Declutter Refrigerator Front & Top: Hall Of Fame

Today's fifteen minute decluttering missions is to declutter your refrigerator on the outside, on both the front and top of this appliance.


This mission is designed to be done while we work on the Organize Refrigerator & Freezer Challenge here on this site, which is one of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenges.

Of course, you can do it whenever it is important to you, and it really should be done more than once a year. However, if you work hard on it today, maintenance tasks to keep it clutter free will take minimal amounts of time going forward.

Why Is This Important?

Why is this important?

It's amazing how much visual clutter effects our mood and perception of a room.

Look at decorating or home interior magazines some time. We all yearn for rooms like that, and not only because they are beautifully decorated but because they seem calming, relaxing, a place you'd like to be.

Common Types Of Refrigerator Clutter

Those magazine homes don't have clutter in them and a prime place that clutter quickly accumulates in a kitchen is on your refrigerator.

You know what I mean -- magnets, school papers and kids art, pictures, etc, on the front.

On the top, if you don't have cabinets or other storage areas already up there, it is often a dumping ground for cereal boxes, plastic food storage containers, or anything really you don't have room for elsewhere.

(We actually in haste sometimes use the top of our refrigerator to put something out of reach of our children, and then I find it much later, everyone having forgotten about it. Whoops!)

Must The Front Be Bare And Empty?

Now I'm not saying throw away every precious picture your budding artist has colored for you, or that you can't have any cute refrigerator magnets.

I'm just saying, curate carefully. Choose the best of the best, and then get rid of the rest. (Plus get rid of the trash still up on the fridge, like old reminders that have now passed.)

You'll appreciate the few touches you've kept on the front more this way.

Decluttering definitely doesn't require you to live in a sterile or boring environment, but the decorations you keep will stand out more when there is less visual competition for them.

Make Clearing Off Your Refrigerator A Habit

As I mentioned, I just have this Declutter 365 mission listed once in the declutter calendar. However, this is the type of simple quick task that you should make a habit.

Do it every week or two and it will take you less than two minutes each time!

Below I've collected hall of fame pictures from readers who've done this mission and sent in their photos to show off their accomplishments.

Plus, especially for top of the refrigerator I get lots of questions about what you should store up there, if anything. These pictures give some good ideas on this very topic.

Once you've done this mission you can send in your own before and after pictures here and I'll add the best ones to the site!

Top photo courtesy of brendan-c

Removing Excess Kid Artwork & Papers Makes A Difference

Bec from 2012 - The Year Of Challenges shared before and after pictures for this mission, which you can see above.

She didn't take down a lot, but it makes a difference! Good job Bec.

Here's another before and after collage photo, shown by a reader, Malinda.

Miranda's Decluttered Top & Front Of Fridge

Miranda shared this picture on the site's Facebook page.

She obviously places some storage baskets on top of this appliance, and there is no problem with that at all. The top can be a great storage area.

Just make sure that you know what is there, and declutter the baskets or other containers regularly, so it doesn't become just unused junk up there!

In addition, here's how another reader, Julli, decluttered the top of her fridge. She decided she didn't want anything up there at all, which is also a completely valid choice. (Oh, and I spy Julli's Declutter 365 calendar posted on her fridge! Makes me smile!)

Decluttering Magnets Made A Huge Impact!

Angela from Confessions of a Craft Addict shared before and after pictures as well.

She says: "Yes, I have small children! This was actually the hardest part for me, but it made the biggest impact as well.

I threw out a bunch of the magnets that had been collected from dentists, pharmacies, etc.

I also donated the two big musical magnets (they drove me insane!).

We never use the marker board anymore."

Taylor says:

I totally know what you mean Angela about some of those children's magnets being annoying, such as the learning ones from Leap Frog.

Yes, you want your kids to learn the alphabet, but not at the expense of your sanity. :) Good for you for letting some of the visual (and sound) chaos go.

Here's another before and after from another reader, Mickie. Removing a bunch of magnets makes a big difference.

Just Because Your Refrigerator Has Lots Of Magnets Doesn't Mean It Is Clutter

by Margaret

Margaret shared the picture of her refrigerator and brought up a rather philosophical point about what clutter is, really.

She said, "You call it clutter, I call it creativity."

My (Taylor's) response was as follows: "Margaret, thanks for the picture. See, I wouldn't say this is cluttered since it is the only thing on the refrigerator.

If you had all those magnets, but also a bunch of papers and other things that didn't let you use your fun magnets I would call it clutter. And yes, it is creative."

I guess my point is that I don't want people to think with this decluttering mission that I think they need to have a completely blank refrigerator. No. That's not it at all.

Just less stuff, so you can enjoy what you do have, like Margaret's refrigerator magnets! :)

Top Of Refrigerator Clutter Reduced

Megan from Life of the Lorenzens shared before and after pictures as well.

She said, "The other 'hot spot' in our kitchen is the top of the fridge. One of the reasons is because it is one of the few 'up' places left on the main floor of our house.

It was just a matter of putting things away that had accumulated and restoring it to the state I had put it in over a year ago.

I also cleared off the front of the fridge and hung up the January Declutter calendar."

I think it looks great Megan! And if anyone else would like you can grab a free printable January Declutter 365 calendar here which lists all the 15 minute missions for this month (including this one!).

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Kitchen Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering your kitchen, and there's a lot of stuff to declutter in this space.

Get your 2 page kitchen decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

Before and after photos for mission collage from a reader, Debbie

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

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