Pink Lily Bouquet

Would you believe it if I told you that I actually had over 50 different subscriptions to various magazines at one point? My poor mail person! I had subscriptions to every fashion, home, and design magazine you can think of. It was absolutely insane and out of control.

As you could guess I obviously couldn't keep up with the subscriptions. I never had time to read them so finally one day, I мейд a list of every magazine I was receiving and started cancelling them as the subscriptions expired. I can proudly say I'm a recovering magazine subscriber and only have two active subscriptions.

So, what did I do with all these publications? I actually used a lot of them for staging. Some of the higher end ones like Architectural Digest, Town & Country, and San Francisco were used as coffee table displays or in offices, and Wine Spectator was sometimes used in the kitchen, dining or bar areas.

We actually used quite a few of the magazines as art to stage bedrooms. Let me describe some examples.

You can easily tear fashion magazine covers off and place them in a frame and voila...instant art for the bedroom! Your selection can be tailored to showcase either a male or female room.

We also occasionally purchased magazines specifically for staging purposes like Cosmo Girl and Teen People to create custom frames in a teen-age girl's room but bedrooms are by no means the only rooms you can use magazines as professional staging props.

A yoga room may be shown to advantage by using a Women's Health magazine attractively displayed in a basket with rolled towels and a small spray of artificial flowers or there are more specific yoga magazines available for use also.

However, just as you can use a cookbook in a kitchen to build a theme, you can also create an excellent visual staging prop using a home style or gourmet cooking magazine. I can personally attest to the wide range available.

BONUS TIP: If you need to find a photo to place in a picture frame for a bedside table, desk or bookcase, flip through magazines for prop wedding, kids or pet photos. This way, you preserve your own privacy by not having to use personal photos for this purpose.

You just never know where you can find inspiration - take a look around, there are a lot of inexpensive options available.