Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Refrigerator Door Magnets: An Organizing Choice

refrigerator with magnet collection

When it comes to refrigerator doors, some people use them to display a magnet collection. Others use those magnets to hold up photos, drawings, and other pieces of paper. And still others prefer the no-magnet look - or are forced into it because they have a stainless steel refrigerator. (Happeez clips are an option for stainless steel - but that's not quite the same as a magnet collection. Update on August 16, 2011: I'm no longer finding Happeez clips, but the Lulalu Click Clips do the same job, and look even nicer.)

As an organizer, I think any of these can be fine. I'd just suggest that if you've got the magnet collection thing going, be sure to manage that collection like any other - make sure you still really like all those magnets. And go through those photos and things, too - make sure everything on the door is something you really want there.

But some people do have firm opinions. Here's Jon Carroll:
One of the least wonderful features of the new upscale refrigerators is that their doors do not hold magnets. Refrigerator door art is a great form of popular culture, and the next time we go refrigerator shopping - which won't be for a while, because of the Great Recession things we found ourselves involved in - I'm taking along a handful of magnets. If they bounce off, that refrigerator is off my list.
And Naomi Selden recently featured a clean-the-refrigerator-door tip and got all types of responses.


Scrabble letter magnets

For those of you who do like using magnets - either on the refrigerator door or on a magnet board - these Scrabble magnets are my latest find.

Related Posts:
A Multitude of Magnets
Yet More Magnets: Magnetic Clips
More Magnificent Magnets
6 Magnets That Made Me Smile
I Just Can't Resist a Good Magnet

[photo by Paul Garland, licensed under Creative Commons]

3 comments:

Cynthia Friedlob said...

I love my magnets! They're mixed in with cartoons and fine art postcards in plastic sleeves with magnetic backs. It's a cheerful little display on the refrigerator door, but I will continue to resist the temptation to expand the collection to the filing cabinets!

Amanda said...

I am one of those that displayed magnets on my refrigerator door. I bought magnets as souvenirs whenever I traveled. They are inexpensive and take up hardly any room. My refrigerator door was covered with magnets, but as time went on, I began to feel the magnets were creating more clutter than a means of displaying my travels. I no longer display my magnets on my refrigerator door. I bought a magnetic board and hung it on the wall next to my back entrance. Now when people come to visit, they can't help but stop and look at my collection of travel magnets, and my kitchen looks less cluttered.

Jeri Dansky said...

Cynthia and Amanda, I love how your two comments show how different answers work for different people!