my living room for the pictures and put it back on my foyer wall when the photos were done.
But then, like I said, I fell in love with it in the corner here and it finished off my whole living room for a few reasons. #1, it actually shows up (which the pillar didn't) so it expands the room by drawing your eye to the furthest corner. #2. It really highlights the other brass in the room that was kind kind of disappearing before. #3. A magazine is much handier for smashing a centipede than that a massive church pillar is. I mean for real, who wants to caber toss a centipede to death? It's exhausting.
A couple of notes:
- The total cost for this exact magazine rack was $42. ($27 for the chain, $8 for the brass eye screws and $7 for the dowels.
- If you want to make a more inexpensive rack use standard (not brass) chain.
- Using cheaper black chain will also make your magazine rack look more industrial/rustic/antique.
- Brass is very soft so be extra careful when you're prying the eye hooks open and squeezing them shut.
- If you're going to hang this from the ceiling make sure you use ceiling anchors. The kind you use will depend on the type of ceiling you have (plaster versus drywall).
- In the event of nuclear disaster you cannot rely solely on being saved by your hoarded magazines. You'll need your plastic bags and elastic bands as well.
Jane
The kidlets are thrilled with the DIY rope ladder tutorial -grin-
Kelli
Years ago, I threw my back out 2 weeks before an impending move, and was literally down for the count. So a friend came over to help me pack. I had a couple boxes of my favorite magazine, the wonderful (but now defunct) Metropolitan Home. She yelled and hollered about "WHY DO YOU HAVE THESE STUPID THINGS?" and proceeded to chuck them all out. I couldn't move, so I couldn't stop her. But I'm still mad at her to this day. Harumph.
But that truly is an amazingly simple and beautiful magazine/towel rack. So how many of those are you putting up in your home anyway? :)
Cody
HUNTER GREEN. YES. KILL IT
(none of my friends understand what color I'm talking about until I point it out on some car driving by and then they're like "ohhhhhhhh yeah"
Karen
Thank you for recognizing what I thought was instantly recognizable as the funniest line ever written. Clearly only you and I have the sort of elevated sense of humour that gets off colour jokes. ~ karen!
Mary W
I do agree about funny, but the way I DISLIKE maroon doesn't allow me to laugh. I get your sentiment so clearly!
Sarah
Hi Karen,
Great post,and really like the flexibility of this project! The tea towels look great! I also REALLY liked the other 'post' in the corner. . once got a post from Hydro! Was going to use it as a plant stand. . .
Thanks for the great ideas!
Leeuna
I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it next Christmas. Oh, the possibilities are endless. I want to make one of these for my additional bathroom (when (if) husband gets it built). I love, love, love your blog. You are so artistic and such a fantastic humor writer. I'd like a 500 page book of your humor, so you need to write one post haste.
Carla
Definitely a winner! Even if I can't quite bring myself to get rid of all of my old issues, this rack is a great idea for keeping the most current issue where I can find it.
Sylvia
You always come up with things that make me say "Why didn't I think of that????" I LOVE THIS IDEA and I think I can even do it by myself. Thanks Karen.
Paula
Great idea, I will give this one a go. Incidentally, I had noticed and liked the column ?
Ann Marie Clemmons
Whenever I'm having a bad day (which lately is everyday) .. all I need to do is look at one of your posts. I am inspired to do something, anything to get me out of this rut I've been in. Thanks for the great ideas.
Tessa Ryan-Lipp
I am a magazine addict; I read at least ten, sometimes fifteen a month and subscribed to most of them. Like you, I was stuck with what to do with them after reading. For a time, I belonged to a magazine syndicate (a couple of friends who bought and traded magazines) which helped with what was becoming a very expensive habit (all those subscriptions!) but I was still stuck with a pile of magazines to dispose of. Again like you, I used to tie them up in bundles and leave them out with the blue box. But then technology solved my problem for me and I haven't bought a magazine in yonks! I got an iPad and, at first, transferred all my magazine subscriptions online - still expensive, but no piles of magazines to haul to the kerb every month. Then I bought a sub to Texture, an online magazine bundling app and, voila, for less than $15 a month I have access to more magazines than even a rabid addict like myself can read. If I like a recipe or article, I can save it online or take a screenshot and print. All the convenience, no more piles of mags. Problem solved.
