Part of running an efficient kitchen in your home is getting organized. For many, organizing the refrigerator is a very dreadful subject! Sometimes it’s just the time that it takes to figure it out. Oftentimes, people are too busy to think outside the box to create a better system.
Other times, it’s the thought of a complete overhaul that feels overwhelming.
Never fear! We can help you break this down into manageable steps. It’s not that hard to complete this task and you can even take this one step at a time.
Once you have completed your refrigerator reorganization, you will find that:
- You will save more money because you will waste less food
- You will eat healthier and better meals.
- You will save money as you won’t eat out as much.
- You need less energy to get dinner on when your produce is easy to access and use.
- You will use up ore of your refrigerator contents.
- You will love staring at your fridge instead of dreading going into it.
- You will wonder why you did not do this sooner?
- Making lunch, dinner, or breakfast is so much faster!
- You’ll concentrate more on eating healthy snacks.
- You will buy less because you will know what needs refilled and what doesn’t.
- you will start to notice many more benefits!
First of all, evaluate what isn’t working in your fridge. Before you decide you need to go out and buy a new fridge with a different layout, let’s begin by re-imagining the space you do have. It may not be so bad after all!
Focus on what you do keep in your fridge. Are you eating the foods you want to be eating? What is taking up space in your fridge? What would make access easier for you and your family?
You don’t need to have an instagram photo worthy fridge to become completely happy and enamored with your refrigerator. After recently completing a makeover on both of our refrigerators, we just needed the right organizational tools to help us maximize the space we do have.
But how do you begin? First go through your fridge and clean it out. Take everything out of your refrigerator, remove anything that has gone bad, and take note of the items you have or want to keep in your fridge. Wipe everything down. Combine any duplicate items! Identify any key problems you might have.
Our Issues: I found we had way too many jam’s and jelly’s in the fridge. We also had an inordinate amount of condiments, many of which we use a lot. Moving everything around to get to things in the back of the fridge was a major hassle. Food would often go bad because getting to the back was a major pain in the buttocks. We also had small items that were annoying in the way. The egg container and the wine rack that came with the fridge took up way too much room. Two of the shelves took up a lot of extra real estate in our fridge. It wasn’t easy to slide anything out, quickly and easily. These were the problems I quickly identified. Later, I also realized that packaging was pretty annoying and didn’t help to make things fit well either. Finally, we like to eat a whole lot of fruits and vegetables and they take up a lot of room and didn’t fit in our drawers very well.
After identifying what your problem areas are, work on a way to solve the issue. I looked on Pinterest and online for ideas and read blogs for more than a week, as time permitted. I went to stores such as At Home, Home Goods, and the Container Store to see what they had for organizing tools. I even popped by Dollar Tree too. I took photos of items of interest, so I could remember what was available. Lastly, I went on Amazon to look for refrigerator organizer tools too.
With the fridge cleaned out, I could easily see what I wanted to organize. One tip I learned was to put the condiment jars in the fruit and vegetable drawers. Now they easily slide out, making it a breeze to quickly grab what we needed. I grappled with this at first, but all my temperature zone issues became a non issue with the benefits posted at the bottom of this page.
Next I removed two of the shelves in the fridge. They often got in the way of stacking things and removing them seemed like it might work.
On Amazon, I ordered a number of items that helped me to organize and stack the foods we ate the most.
Next, all old Tupperware and Rubbermaid containers were removed and tossed. I ordered stackable containers that are see through to house any leftovers. Leftovers were moved to the 2nd refrigerator. We did end up working on eating through these for the entire weekend. We did have way too many leftovers!
When my order arrived, I got to work. One important thing was to remove the packaging from most of the fruits and vegetables. I replaced all of the fruits and vegetables into the clean, clear containers I bought. Here’s a look at the progress and the containers I bought below.
Disclaimer: After buying al of these great refrigerator organizers, I decided to share these tips and products with you. By clicking on each photo, it will bring you to the Amazon item I bought. If you order, I may receive a small commission from Amazon from your purchase. #AD #AmazonAssociate
These pull out drawers are absolutely my favorite! Because the drawers pull out, they are easy to open without having to move anything. We now blow through a lot of extra fruit because it’s so easy to grab and go!
These are my favorite drawers because of the ease of use!
Next, I moved the rest of the fruits and vegetables to an appropriate container. This container has two dividers. We go through so many grapes and strawberries that I chose to only use one divider. I slid this in so you can see and pull out the short side. It takes up less room this way.
I like having a divider so I can store more than one item!
A good multi set will help you organize a lot of your fridge. While these do not have the pull out drawers, they are easy to add in your lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and small items. It’s a great set to help you finish your produce organization.
Two other really crucial space savers are the hanging pull out egg drawer, as well as a 2nd pull out drawer for small stuff. It was important to me to get the small stuff out of the way.
I also dumped 4 of our most used condiments into a condiment tray that we now keep in the fridge. It’s easy to take out and simply set on the table or counter when it’s time to eat! There went another 4 jars out of the fridge! Admittedly, we are still working on whittling down the amount of condiments in our fridge.
Bins were added for all items we wanted to quickly be able to pull out. Here the Soda Stream Syrups were put in one bin and Salad Dressings were put in the other bin.
I also chose to switch juices into Carafe’s and dairy into Glass Milk Containers. Now I make up Frappuccino in a carafe with leftover coffee, as well as tea and fruit infused waters too. You can label the glass containers with the expiration date using a dry erase markers. How cool is that?
You can add things like buttermilk, egg whites, heavy cream, or other liquids and the glass will help to keep these items fresher longer.
Labeling the containers
I labeled the containers using a Silhouette Cameo 4 and Black Vinyl
The Results, just weeks later:
- Food no longer goes bad in the bottom or back of our fridge, which saves money.
- Preparing food, as well as lunches, is much faster and easier now.
- We eat a lot more fruit and vegetables now.
- The fridge is no longer considered the black hole.
- We are eating healthier and are spending less time preparing food.
- I have lost almost 10 lbs eating healthier and my husband has lost a belt size so far.
- We are already eating out less, as dinner is a breeze to prepare now!
- We are saving more money not eating out so much!
- I’m using up more ingredients in the fridge and managing it better.
- Less packaging from the get go also saves us more time!
From Pantry to Table 
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