Today’s challenge is the OUTSIDE of the fridge. This challenge is going to come down to personal preference and taste – but stay with me as I explain my thinking. Okay?
For many of us, the outside of the fridge has become a notice board – a “catch-all” for school notices, photos, an alarming number of magnets, kids’ drawings, school timetables, extra mural lists, takeaway menus, shopping lists, eating plans – you name it, it goes up there. To be honest, I’ve always thought it was a nice homely touch to have a personalised fridge filled with the “mess” of our lives. And we all know that if we need to find something, it is most likely stuck somewhere on the fridge.
And then I got to thinking about how every time I poured myself a glass of wine water, I would be bombarded with the sight of lists and forms and photos and clutter. And while some of it included amazing memories, it was still another area of my life that “shouted” at me throughout the day. So I did an experiment:
- I took everything off the fridge and gave the entire outside of the fridge a thorough wipe down and polish.
- I then sorted through all the various pieces of paper and threw away/ filed/ rehomed what I could.
- The magnets that I wanted to keep were temporarily housed in a tupperware container in the pantry.
- The notices/ school lists/ timetables etc were stuck inside a cupboard door with prestick – somewhere they could be easily accessed by the whole family.
The result? Well, it was weird. It felt as if the kitchen had been stripped of its personality and had become quite lifeless. And Stephen HATED it.
But I persevered for two weeks before rethinking what would work for us. And to be honest, I can never go back to a cluttered fridge door. Stephen too has completely come around and now prefers the “quieter” look of the fridge without all the clutter.
That being said, there are a few things that we have found DO need to be in a more visible spot – our monthly calendar (click here to download a FREE copy) and Kayla’s extra mural timetable. So we have brought those back out from their temporary home inside the cupboard door and have stuck them on the SIDE of the fridge. This has been the best compromise and something that works extremely well for us.
At the end of the day, I’d like you to at least TRY to keep your fridge door completely empty for this week. As an experiment. You will be amazed at the difference – I promise. You can then see if anything needs replacing (like we did) or if you can instead create a notice board area inside a cupboard door (either with prestick or by sticking some inexpensive cork board on the inside of the cupboard door as a DIY notice board). If the side of your fridge is visible, that too could be an option for you.
Please note: If you are selling your house – then taking EVERYTHING off the fridge is an absolute must!
Lessons learnt:
- When things have been a certain way for a while, we stop seeing them as they are. Completely clearing the outside of the fridge for two weeks made me see it differently.
- Clutter creates stress – even so-called “happy” clutter.
- By removing the excess, the items that have remained can be seen more clearly.
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