Are Your Fridge Magnets Telling You Something?

I was recently flipping through a book recommended by a friend,  Life At Home in the Twenty-First Century: 32 Families Open Their Doors.

In the section on kitchens (major hubs of communal space), the authors take a detour into what ends up on the fridge in a home, especially the things beyond the fridge magnets, and they state that the organization of the fridge magnets tells you something.

The book is an early 2000's look at the kinds of things people keep in their homes, and how they use their spaces. I can’t say I love the writing (academic dissertation-dry kinda stuff) but some of the topics – like fridge magnets - were fascinating.

The fridge is often a rather unintentional collection of what’s important, including photos, invitations, take-out menus, and the dual-purpose magnets that function as both art (heavy on the travel mementos) and tools (to hold down the papers). It’s not usually very curated, certainly not like a grouping of family pictures can be, unless you recently cleaned it off, or moved.

A friend’s fridge (kiddos, no pets) - definitely magnets and travel mementos! And if you look close, you’ll see me in a picture!

The authors state that it’s a major collecting place for important phone numbers, although, twenty years later, with our super-computer/cell phones in our hands, I wonder if that’s still true!

All mine are programmed into the phone that seems permanently within reach, and perhaps frighteningly, not written down anywhere else (though backed up into the cloud so not all might be lost). A random thought, though: I bet the take-out menus are now in phone apps, too.

Another friend’s fridge (pets, no kiddos) with phone number magnets!

When my son lived at home, our shared calendar was on the fridge (central to foot traffic), but now that’s also on the phone/computer, especially since I no longer need to keep track of him at such a detailed level. Also, as a biz owner, my calendar has reached a level of complexity best managed by the computer robots and not by my more fallible memory!

My son’s fridge includes the family calendar to manage his wife’s irregular schedule (pets, no kiddos)

The book authors noted that fridges often have “a high density” of objects vying for space, and can be a bit archeological in the layers of history that live on them.

Yep, I can see that… I moved house about 18 months ago, and I peeled off layers when I was packing. There were a delightful number of drawings from the kiddos of friends in there 😊

But I haven’t yet put them all back. I did some curation/culling when I packed, and no new things have been added as they mostly end up in my office and studio now.

I reduced the overall number of magnets, but that might also have had to do with the shape of the space… the prior fridge had a freezer on top (if only I had known back then that I would have wanted a picture of it) and this one is a side-by-side – a narrower but taller canvas, interrupted by the water and ice access.

My current fridge curation - the “Love People” magnet was a gift snuck onto the fridge from a friend during a gathering! (no kiddos or pets)

This one is also more visible from the rest of the living space, so perhaps I’m being self-consciously tidy?

But maybe not: the authors pointed out that in just about every house/fridge combo they studied, the fridge was a key indicator of how the rest of the house was organized and filled, especially in relation to the density of stuff.

My last home was a rather tired apartment with my life and business crammed into it – and a cheerfully loaded and layered fridge.

This home has more space, is more sleekly updated, and has good separation of the life and business areas – and the fridge art is equally roomy, though perhaps not as sleek!

My studio wall - an extension of my fridge vibe!

Thus I would say that my fridges, past and present, are aligned with the authors’ observations!

My very organized assistant’s very organized fridge! (kiddos AND pets)

So take a look at your fridge, and then take a look around your home. Does your fridge have any secrets to impart?

And if you’re in a tidying mood, perhaps start with the outdated menus and business cards! And know that it might mean that you need to clear the outdated stuff out of other areas in your home!