How to Organize a Fridge Once and For All

When you grab a snack from the fridge, you want to find what you’re looking for quickly. Having an organized fridge can make this process easier. To help get you started, here are some tips on how to organize a fridge for a more efficient space.

Things to Do Before You Start Organizing

Before you dive right into the project, consider cleaning off the surfaces of your fridge. This will help prevent any contamination and make it look more visually appealing. To wash your fridge, follow the steps below.

1. Clear Out Your Fridge

The first step is to empty all food containers and bottles. This allows you easy access to wipe away any dirt or grime. If you’re worried about your milk spoiling, you can divide the work into sections. During the cleaning process, you can also place perishable items in a cooler.

2. Wipe Down All the Surfaces

Use a disinfecting spray and paper towels to clean off surfaces. For your spray, try a mix of baking soda and water to get rid of germs. Take out any removable drawers and soak them in hot, soapy water.

3. Reassemble the Fridge

Once the cleaning is done, put back any parts you took out. Then you will want to deodorize your fridge to prevent any unwanted smells. Pour baking soda into an open container and put it on the bottom shelf.

10 Ways to Rearrange Your Fridge

Once you clean out your appliance, put the food back inside. Instead of just randomly placing items, use this chance to do some organizing. Follow the tips below to get started.

1. Create an “Eat Me First” Box

We often buy new food and forget about older purchases. To ensure your food stays fresh, consider placing items near their expiration date into a container. For any leftovers, label the box with the date you made the food.

Having this box helps keep all your soon-to-be expired foods in one convenient location. Try having the carton near the front of the fridge, so you notice it as soon as you open the door.

Expired foods that began to grow mold or bacteria will start to change in texture or smell.

Here are some signs your food has expired, and you should get rid of it:

• If your potatoes have a green tint
• If your vegetables began sprouting
• If your thin-skinned vegetables are wrinkling or peeling
• If your carrots or celery become rubbery
• If your seafood starts to smell fishy

2. Purchase a Condiment Lazy Susan

When looking for condiments, they are often hidden in the back of your fridge. To keep these items all in one place and easily accessible, try a turntable “lazy susan” from Amazon Basics. Its ample storage space makes it the perfect organizing accessory.

3. Hang Wall Baskets

Our third step when learning how to organize a fridge is to use hang wall baskets. These help maximize your storage space and keep smaller items from getting lost. Consider placing things such as string cheese or fruit inside them. Hanging baskets stick to the wall with suction cups or magnets.

These are also helpful for storing items in the freezer. With limited storage space, the baskets save room for your bags of frozen vegetables.

4. Group Similar Items Together

Put foods in the same category near each other. These categories can consist of sandwich toppings or leftovers, for example. This will save you time when searching for a particular item. It also makes unloading the groceries go faster. Consider putting items into clear storage containers to keep your fridge less cluttered.

5. Use File Organizers

This is a convenient way to store your favorite snacks. Consider placing chips or yogurt inside. You may even have some file organizers laying around the house. With technology advancing, more documents are stored online. So, you can now put your unused filing organizer to good use. Labeling the containers can also make them more efficient.

6. Add Curtain Ring Slips

You can use these to hang bagged products, such as lettuce. Having certain products hung up frees up surface space. This allows you to store more food inside your fridge. The rings also help make the items more noticeable when you first open the refrigerator. Consider hanging the rings from the edge of shelves.

7. Incorporate Drawer Dividers

Dividers aren’t just for closets and dressers. They can also be a great way to keep your fridge drawers in order.

Often, compartments can get cluttered with multiple items. Placing dividers inside your bottom shelves keeps your bagged lettuce and vegetables separate from one another. This way, you don’t have to dig through a stack of items to find the one you want.

8. Organize and Label Each Section of the Door

Group similar items when placing them on the door’s compartments. This prevents you from needing to scan each shelf to find the item you are looking for. Then, label the sections with a sticker or magnet.

Here are some more ways to create labels for each compartment:

• Use a label maker.
• Color-code different sections.
• Use chalkboard paint.
• Add printable magnetic labels.
• Try vinyl letters.

Some possible sections you could have might be sauces, sandwich toppings, or salad dressings.

9. Use an Egg Carton to Store Condiments

If you don’t want to buy an organizer, this is a simple way to store your condiments. Place them face down into the holes of the carton. When you go to use them, the liquid will already be near the top of the container. It also helps prevent the condiments from being knocked over when you’re rummaging around your fridge.

Repurposing old egg cartons helps reduce waste and benefits the environment. Here are some of the other benefits of reusing items:

• Prevents pollution
• Is cost-effective
• Lowers emissions of greenhouse gases
• Helps preserve the environment
• Reduces the amount of waste ending up in landfills
• Gives products a longer shelf life

10. Create a Kids’ Section

Use the bottom shelf to create a section just for your kids’ snacks. Fill it with juice boxes and yogurts — this way, your children know where to find these items.

Having a kids’ section saves you time when grabbing your child a snack before school or soccer practice. It also allows them to find the snacks independently without requiring you to break from your current task.

Ways to Keep Items in Your Fridge Fresh

Now that you know how to organize your fridge correctly, you want to ensure your food stays fresh. Here are some tips to keep them nice and crisp.

Line Up Paper Towels Along the Bottom Drawers

Place a layer of paper towels along the bottom. They help absorb moisture, which keeps your vegetables from becoming limp. The paper towels can also catch pieces of broccoli or onion that peel off, making cleaning easier.

Know Your Humidity Controls

Your fridge can either be set to high or low humidity. Consider setting one drawer to high and one to low. Put anything that might rot in the low-humidity drawer. Your fruits and vegetables are good items to place on this shelf. Your leafy greens, such as spinach, should be put in the high-humidity section to keep them fresh.

Keep Apples With Your Potatoes

Apples can help keep your potatoes from going bad. This is because they give off an ethylene gas that helps prevent sprouting. Also, keep your potatoes in a paper bag to reduce their exposure to moisture and sunlight.

How to Organize Your Fridge & Simplify Your Life

Learning how to organize your fridge makes your life more convenient. Instead of spending time looking around for that one particular item, you can just grab it and go. Consider these tips and tricks to help make your fridge clutter-free!