Project Declutter: Fridge Organization
Day 23: Fridge Organization
My fridge is an area that needs constant decluttering attention. As each day passes, there are leftovers ever to be consolidated, expired food to be tossed out, etc. I don’t have any containers to help organize my fridge YET, but with decluttering and grouping, it can look so much better!!
Here is the messy before picture:
As you can see, this was shortly after I went grocery shopping. What’s wrong with this picture?
- Vegetables were still in packages, un-cut. We will not eat more veggies unless they are clean and ready to eat!
- I had made a couple of meals and instead of portioning out the leftovers into serving-size containers (easy to grab and go), the leftovers were still in their bulky cooking pots.
- The refrigerator was disorganized. Without food in their proper places, the items were more likely to get lost, forgotten, and go bad. Not to mention that meal preparation would just take longer since I would have to search for my ingredients.
Organized Refrigerator
Instead, here is how I chose to organize my refrigerator:
Top Shelf: Fresh Food Snacks
When you open the fridge your eye and hand will naturally look to the top shelf. All the food items are easy to see. This is where I wanted to start and this is where I wanted to place all the healthy food.
I wanted my veggies washed, cut-up, and ready to go in airtight containers (or zip lock bags). Food here will be consumed in the next 2-4 days, then replenished. (I put the extra produce in my downstairs mini-fridge, but did not cut it up yet.)
Middle Shelf: Dairy
I made this shelf as short as I could. We had have a joke in our house that stems from the fact that whenever my husband is looking for something in the fridge and can’t find it, it’s usually lurking about on the middle shelf in the back. So now, when he asks where something is, I will sometimes reply, “Middle shelf, in the back” before he has time to finish his sentence.
For that reason, I chose to put items we don’t use as often in the back of the middle shelf (yeast, butter, extra produce, eggs, dairy). I chose to put all the dairy, butter, eggs on the left; then yeast and produce on the right.
Bottom Shelf: Liquid & Leftovers
To make it easier to pack my husband’s lunches, I like to portion out our leftovers. Then, all I have to do the night before is throw it into a lunch bag! When restocking this shelf, I make sure that older items stay and the front and I’m putting new leftovers in the back.
Drawers: Sandwich, Cheese & Fruit
The left drawer contains all the ingredients we like to put on our sandwiches: bean sprouts, cut-up tomato, a few slices of lettuce, cut-up cucumber, deli meat, & cheese.
The right drawer holds some of our fruit (what is too ripe to be sitting on our table). I put the fruit away from the vegetables, since many fruits emit ethylene gas (which speeds the ripening in other produce).
The Door: Condiment Central
I haven’t really organized this by category yet. Right now, items that we use frequently are in the easier to reach spots.
Soon, I may reorganize at place the more nutritious condiments and condiments I want us to use up first at eye level, then work down. The bottom shelf will be vitamins, lemon juice, salsa – the bigger containers.
© 2014, Betsy Pool. All rights reserved.
