Organizing
Tips For
Keeping Family & Friends in your
Heart and off of your Refrigerator
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When
selling our home in Nebraska, one of the first things we did to
de-clutter it for potential buyers was to clear everything off
the front of our refrigerator. I liked how it looked so well
that I decided not to put anything on the refrigerator after we
moved into our new home.
If your
refrigerator looks as busy as the wall in a pediatrician’s
office where every baby born in the past five years is proudly
displayed, here are a few ways to cherish photos of family and
friends without choosing to display them on your appliances.
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1.
Create a collage.
When a
friend showed me the
Everyday Display magnetic photo frame from Creative
Memories, I knew it would be the perfect way to remember the
friends and family members we left behind when moving to
Illinois.
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The above
photo shows two magnetic displays that hang on a wall near our hall
closet. One frame shows off our favorite wallet-sized photos of
family members. The second is for friends. If you do not know of a
Creative Memories consultant in your area, the websites of two
friends who can process your order and ship it directly to your home
are listed below.
Creative Memories Consultant in Lincoln, Nebraska
Creative Memories Consultant in Elmhurst, Illinois
Note:
The Creative Memories website states that the Everyday Displays will
be available through February 2008.
2. Arrange
photos on the inside of cupboard doors. |
Another
way to make sure pictures get seen is to hang them on the inside
of frequently opened cupboard doors. The photo to the right
shows how I adhered
Stainless Steel Skinny Strips from the Container Store to the
inside of a door in my office.
In
addition to storing photos, the strips work well to hold the
magnetic-backed containers I use to store paper clips.
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In this
example, a larger magnetic strip appears on the inside of the
cupboard door that my daughters regularly open to retrieve
plastic plates, bowls, and cups. The strip allows Katie and
Hollie to see the smiling faces of far-away cousins and friends
on a daily basis.
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Note 1: The
Container Store has
a variety of colors and sizes to choose from. To save time,
remember to measure the width of your cupboard doors before going
online to order.
Note 2:
Instead of using the wall-mounting hardware provided, I adhered the
strips to the cupboard door with 3M command strips. It holds well
and eliminates the need for drilling holes.
3.
Display photos in a digital photo frame.
On our
Christmas Wish List is a digital photo frame. If you have a digital
camera, this is the perfect way to view dozens of pictures
in a small space. For parents whose
refrigerator doors have become a mini art-gallery, one way to reclaim that
vertical space without hurting a child's feelings is to
take a photograph of the artist holding his or her masterpiece and
adding that photo to the ones that appear in the digital frame. This
will allow you to discard or store the original art project
while assuring your child that an image of it is still on
display.
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I close this tip with another rhyme
for disorganized times:
If your
refrigerator doors are a disgrace,
take the time
to clean up the space.
Arranging
photos in an organized way,
will remove
clutter and de-stress your day. |
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