Subscription Addiction

I’ve recently acquired fabulous new digs. The move couldn’t come at a busier time, but alas, the price we pay for Xanadu. Before me lies the daunting challenge of transporting my treasures. One might think that if you’re hiring a moving company it would be “Presto! – Finale!” but alas no. Suddenly the enormity of WHAT YOU OWN is apparent and alarming. I ask myself - do I really need all this stuff??? -and by “stuff” I’m not talking about furniture and furnishings, but the “other” things, like………. THE MAGAZINES! As I gaze bleary-eyed upon stacks and stacks (in some cases years and years) of these delicious “bibles of taste”, the prospect of disposal causes a sigh. I know I’ll have take action, and what lies before me is the harrowing task of detailed selection – an affliction familiar to others like me - the Shelter Magazine Hoarder (SHEMA -HOR), not to be confused with Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.

Only a small portion of the evidence.

And so begins the process. I am torn (no pun intended) – to tear… or not to tear? Should I keep the truly great issues in tact or should I dismember them, tearing out only what I want to save. It’s not an easy task. True, they have taken up some serious floor and/or shelf space in assorted abodes over the years but I am attached to them. Somehow knowing that these volumes of chic are within easy reference is comforting; that given a moment’s notice, I am possibly only inches away from my next source of inspiration, be it an article, a photograph or a period of style.

The mother of all Shelter magazines...the now defunct House & Garden.

Decision made. I will take on the burden of browsing, tearing and filing. I will be “green”, I will recycle…except for…House & Garden. I’m saving those for posterity!

Barbara Ashfield