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Black, white or chrome. Rust spotted. Ice-producing. Dodgy handled…
It’s like a giant frame broadcasting what’s important to you.
Before I had kids, my fridge door contained mostly magnetised take away numbers, delivery menus and more pictures of what food was supposed to look like than what was actually ever inside the fridge!
Who’s on the fridge now?
- Photos of my children. That reminds me what is most important in the midst of the morning rush.
- Bear Grylls. That reminds same children that practically anything is edible. So don’t complain about my cooking. Okay.
- Photos of my siblings. That reminds me how many ‘followers’ I have on Twitter is irrelevant.
Carolyn's fridge
- A newspaper cut-out of the current housing loan figures: That reminds me of two things: 1.) How fortunate I am to have a home and 2.) Now that I do, I should be replacing some of the things on my grocery list with a few cheaper generic brands, maybe?
- My kids put their awards from school on the fridge, proudly, for all to see.
- I put any snap shots I actually like of myself on the fridge, proudly, for all to see. (A rare occurrence of roughly once every 2 – 3 years. And they usually stay on there until they curl in on themselves.)
And there is a picture of the dog that keeps mysteriously falling on the floor in the middle of the night. I’m beginning to suspect the cat might have something to do with that!
Carolyn Donovan is a fashion loving, reducing-reusing-upcycling crazy eco warrior… and self-confessed twitter addict. She is also the author of ‘Chooks in Stilettos (An Honest Look at the Glamorous Side of Life)’, Journey of a Princess and the soon to be released Greenies in Stilettos (How to Save the World Without Really Trying). You can read more about Carolyn here or follow her on twitter here.
Who or what is inspiring you on your fridge?
Comments
73 Comments so far
bills, invitations, random photos, crayon drawings (on the fridge, not paper!) happy feet stickers.
On top of the fridge – everything that my husband wants to put out of reach of the kids, until it starts falling down, I scream and yell and clean it up and it all starts again…!
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My fridge is covered with pictures of my family and two rescue mutts, quotes that brighten/ inspire me, and cut-outs from magazines.
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My fridge? Pictures of my boys, picture of me and my husband, my neices and nephew, a cute picture of two gorrillas hugging, take-away menus, weekly meal plan and one side full of magnets from all the places we have been when we go on road trips. My fridge certainly tells a story!
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On the outside, my Fridge has a guideline for a 2 week Detox/Weight Loss Diet…
On the inside it has a bottle of wine, easter eggs and a whole assortment of other items that whilst tasty, are not aiding my quest for dimple free thighs!
xx
http://www.louandchow.com
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Now that I have gone back to full-time work, and my daughter has started school, the top half of my fridge has our weekly plan (Monday: Karate, Thursday: Library Day, Saturday: Party etc.) written in whiteboard marker, and updated every Sunday afternoon.
The bottom half is covered in alphabet stickers (sometimes I leave a “Mummy loves Hannah” there for her to find), party invitations, drawings and postcards from friends and family.
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Our fridge is covered in kids party invitations, because my 6 year old daughter leads a busier social life than me at the moment!!
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I suggested to my brother last week that he should make me a certificate for being an amazing sister. Thought nothing of it.
That night… HE GAVE ME A CERTIFICATE!!! (I’m 26 and he is 23) So clearly I am so freaking excited he put that effort in, i’m never taking it off the fridge!! He even laminated it, bless him!
This is from the boy that is a mechanic and would have no idea how to use a computer bar facebook and ebay!!
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That is so sweet
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Thats just gorgeous. I would cherish that forever.
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And where else could you display something so precious? …That’s what fridges are for.
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Be strong and courageous !do not be afraid panic .For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you.He will never fail you nor abandon you.Deut.31:6…. You did ask
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Nothing! When we bought our new fridge the guy who sold it to use said that using magnets makes the fridge rust faster as it pulls the water forward to the inside of the door. That kinda freaked me out
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My fridge has a new addition today. I printed off a picture that somebody posted on my FB page that says:
“Before you speak – THINK:
T – is it True?
H – is it Helpful?
I – is it Inspiring?
N – is it Necessary?
K – is it Kind?
When I reposted it, one of my friends said she was printing it off to stick on her fridge for her kids to see – it inspired me to do the same!
http://www.adoreyoga.com/
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I’m about to put that on my FB!
