Hiding the Kitchen Clutter

I am quite thrilled with my kitchen; it was renovated over two years ago and I wouldn't change a THING about it - I love love love using it.  The only thing that was missing from it was a message centre or place to keep notices, tickets, adorable kid drawing, etc.  Our stainless refrigerator doesn't take magnets, which is fine with me - believe it or not I am a fan of clean lines and lots of space.  However, the piles of paper were growing and driving me nuts, so I picked the lesser of evils and hung this metal board from Ikea on the front of Dad's cabinet. While it did corale the bits and pieces, I didn't like that it marred and obstructed the beautiful cabinet, that it bonked the door every time you opened or closed the cabinets, and that it never looked tidy.



When I saw Lindsay's post about glueing cork to the inside of her cabinet door I knew she had given me the perfect solution.  So I happily took down the clanging metal board and filled in the holes.  Then I picked up the cork tiles at the dollar store and cut them to fit the door.  I was not as diligent about holding them together as I should have been, so there is a bit of a gap at the middle, but they make my heart so happy.  I have since completed the whole door and cannot recommend this system enough - thank you Lindsay!

Now the cabinet can shine in all it's glory, and this corner is so much cleaner.  I took some of the junk that had piled up away from there - it's funny how clutter attracts clutter, isn't it? How do you all manage it?

(Sadly that lovely orchid has now shed all the blooms and doesn't seem to be doing well - anyone out there an orchid whisperer?)