Meredith
Cool idea. I would love to display my vintage tea towels on that. And all my chicken and rooster themed towels! Not as a magazine holder though. Large quantities of magazines that I have not made my way through give me anxiety. Even if there were only one magazine on that rack, every time I saw it, I would feel the need to go through right that second so I knew there wasn't anything life changing in it for me, and then get it out of the house. The magazine clutter battle is real.
So glad you didn't paint those doors. They truly are stunning. The warmth from them is what (I think anyway) strikes the perfect balance with all the white, keeping it from seeming stark. Plus the wood floors of course. And those beautiful glass knobs.....love.
Elaine
What a great idea, Karen! thank you!
Alena
Not going to make these - I hate brass and I really don't have any space for them. As part of my annual Apartment Therapy cure, I had pruned stacks and stacks of interior decor magazines and decided to keep only all the 2016 of Canadian House and Home. (Although there is that one issue of Style at Home with your garden, and I just can't give it up [yet] so I move it like a hot potato from one spot to another].
I always try to force the magazines onto some neighbours and friends but I simply can't understand that there are people in this world who are not into interior decor - I mean women, actually. Including a coworker of mine who purchased a new apartment last year (the apartment was not new new, it was previously owned but it was new to her). When I saw pictures I thought there was ton of work to be done but she said she likes it just the way it is. Some folks just can't be helped I guess. :-)
I also don't get why a thrift store will not accept all issues of a magazine (from last year, e.g.) tied into a nice bundle. Even if it sold for $1, it's a dollar into their pocket(sses). Are they affraid that there may be an exposed nipple in a photo somewhere?
Karen
Books and magazines do not sell, they're heavy and they take up a lot of space. That's why. ~ karen
Wendy
I really like your house, Karen.
I like your style.
Karen
Thanks Wendy! ~ karen
Marilyn
I noticed the pillar and loved it. Great rack ..I should show my sister who has every copy of canadaian living since it's inception ..had a nice Betty fix at the store the other day. She's a card ..lol
Jan in Waterdown
I must be your sister . . . still have the first CL from when it was a giveaway at my grocery store! Also the LCBO Food & Drink from when they were English on one side and Francais on the other. I may have a problem. And I'm old.
Karen
She told me! She said you said something about chickens but she didn't really know what you were talking about. Either you like the chicken posts or you don't like the chicken posts. One of the two. Either way ... since I own chickens, there will continue to be the odd chicken post, lol. ~ karen!
Laura Nazimiec
I love it for tea towels or maybe to dry laundry?
Susan C
Every time I saw a photo with the church pillar in the background, I wondered why in the world (when the rest of your house is so beautiful) you didn't do something about that cast iron sewage downpipe with the peeling white paint... LOL!!!! Last week I finally noticed that it didn't extend all the way to the ceiling, so it couldn't possibly be a sewage pipe. Then I was stumped. Thanks for enlightening me (-: I like the nifty hanging rack a lot better though - it indeed shows up better against the white wall. Have a great day (-:
Audrey Ogilvie
Karen, you are unquestionably the diva of DIY. The magazine holders are brilliant! Easy to see, change up, etc. Now for a non sequitorial question. What kind of lights did you use at the top of your bookcases. I am building some beside a fire place and I think those are exactly what I need. Keep doing what you do! We're all waiting...
Karen
The lights on top of my bookcases in the dining room are from Ikea, but I needed to adapt them to make them useable for this purpose. I went with them even though I had to saw parts of them off because a) they're dimmable and b) they're relatively inexpensive at $50 each. Depending on how your bookcases are installed you may not have to adapt yours. ~ karen!
Eileen
The magazine (+ everything else) rack is great. But knowing that my mag. stash (and the plastic bags and rubber bands) will keep me safe in the upcoming nuclear holocaust = priceless!
Erin
My thoughts exactly!
Karen
A. I noticed your pillar
B. I hearted your pillar
C. Please tell me you kept it...even under your bed - just somewhere!
Sarah
that's gonna raise some eyebrows if there is a sleepover.
Karin Sorensen
*snort* you funny :0B
Mary W
Your comment could be meant for the previous post where she asked for other words used for the big purple thang? LOL