Whether because the rain, or the coming of spring, or my recent home day-dreaming, I've been spending hours happily getting all of my at-home-inspiration materials in order..
A year ago or so I splurged on these "Super View" Japanese binders from Kinokuniya Stationery in San Francisco's Japantown mall (the Kinokuniya that's upstairs right by the ice cream-crepe place). They were $5.95 for the 20-page version and $8.95 for the 40-page version, and I bought a few of each not knowing quite how I was going to use them. I love the sturdy frosted covers and the crystal-clear interior pages, the fact that they stay open-flat, and how nice and neat they look on my shelves. I particularly like the 40-page versions: plenty of room for future additions, but not too huge. Mine are about half filled, and I get an inordinate amount of joy from arranging & rearranging the pages.
Gardening
This book holds my current houseplant/fire escape garden inspiration, as well as ideas for the future, if I happen to have more space and maybe even a little land. Gorgeous images, plant care and diagnosis, gardening book reviews, outdoor lighting, flower arranging, hypertufa how-to, and more.
Cooking
This is definitely my favorite, the one I've spent the most time arranging and admiring. It holds ideas for entertaining, food presentation, kitchen design, food packaging, information on intriguing ingredients, and of course, recipes. The sensible thing to do would have probably been to organize it by season, or type of food. I have organized it visually, with glamorous full-page photos at the front (their accompanying recipes, if any, tucked behind), image and text combinations in the middle, and nuts and bolts recipes (handwritten, copied, printed from online) at the back. Many of the ideas and images I've saved are for the future, when I might be making jam and pickles and infused liqueurs from my garden.
Desserts & Cocktails
So, so pretty. Again, there are many ideas contained within this book, besides the recipes: cake stands, serving pieces, birthday parties, tea parties, edible gift ideas. And sometimes you just need to look at pretty cakes.
Home Design
This binder is still in the beginning stages, and is coming together slowly, as most of my favorite images are ones I've found online. I don't want to print them, but... Still, it makes me happy, and is the perfect way to stash project and aesthetic ideas for now, or years from now.
Fashion
We'll see how this one goes. I have no urge to rip up all my Vogues, but the stack is growing a little high. Time to start tearing!
Have you found a practical and pleasing way to organize all your favorite images and ideas?
Images: Tess Wilson
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How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
I do the same thing you do! I have cooking, home and fashion binders. As I type this I am staring down a pile of House Beautiful and Sunset magazines...time to tear!
I have ones of these for recipes I make often from online sources (the internet being down is a bad excuse for not being able to make dinner for guests!!). I'm really glad I printed them out, because a few have disappeared from the internet.
As for home stuff, I have everything in boxes of files, filed according to magazine source. I have been a magazine-a-holic since I was 5 (and received my first issues of Maison Francaise and House Beautiful), so I have a ton.
I recognize the source of your gardening pages -- MSL. Those I just can't breakdown and file. They stay whole, in magazine holders (I'd like to bind them, actually. I am just missing 3 of the first 4 issues, but have all the rest. (Frankly, the early issues were more inspiring and less overwhelming; you felt that a single human could do all this stuff. Now of course, it's all thought up by professional chefs and graduates from the Rhode Island School of Design, and is beyond even Martha in its totality. But I digress...)
Did my mom start posting to Apartment Therapy from the grave? Seriously, my entire childhood the dining room table was covered in clippings to be filed.
I've been doing this for about 20 years or so, and you can imagine the stack of binders I have by now! I've been lazy the past few years and have instead just been accumulating a stack of torn out pages - need to get myself caught up! It's fun to look back and see how my tastes have changed over the years.
I love those 'clearfile' Japanese folders. In Japan they are everywhere, and people use them for filing all kinds of things. I currently have my clippings in files in my filing cabinet, but really should make them more viewable. Good idea!
I no longer buy magazines and get my inspiration online. I started copying and pasting inspirational photos into a Word document... till I found out about www.pinterest.com, which is a fantastic way to 'pin' your favourite photos onto inspiration 'boards'. You can view and subscribe to others' inspiration boards too. It's my latest obsession!!
I should say that mine aren't Japanese; I buy mine here in Switzerland, where they are a common local product. The Swiss are very big on having papers neatly and attractively held!
Anyone know where I can find those in New York City?
I do Pinterest as well, plus I have an iPhoto album full of home inspiration images. I love this idea, though...it feels so much more tactile and personal!
Gee, I do this too-tear out images & articles from magazines about twice a year to keep my magazines from taking over the living room! I use three ring binders + clear sheet size inserts to keep images. Of course, I weed those out every now and then. Things I liked years ago may/may not still be of interest to me. It's particularly great for recipes which I usually try first before they become part of the book.
I do the binders as well, and when we redid our backyard I had a whole binder of inspiration to draw on (divided with tabs into "hardscaping," "water features," "succulents," etc.). It was like a style tray and made it so much easier to see what types of design really appealed to me. And it must have worked, because my yard was later featured on AT!
links to where to purchase similar binders would have been very helpful to this post :(
i do the low-rent version of this. I tear out pictures of gardens, clothes, design, etc and just tape them to pieces of notebook paper that go in binders. My pages are more of a collage, but I love looking at my own private "magazines" for inspiration and, as recycleg, mentioned, it keeps the piles in check, but i don't have to go hunting through old magazines to find "that thing I saw."
I started doing this a couple of months ago, only more scrapbook-style. I have a stack of journals that friends & family have given me over the years - under some assumption that I actually journal. I finally decided to stop "saving" them (what? like I'm really going to become Emily Dickinson in a few months or something). I tape pretty pictures - fashion, home, garden mostly. In no order whatsoever. Then I doodle or write in between the pictures - DIY thoughts, highlights, etc. It's fun. So, I guess now I *do* journal, huh?
I do online binders on Houzz.com. It's cheaper all the way around: no magazine costs, no binder costs and no trees cut down.
I put my all in a binder too! I use Polyvore for some things as well.
Online notes: Evernote(.com) is awesome!!! They have PC, Mac, iOS, and Android versions (alas, no Linux).
I like to use a similar technique for trips. I use presentation folders for short trips and binders for road trips. I put my itinerary, maps, ideas, etc in clear sleeves with date tabs - it's easy to find what I need and I can swap out pages as we go along (putting the current day in front) and keep ticket stubs or things we collect along the way together.
Is there ANYONE who can give direction about where/how someone can find binders like this? PLEASE?
I do binders and have files on the computer.....too many, hehe.
Daiso Japan stores have something similar in various sizes, styles and number of pages. Everything in the store is $1.50 unless marked otherwise - I bought a 40-page version for that price. The binder is 1" thick which is sort of odd - perhaps it's the same as the one on here, but it's impossible to tell from the pictures.
Daiso stores in the Bay Area/Seattle:
http://www.daiso-sangyo.co.jp/english/storeinfo/usa.html
They have a limited selection online (the one I bought isn't on there):
http://www.daisojapan.com
Thank you, melange! I revisited this post just the other day to see if anyone had posted any information (must have been just prior to your comment!). I have searched all over, but to no avail. No presentation binders even come close.
I've scoured the internet for these binders as well, to no avail. This is why every town needs a good Japanese stationery store.
mschatelaine- I know what you mean. I never thought I'd be able to rip up my Martha Stewarts, but after having a subscription for 7 years something had to be done: cold-hearted tearing! (But I still hate to throw them away! Who knows what features I'll be inspired by in 10 years that I might not even notice now?)
Melange- the Daiso ones aren't the same but they're great, too! Thanks for reminding me- I have several and really like them (and the price).