An organized fridge is at the center of an orderly and efficient kitchen, so it’s important to learn exactly how to organize your fridge!
You really can’t just throw everything in the fridge and expect to be able to find anything.
Without an organized refrigerator, getting takeout for dinner seems like a much better idea than diving into the deep unknown that lurks in the messy fridge and those food bills can really rise as a result.
Let’s put an end to that problem by learning how to organize your fridge with these super smart tips that professional organizers share with their clients!
Note that these tips work well for how to organize small fridges too.
It’s all about using the space wisely to have an decluttered and orderly space.
Fridge Organization Tip #1: Time it Right
Don’t ever try to organize your fridge when it’s full – unless you secretly hate yourself!
Seriously, it’s a huge headache to try to get a refrigerator ship shape when it’s full. It takes longer and it’s just harder to do quickly.
Especially if you’re attempting a re-organization or even a clean out during the hot Summer months.
The best time to organize your fridge is before you go to the grocery store.
It’ll be most empty when you need to restock the fridge.
Bonus for this strategy:
You’ll see what you need, and what you don’t need.
It’ll also be really easy to give the shelves and drawers a quick wipe down.
And this’ll set the stage for all of the delicious food you’re buying.
Fridge Organization Tip #2: Do it on the Regular
Clean out unused leftovers and spoiled food from the fridge at least once a week.
This helps to keep nasty smells and annoying spills to a minimum.
I usually do this the night before our street’s garbage collection day, especially in the summer so that the garage doesn’t get stinky.
These fridge mats make the task of keeping shelves and drawers neat and tidy.
Just wipe them down on the regular.
Plus they can be cut down to size for a perfect fit!
With an organized fridge, fewer things will spill.
And leaks will be detected sooner, so you’ll be able to keep a handle on keeping the fridge sparkling clean!
Fridge Organization Tip #3: Zone Out
Once the fridge has been decluttered, time to put things in zones.
Put like with like (fruit with other fruit, for example) and designate zones for most everything you buy on a regular basis.
I don’t have one of these in my fridge, but I have considered adding a lazy susan turn table so that finding items is uber easy.
I am a huge fan of OXO Good Grips items and this product wouldn’t disappoint.
The main idea is to keep like things together or keep things that are used together in close proximity.
Think peanut butter and jelly.
When the two jars are close to each other in the fridge, they’re easy to grab out without searching.
Another way to create zone is to use fridge bins to organize your fridge using containers.
The bins will literally keep like items together.
How to Organize Your Fridge Door
Paying special attention to organizing your fridge door will payoff big when it comes to finding what you need since this is among the most accessible space in the entire appliance.
The key to keeping the fridge door organized is to keep like items together.
For example, group salad dressings together and corral specific cuisine condiments on a separate door shelf.
Asian dishes are popular in my household, so the left side of my fridge is where all of the sauces and oils I use in our favorite meals live there.
Deeper fridge door bins allow for bigger “collection” of similar items to be grouped together.
I have quite the collection of salad dressings, but don’t actually use them often, so they all live together in the bottom bin.
Declutter the Fridge Doors Regularly
Another tip for keeping the fridge doors organized is to go through them on the regular.
Four times a year is generally enough to weed out items that are no longer good.
Add a repeating calendar reminder is an easy way to make sure the task gets done.
You can easily go through the doors in 15 minutes or less, making it a quick win organizing project.
If you won’t use it, let it go to free up space for things you will.
Fridge Organization Tip #4: Go Vertical
Don’t let space go to waste and make use of the vertical space in your fridge.
Don’t be afraid to adjust the shelves to fit items.
If you scroll up to the last picture, you’ll see I needed to move the door bin down to accommodate the tall bottle of avocado oil.
Further take advantage of vertical space, by using some specialized products or a heckuva lot of creativity!
These bins are stackable and would be a great way to use the vertical space so that your refrigerator space is used wisely!
They also come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so you are sure to be able to easily find a bin that fits the dimensions of your fridge.
That’s really the essence of fridge organization: finding what fits to optimize the space wisely!
Another aspect to this point is making sure you’re buying containers in a size that’ll fit in your fridge in the first place.
The Costco sized containers of food just won’t fit in some smaller fridges.
You can save yourself from a headache when you take the size and shape of your fridge into consideration before you bring home a huge container that you have to jam into your fridge space.
Fridge Organization Tip #5: Labels Matter
Mimic grocery stores and turn jars and bottles so that the labels are front and center.
It’s just easier to find things when you can see the label!
No more rummaging through the fridge to see what that jar contains when you can easily read the label.
And overall, it’ll be less visually taxing, so everything will look more organized just with this simple tweak.
A very small thing to optimize your fridge to make it a more inviting space.
You can also add some fridge labels to further add organization to the space with these YouCopia labels.
The labels can be used to create zones in the fridge so you always know where to go for leftovers, for example.
I don’t use labels in my fridge, but still have zones generally established.
Leftovers are front and center so they get used or pitched quickly.
Apples and sealed packages of lettuce and other vegetables live in the left drawer since the off gassing from apples wipes produce and can make it spoil faster.
All other produce lives in the right hand drawer.
Cheese, deli items, tortillas and hummus live in the deli drawer.
Over to you
Keeping your refrigerator neat is less of a challenge when you know the secrets shared for how to organize your fridge!
Remembering to clean out your fridge before trash pickup, keeping like items in zones and giving your fridge a once over every time you reach inside can really go a long way in keeping your refrigerator organized.
Now that you know how to organize your fridge, why not learn how to organize the area above the fridge, whether the top of fridge itself or the above fridge cabinets?
Happy organizing!
