My Refrigerator Before Decluttering
Bet you thought this post was about decluttering the INSIDE of the your refrigerator, right? I’ll get to that in a different post, but today I’m writing about that pesky, cluttered, catch all front door of the fridge…
The refrigerator has long been an instant bulletin board, schedule holder, art board, family chore chart area, photo album and magnetic souvenir keeper in our home. Over the years I’ve cleaned it off again and again, but somehow, everything from paper to to magnetic flower pots have made their way back to the front of the fridge. What I realized this time around when I decided to declutter again, is that our family DOES need a place to showcase my children’s work, my husband’s work schedule, our weekly meal menu, our chore chart and my various workout routines I like to print. With that realization, I set out to not only clear the front of the refrigerator, but to provide an alternative area to display things in a nice, organized and of course, simple way.
Because I gravitate towards more natural décor, I decided to create an area on one of our blank walls of a rectangle of dark corkboard squares with wooden pushpins for an earthy feel. I used eight squares total, so I would have a realistic area to fit everything for five family members. I could have probably gotten away with six squares, but they came in 4 packs, so I just decided to put them all up. If I find we aren’t using all of them, I will take a couple down. I also initially added some beautiful purple burlap and twine wrapped balls for a more feminine, classy feel, but decided it was still too much for my own tastes that have grown simpler over the past few years.
Embellished Cork Board Area
What I Ended Up With As the Finished Result
With the new area ready to be used, I transferred only those schedules that we are currently using from the refrigerator to the cork board, and got rid of old artwork, as well as took down almost all of our magnets that were not really being used or enjoyed anymore. With school starting in just a couple of weeks, there will be plenty of new art to display. The result was amazing with my kitchen looking much cleaner and almost like I had given it an instant face-lift. The cork boards keep our papers and charts looking much more organized and simple.
Admittedly, my refrigerator was not nearly as cluttered to begin with as it could have been, so what do you do if you are one of those people with magnetic pictures of your 2 year old nephew who is now 7, or your neighbor’s puppy plastered everywhere on your fridge? Or what if you do actually love collecting magnetic souvenirs, but just don’t want them all over the front of the refrigerator?
Magnetic Photos– I would suggest the best thing to do with them would be to scan them so you have copies on your computer, then discard the actual magnet. You can always print new photos of them if you want to display them elsewhere or put them in a photo album. KeepItOutoftheLandfill had some interesting ideas as well for new uses.
Magnetic Souvenirs- I will be the first to admit that if I am going to buy a souvenir, it is going to be a magnet. That being said, I don’t like the collection of them I’ve accumulated all over our fridge! They add way too much visual clutter to our kitchen, and they end up getting bumped and dropped, then cracked. However, I do like the idea of a simple, organized magnetic collage showcasing my favorite magnets. I try to purchase high quality magnets (yes, the ones that sell for $12) and am currently entertaining the idea of creating a collage by gluing my magnets in a scattered look onto a piece of stained wood. If that doesn’t pan out the way I am envisioning, I will be taking pictures of them, and letting them go.
Your turn-
Do you like having things on the front of your refrigerator? If so, why?
If you have cleared off your fridge in the past, what did you end up discarding and keeping?