Are you looking for tips on how to organize your refrigerator? In this article, I'll show you some tips on how I organized my French door refrigerator that might help you with yours.
My first step was admitting that our fridge was out of hand and needed some organization badly. So here it is, in its messy glory.
You may also enjoy how I organized other areas in my kitchen like Spice Storage Idea or How To Organize a Pantry.
How To Organize Your Refrigerator With Bins
After I admitted that our fridge was in desperate need of being cleaned and organized. I headed to the store and picked up some storage containers.
Since I was already using bins in a couple of the drawers. I knew how much easier the drawers were to keep clean. I figured a few more bins in the drawers would be a good idea as well in other places.
Only needing to purchase a few extra bins I grabbed this longer one for breakfast and lunch meats. Whereas the smaller one would work to hold pre cut veggies.
The Best Way To Clean A Fridge
The best way to clean a fridge is to remove everything from it. As I removed everything from the inside of the fridge I had two thoughts. Is this something we still use or need and is it still good.
The things that were no longer good or we don't use I purged to the trash.
I then placed like category items together on my kitchen island. This would help with placing everything back into the fridge.
With everything removed from the refrigerator, it was time for a deep clean. I started at the top and worked my way to the bottom of the fridge with Mrs. Meyer's multi-surface cleaner in the Peony fragrance and a magic eraser.
The peony smell of the cleaner was nice compared to some other harsh cleaners. Mrs. Meyer's is a brand that I recommend. The magic eraser worked great on the areas that were marked up from the food containers.
Removing the drawers and washing them in the sink allowed me to clean under the drawers. This would be a great time to do any adjusting to the shelves if you need to.
After I had the whole fridge cleaned and the drawers were placed back in, it was time to start organizing everything.
Creating Zones
Creating zones in the refrigerator helps to keep like item foods together. Veggies need to be stored at a higher humidity level whereas fruits need a lower humidity level.
Most of the drawers in refrigerators nowadays have humidity control. Adjust yours to what level best fits what you are storing. It's funny how as an adult we get excited about kitchen items but here I am excited about egg containers.
We use a lot of eggs in our home so we buy our eggs at Sam's club. They come in two~ 18 count containers and are strapped together. So you can't check to see if the eggs are broke before buying them.
You can see where I'm going with this can't you? The eggs get shoved into the fridge unchecked. Later I find evidence of broken eggs down the back of the fridge.
With the egg containers, I also had two thoughts. The first being I will be able to see how many eggs I have, then I won't overbuy. My other thought was I can put the eggs into the container right away when I get back from the store.
Giving me an opportunity to check for broken eggs.
Here is a tip I have been using for years. Sometimes meat will leak all over the fridge, to help prevent that I use a cookie sheet to store the meat on.
This saves me from cleaning up any messes and also gives me a zone for the meat.
Containing With Clear Bins
The top shelf of the fridge I felt was a great place to use a clear bin to store the shredded cheese in. I have a bad habit of overbuying cheese because it was stored in multiple places.
With it, in this bin, I can easily see how much cheese we have.
This smaller bin is perfect to go into the drawer and hold the onions and garlic. Then if any of the peels come off.
All I have to do to clean it is to remove the bin, not the whole drawer. By using a bin it will save me time fighting getting the drawer out and putting it back in.
The other drawer I place another clear bin to hold our fruits like apples and oranges.
For the last drawer, I place the long bin for the breakfast and lunch meats and the smaller one for mushrooms that are washed and ready for use.
I also thought this drawer would be a great place for the pyrex containers we use to store our prepared raspberries and grapes in.
I started changing out some of my Tupperware a while back with pyrex. They store so nicely both in the fridge and cupboard.
We also use the pyrex for leftovers and any meal prep items we have for the week. This week we had some egg bits and hard-boiled eggs that are on the top shelf.
On the middle shelf to the right, I have a bin that holds all our salad dressings. The left shelf is for our milk and juices.
Organize The Door
The doors are a great place to hold condiments. The ones we use most of the bigger bottles are located on the bottom shelf.
Then sauces are on the next shelf with odd condiments at the top.
This door is limited to space because of the ice maker. However, I find it's the perfect place for our homemade jam and my collection of Better Than Bouillon and garlic.
There you have it How to organize your refrigerator. What are some of the tips that you use to organize your refrigerator?
Sharing one creative idea at a time~ Jen
Other My Creative Manner organization articles you may enjoy are:
- Spice Storage Idea
- Easy To Organize Baking Center
- Mudroom/Closet Makeover
- How To Organize A Food Pantry
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