A new year means a new fridge right? Not quite. The one we bought with the house is still chugging along and while I’d love to chuck it into the alley sometimes, I just can’t quite reconcile myself with replacing something that is working.
But I did tweak the big ugly blank side of the fridge last May with some craft paper. (See the whole post here.) My how time flies when you’re having fun. And as the time has passed, so has the paper worn. Turns out paper and water droplets (from the hand drying towel hanging there) don’t really mix so well . . . .
I was still reluctant to actually paint the fridge with chalkboard paint instead so I ordered a roll of contact paper that is also a chalkboard surface from Amazon. The roll wasn’t nearly as wide as the paper was which I don’t love but until I can get on board with painting the fridge (or buying a Smeg!), this is what we get. There were a few air bubbles that didn’t come all the way out but it was a pretty simple install process. It was definitely a two-man job though — JT and I took turns holding the bottom away from the fridge while the other smoothed out the contact paper with a large piece of sample laminate I had on hand.
I think the contact paper chalkboard could be a great option for renters who don’t like the look of a door or cabinets — just stick a chalkboard on it (the new version of put a bird on it!).
Since the chalkboard paper was sticky-backed it freed up a bunch of our heavy-duty magnets to stick some more knives and utensils to the side of the fridge. I gave them a crime scene-esque chalk outline so we’d know which one was in use or in the dishwasher. Now that the holidays are behind us, we’ve been cooking at home a lot and from scratch, so having these knives within easy reach is great. We also got a juicer and started down that path so many, many fruits and vegetables are being murdered in our kitchen.
JT wrote a little note to the dogs down at the bottom reminding them to behave. I got very different results when I tried to coax them into modeling for the blog: Sophie was terrified and Shenanigan was nonchalant and/or impatiently waiting for the treat I bribed them with.
Little dude had to go to the vet on Saturday because we found a weird bulge on his side. Turns out it’s a fatty but benign tumor. Sophie’s been having problems with one of her back legs that the vet said is exacerbated by her weight so it looks like both dogs will be on the eating healthy bandwagon with us in 2013! Good thing that the kitchen is fine-tuned and ready to go. I’ve been doing a little work to the pantry as well and that will be an up and coming post. Have a great week everyone! Cheers – CT
Living Analog 
That’s a really cute idea!
Thanks Dana! We pretty much used up the whole roll down the side of the fridge but I’m tempted to order more and stick it on everything. . . on presents as a tag, the glass storage containers in the fridge, inside of cabinet doors . . . there’s a lot of ideas rolling through my head for this stuff!