Day 220

The refrigerator as art gallery, it seems to be a pretty common in today’s home, particularly those with kids.   In many families, it is the epicenter for the comings and goings of the tribe, a colorful collage of birthday party invites, photos, save-the-date cards and school projects.

But, the truth is,  and I can’t believe I am saying this out loud– I hate anything cluttering up my refrigerator.

Don’t get me wrong, I like it at other people’s homes, I really do.  And, I always like to snoop  peruse other people’s refrigerator postings when I am visiting.

But at our house, I have always had the strict “no magnet” rule.  OK, I admit, I am putting my own need for order above my children’s need to display their 100-Day button project .  That is not true with all things, for instance I have a junk drawer that in seven short months of living here seems to be undulating and swelling on its own with every manner of writing utensil, takeout menus and grocery coupons.

I know it is tempting to keep everything our little darlings create, but the truth of the matter is that there is so much of it, it is not realistic to keep it all.  I have a friend whose mom passed away last year and had saved every scrap of paper her children had generated over their school years.  The monumental task of getting rid of what they kept referring to as the “fire hazard” went to her children.

I know there are all kinds of “buy it” solutions to this problem.  I have used them in the past, fancy matted frames, cable and clips from Pottery Barn and Ikea Lucite display stands.  But, all of those options require a bit more work staying on top of things than I was willing, plus I don’t have them with me this year.

I do try to give a selection of my lovelies’ art projects a little display love and then dispose of them.  This year I found myself just thumbtacking things behind my desk.  But, even that started to drive me crazy in its disorder.

Then I saw this

A gallery wall

I love this idea from my friend Colleen.  She collected some thrift store frames (or various mismatched ones you might have on hand), spray painted them and arranged them in a gallery wall with pins and binder clips.

Notice the binder clip hung on a small nail

The art is easy to swap out and doesn’t have to be cut or match the frame size and really looks orderly yet artistic.

I would imagine, you don’t have to have kids for this.  This could be a rotating collection of any item you would like displayed, fall leaves, Christmas cards, snapshots, magazine pictures, take out menus.

oohhh, take out menus as art, form and function…