As any lover of physical media knows: without organization, your beloved magazine collection quickly begins to look more like accumulated trash than treasure. The best magazine racks, our editors have discovered, corral and curate their many, many copies of Architectural Digest (obviously), furthering their ever-fitful attempts to force their living rooms into shape. While a bookshelf does the similar work of getting things off the floor and into their dignified place, many simply aren’t deep enough or tall enough to properly house your oeuvre. Their magazine ineptitude results in, as you would expect, a greater mess.
Our chosen magazine racks run the gamut from solid wood side tables (with built-in storage, of course) to wall-mounted midcentury pieces. If you, like us, are seeking clear coffee tables, unburdened ottomans, and dining tables free of magazine clutter, there’s a home decor hack for that. Here are eight takes on the cover-friendly storage solution, fit for design fiends, bookworms, and archivists alike.
Our Top Picks
Design Icon
This Kartell rack, though it might look quite small in photos, is just over a foot tall and nearly 16 inches across, meaning it can dock even your chunkiest magazines, and adapt perfectly to a desktop, accent table, or the floor itself. This design has been working since 1972, and we have no notes. (Well, maybe one—a stainless-steel version.)
Two-for-One
This piece is not only a magazine holder, but a side table and a desk, depending on its rotation. Should your needs change in a moment from, say, feet propped, couch-lounging, reading a magazine, to suddenly needing to jump on a Zoom call two minutes ago, this partner-in-crime is just the thing you need. Molded birch plywood, made in Latvia, creates a silhouette that’s at once midcentury and futuristic.
Best Wall-Mounted Pick
Style this incorrectly and it could translate very doctor’s office. Style it carefully, and it becomes a magazine display worthy of a Frank Lloyd Wright original—highly functional, sleek, organic. On editorial authority: We do not recommend the purple colorway….
Best Accent Table
This magazine stand, much like Offi’s Mag Table, plays double duty as both an accent table (or nightstand) and magazine storage. The veneer on this rubber wood piece brings warmth to its clean, tapered construction. Pair with a few chunky Gagosian titles for a sophisticated look.
Best Basket
A basket performs storage capabilities here just as well as any proper magazine rack or side table. As an additional bonus, it’s easier to store and tuck away, should you want to. Though we’d recommend giving this structured burgundy leather piece a dignified place on your floor. Who’s spending $1,820 on a leather basket to shove behind the couch?
More AD-Approved Magazine Racks
Staging this piece with children’s books diminishes its decor power, which extends far beyond the nursery. Playful and practical, the woven water hyacinth earns this little dachshund his rightful place as an artisanal (and adorable) piece worthy of all rooms.
Midcentury purists will rejoice in this true vintage FBJ Mobler piece, made from teak in a classic Danish silhouette. Two pockets double the storage ability so you can stock twice the ADs you normally would.
Need a planter as well as a magazine rack? Matthieu Mategot thought of that. This 1950s cult piece can host a pothos and your many rare back issues of Interview (if we had to guess—it seems in line with poring over 1stDibs in search of vintage beauties).
