Fridge Fixer-Upper

So the fridge in here is ugly. Really ugly. Yellow and stained, with drip lines on it that look like someone tried to pour bleach down the front with little success. It's old and blocky and just all around ugly. With alot of scrubbing and bleach I could probably get it back to it's original color, but overall I don't really care to do that right now. It's not my fridge, and putting in the extra effort seems like too much work to me. The inside is clean, which is the really important part.

Here's the 'before' shot. Classy, isn't it?

But, I still have this eyesore in the kitchen. What could I do to cover it, that is not permanant. I thought of paint, but it's not mine, and it's dirty. so the paint probably wouldn't stick. So, I came up with a brilliant (if I do say so myself) idea to cover it in wrapping paper and use magnets to hold it in place. I bought some wrapping paper from Target for $1.50. It's technically Christmas paper, but I am okay with that. Especially for such a good deal! I measure the doors, and it turned out I didn't even have to cut notches for the handles. That was a small relief. I did have an issue with the bottom door being longer, and having to make sure that I matched patterns. I also had to be sure that the pattern on both doors went the same way. But, even still the whole thing only took me around twenty minutes. Not bad!

Here's a close up of the wrapping paper I chose. My intent in choosing the silver was to make it look almost like a stainless steel fridge. I love the little modern print ornaments on this!

Drawing a straight line on the wrapping paper would have been better with a ruler, but I was lazy and used a tape measure. Oh well, you live an learn. Now I have some slightly crooked edges, but it doesn't show overall. I was going to tape the two bottom pieces together, but in the end I just used magnets on both separate pieces and left it at that.

Remember my little square of carpet workspace? I will clear these boxes out soon, and I will be enjoying more floor space then!

To make magnets I bought a pack of 18 little round button magnets from Wal Mart. I think they cost about two dollars for the pack. They have stick backs, which made decorating them a breeze! I pulled out my scrapbook paper and made some cute little pinwheel magnets. Some are decorated with stickers, and some are not. Some of the papers are cut with a decorative edge, and some are not. But overall I'm pleased with the way they turned out. I also had some embellishment sticker that were the exact same size as the button magnets, so I used a couple of them as well.

Here's the magnets I made. Didn't they turn out cute? And so easy! All you do is take a strip of paper, accordian fold it, pull it into a circle, and stick down on the stick side of the magnet.

The whole project cost me around four dollars, and I find the finished product to be a welcome change to what it used to look like. I may decide to scrub it down at some point, or change out the paper, but for now I think it looks great, and it's a definate improvement!

Here is the finished product. Turned out pretty cute, I think. Now I just need to cover those hideous brown handles. Why was that ever a style?