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I live with my boyfriend and we have a mini whiteboard on our fridge that we use to write silly messages to each other.
He leaves for work when I’m getting up and gets home before me. It’s always a good day when I wake up and find a cute message on the fridge, and then he has one from me/ a response when he gets home
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We bought a new fridge at the end of last year and i declared that the front would only have photos of my daughter and son, they have two each, although i recently added a drawing my daughter did and i also have the card we handed out at our son’s funeral.
On the sides i have invitations and church/footy schedules. Plus photos of neices, godson and cousins baby.I keep invitation up for ages cos they make me feel special
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Nothing – our fridge is built in so the front of it is the same as the front of the cupboards. There’s a pinboard in the pantry though, but it doesn’t have much on it.
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We have lots of things on the fridge. Well, technically, they’re on the freezer. With a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old, everything needs to be out of reach!
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I have a London calendar on the fridge with University of Southern Queensland magnets holding it up. As I cross off the days to my trip, (78!), I remember that focusing on uni will help me get away more often!
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Ours is stainless steel so nothing can stick on the front, but on one side it’s magnetic so has magnets (from physio, doctors etc), photos, calendar for bin schedule. Sadly nothing very exciting.
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On my fridge….dust and fridge magnets.
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You hae a picture of the dog that keeps falling on the floor in the middle of the night?
Why does the dog keep falling on the floor in the middle of the night….?
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Poltergeists or the cat !
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Maybe you didn’t get it.
My comment was that of a tongue-in-cheek grammar pedant.
That sentence reads, to me, that the dog keeps falling on the floor in the middle of the night. And someone took a photo of the dog falling on the …..
I am really apologetic about being so anal, but perhaps, “There is a picture of the dogon the fridge, too. This photo mysteriously keeps falling on the floor in the middle of the night” wouldn’t have triggered this comment from me.
I did intend that comment (and this) to be light-hearted, but often when you have to explain your own jokes, they fall flatter than, well, a photo on the floor.
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You can’t really pick on (even lightheartedly) someone’s grammar when your “have” is missing a ‘v’ and dogon is missing a space
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On our fridge, my housemates and I have postcards, good-bye letters written from ex-housemates, and a movie-poster style picture entitled “Catablanca”… we’re so totally not cat people! *ahem*
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I have a couple of photos of our girls and a thin magnetic notebook ‘Keep Calm and Make a List’. But that is all. I get stressed out if there are too many things on the fridge. I don’t like minimalism but I don’t like clutter either!
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I’m working from my mum’s place in Melbourne today… I love this house – it’s warm and homey and I think the fridge is a big part of that – every inch is covered with photos. The first place people go when they come to this house is the fridge to (search for food! and) look at the snaps.
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But it’s so neat! All our photos and crap are at angles or perching precariously over one another. I’m impressed.
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Our fridge is almost all covered in:
-Postcards and letters from family and friends (from when we were living interstate)
-Photos of friend’s newborns (most are very outdated but I don’t want to take them down!)
-Apple, banana, orange and Simpsons sticks (because we can)
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Absolutely nothing. I don’t want my clutter on display, it would just stress me out.
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how lucky you all are, i have a husband who can’t stand “mess” , thus the fridge is tidied up every few days. After a few tantrums on my part he generously leaves things there for a few days.
he is compulsive enough to even tidy up my filing cabinet, he bought me a notice board that he attached to the back of my study door and told me with a big grin of “here is a present” that this would hold lots of my shit.
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How lucky you are katbe! You scored a tidy mate. Sigh.
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We have some fridge magnets, some random postcards my best friend has sent me from Norway (one is of a viking and the other is of the royal family) and lots of family photos. It’s a great way to be cheered up in the morning:) If there are bills to be paid we hang it there too until they have been paid. I also keep the roster of the gym’s classes as well.
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I have heaps of the most amazing pistachio-nut-animals magnets from cairns night markets. A Pompeii brothel frieze that my friend saw & thought of me. Nephews & nieces pics. Messages of love, cards & lots silly things
My whole cottage is also decorated in photos, posters & free postcards. So my fridge is a pretty high honour to b on!
