Is it completely weird that I have been looking for a magazine rack for over a year? It isn’t that magazine racks are difficult to come by, but a good-looking one for a reasonable price, is. Which, sadly, is exactly why I have been storing all my magazines in a basket in the living room. Now, baskets and magazine racks are not created equal (this post is getting weird). Baskets can tip over easily when you place a stack of your favorite glossys in upright (for easy sifting, naturally) and then the basket eventually gets a little pushed out on one side. Ugh. Speaking from a year of experience here. There’s a reason the magazine rack was created.

I recently stopped in our thrift store, which is always miss–99% never a hit, and zeroed in on this number in the lawn section on top of a beat up air hockey game.

I liked. A quick flip, revealed this baby was mid-century (1950s), solid wood and $2. I loved. Sold!

It was in rough condition. Scratches and a few minor dents, but for $2, I knew I could put a little elbow grease into it and give it some life again.

I brought it home and gave it a good washing with some white vinegar and warm water and then used Liquid Gold on it (the same stuff I used to renew Greta’s bed–can’t get enough of that almond scent). It’s not perfect, but it looks so fresh and shiny now.

And no more tipping or bending my baskets! I saw this exact rack on ebay for $25-$45, so this post is definitely not one of those “be jealous of me and my amazing thrift store find I scored for $15 when it’s worth $900.” More like, if you are hunting for a magazine rack (weirdos unite!), I really like this one and $25 is completely reasonable for a mid-century, beautiful wood one.

And while we’re in this little corner of the living room, it also recently got a mini revamp as a result of a few larger revamps.

Most recently, the living room looked like this (it’s pretty dark, but you can almost see my pathetic magazine basket next to the chair):

The pharmacy lamp that was next to the chair went to live in the reading room and when we moved the piano in this week, the arc lamp felt a little crowded on that side of the couch. So we scooted things around and came up with this arrangement:

Eventually, there will be a large window on this wall and things might even change before that, but for now we’re liking the new arrangement. It could have something to do with being able to see the television from that chair, or the added blanket storage the leather ottoman brought. Or the fact, we finally have an actual magazine rack. Or maybe, rearranging is just therapeutic, because isn’t it!?