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Fridge magnets from local businesses, school notices, school awards, my sons drawings, alphabet magnets, 2 spiderman magnets and 5 hand painted pirate magnets. On the side of my fridge I have a first aid book, 2 business calenders and stickers my son has stuck on.
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I like my fridge clean and without anything stuck to it. And because it’s stainless steal, most magnets don’t even hold on…yay.
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Messy fridge, messy life! I have a phobia of things stuck to fridges!
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I collect fridge magnets whenever I travel. That way whenever I look at the fridge I have all sorts of little memories of places where I have been.
And they are useful to hold up an assortment of invitations, notices and the footy fixture!
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Same here – travel magnets all the way!
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I don’t have anything on my fridge because I don’t own any fridge magnets!
Magnets just seem like something you shouldn’t have to buy, they should just be there like plugs, bobbypins or extension cords.
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And socks. I think socks should be free.
One always goes missing and then you need a whole new pair!
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Lol! Totally true!!
I like your post.
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Baby shower invite, photos of friend’s baby, one pic of me and the husb, a reminder from the optometrist that is at least 12 months old / overdue, whiteboard magnet with the dinner plan for the week, a clipping from the newspaper about professional shearing shed cleaning (not mine), my business card, countless magnets, electricity bill, the vet’s contact details…um yeah it’s pretty full!
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My daughter has dates and appointments to remember kids photos etc my daughter in law has nothing but give her time Once my daughter had nothing on her fridge also. I hav fav pics of my husband daughter daughter in law son son in law my grandchildren the family dogs my mother and magnets of places we have been all over the world and aust. Boring I know to some messy to others…. But it’s my fridge….
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I have a zillion collaged photos of my three year old daughter, many different photogenic expressions. It makes me smile. And she loves categorizing them into different ages.
Every photo I have recieved of my sponsor girl from South America, growing from a skinny five year old to a smiling nine year old, plus a few of her drawings.
A few dorky photos of me as a teenager, meeting footy players I used to get so excited about. Reminds me when life was simple and easy to burst into laughter..
the odd permission slip/important bill..
unused notebooks and calendar magnets..
painted hand-cut out from Kindergarten..
and lower down on the fridge is the most miss-matched assembly of brightly coloured and funny shaped magnets, which my princess loves re-arranging and creating stories and words whilst i cook dinner, these include alphabet letters and numbers, spiderman, cats, night-garden pictures, coffe cups, seashells, cupcakes, elephants, stars, you get the picture…
needless to say, my fridge is very colourful
It is funny how you can read a person by their fridge.. (and the contents haha).
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I have 2 fridges and both are completely different. My fridge that is visible is pristine with nothing on it. My other, much older fridge, tucked away inside our pantry is covered in school notes, merit awards, premission notes to be signed, invitations, magnets, take away menus, anything and everything that for some reason I think needs to be there.
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We have the same situation, except that when the ‘pantry fridge’ came home, I was mortified to find the new stainless steel stuff isn’t magnetic! Shattered!!
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Bummer! Ours is our first ever fridge, its 16 and still going, I’m hoping for a bit longer!
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I used to hate having things on my fridge as I find guests don’t have any qualms in reading everything that’s there. Even to the point of unfolding something that’s tri-folded so they can see the whole thing!! I soon learnt to find a better spot for my personal reminders/medical bills etc…
Now I only keep things that I don’t mind if people see, currently:
- Engagement party invite for one of my best friends in a couple weeks.
- List of things that still need to be done/bought before Bubba arrives
- Ultrasound photo of Bubba
- Discount voucher for the pizza store that does gluten free for hubby.
- Cute silver love heart and hand magnets
- A few smudges I noticed this morning which will get wiped off tonight!
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I have nothing on mine but my boyfriends brand new business card.
makes me smile proudly of how much he has worked to have his own company.
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I have all sorts of magnets. Mostly from places I’ve visited. I love to collect them. They all have a story and visitors enjoy checking them out.
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I have my football match fixtures and the contacts of the girls on my team. There is a notepad that never gets used, a lot of cool magnets & one special magnet that is actually a bottle opener. That’s it.
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My fridge is a cacophony of everything going on in my life!
The kids rewards charts, shopping lists, menu lists, magnets from holidays we’ve had, businesses we use, magnets that have my favourite sayings and ones that are big enough to hold up stuff like permission notes (oops)!
There’s also the phone numbers for the school, doctor, vet and swim school, dates for the Brumbies home games, birthday party invitations (long gone), a postcard of a play I wanted to see, and a beautiful picture drawn by my younger son, from quite some time ago.
Less is definitely not more for our fridge
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We have just installed our new kitchen and I went for an integrated fridge. So it just looks like another cupboard. One of my (anal) pet hates is when you have a beautiful kitchen and the fridge sticks out! Maybe that in itself says something about me:-)
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I stick a lot of school notes to the fridge so they’re constantly in my face and I have less chance of forgetting about the upcoming sports day/expo/fundraiser!
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I have many magnets on my fridge for take away joints, local businesses and the vets emergency number. Also photos of my mum, brother, boyfriend, dogs and cats. The death certificates of my beloved dog and cat. And many, many bills – both unpaid and paid that I’m yet to shred. Everything is spread out over the three sides of the fridge. Come to think of it, there’s actually not a whole lot of white visible on the fridge!
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not meaning to be rude, but why have the death certs on your fridge?
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I have them on my fridge as they are quite nice A5 laminated certificates with my favourite photos of my cat and dog on them and a nice poem with their names and birth and death dates. I felt they were fridge worthy
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I am one of those anal near freaks that has NOTHING on my fridge . It’s boring but very very clean
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I’m with you Lana, I’m very minimalist when it comes to my fridge
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My fridge is overloaded with kids art/school and scouting notes/ and fridge magnets from local businesses. I wish I had your fridge Lana!
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This post just reminded me that I have a disconnection warning from Origin Electricity stuck to my fridge. Must. Pay. Bill.
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Wow, I wish had thought out what was on my fridge so carefully! I love that everything on yours is there for a reason, reminding you what’s important.
I particularly appreciate the Bear Grylls placement, that’s gold! Haha
But, if I can say one thing…pleeeeeaaase don’t think that buying cheap generic foods is a solution to anything. The private label products in our supermarkets are cheaper because the major supermarkets are ripping off suppliers and putting Aussie farmers and food manufacturers out of business.
A lot of them are also sneakily imported products, but not listed as such on the label. For example, if a bag of apples is picked in the US, or somewhere else, and sent to New Zealand to be packed, it is then sold in Australia as a ‘Product of New Zealand’ because of our inadequate import laws.
If we push all the companies and farmers out of business, we will no longer have an Australian food industry and will be completely reliant on imports, and once the high Aussie dollar goes back down, that WILL mean more expensive groceries.
I know it’s tempting, but unfortunately buying generic products because they’re cheap is entirely short term gain for a long term problem.
Sorry to rant, but I work very closely with this industry and I am watching it dissolve before everyone’s eyes.
xo
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thanks for sharing that! you have reminded me why I should read labels and try and buy Australian products! x
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Right on Miss B!! And whilst we are at it, how about buying locally, rather than saving $5 by buying off shore, Those Companies wont employ Aussies! If it’s a saving of $100 or more, go for it, but under that, consider buying local??
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It was only a “maybe”…but ok Miss B, you’ve got me convinced!
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Nothing on my fridge, clean as a whistle. I also don’t do bumper stickers, tattoos etc.
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My parents bought one of those fridges where nothing sticks to the front. Fun sponges.
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Haha, fund sponges indeed!
I am…ahem….mid 20′s and I still sometimes draw a crap picture in crayon and sent it to my parents and insist they display it with pride on the fridge!
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That’s adorable! There’s always Blu-tak I suppose…
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I have one of those fridges and love it – Every thing hides nicely on the side, luckily its not surrounded by cupboards so I can actually get to one side. The only bad thing is that its stainless steel so you can see every tiny mark on it. (Viva stainless steel wipes are amazing!)
So on the side of my fridge I have a calender that I write all the bills on, then some photos of my brother and sisters dogs, lots of magnets – love the haviana thong clip magnets, take away menus, other bits and pieces I dunno what to do with. Might look messy but it makes sense to me and I like it!
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Carolyn, if you want to save the world don’t buy generic brands!
On my fridge is an unpaid bill. Must do it today!
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