Looking for some genius fridge organization ideas? We’ve got your back!
How many times have you returned home from the grocery store with a brand new bag of salad in hand, only to realize you had some in your crisper? No need to answer that—we’ve all been there.
An organized fridge is a must if you want to avoid a variety of unfortunate food scenarios. Being able to see everything you have in your refrigerator lets you use up leftovers in time and avoid spending money on duplicates, too.
With strategic placement, labels, and properly adjusted shelves, you won’t aimlessly stare at what’s behind the door wondering what’s for dinner anymore.
This being said, we’ve broken down some fridge organization ideas that you can implement in your kitchen right away. Check this out!
1. Put products near expiration at the front of your fridge
One of the best fridge organization ideas is organizing your food in a way that helps you consume what’s near its expiration date. It’s easy for food to end up in the back of the fridge, where it ultimately becomes forgotten.
What you should instead do is store foods that need to be eaten up—whether that’s spinach that has just one or two days of life left or yogurt whose expiration date is nearing—front and center.
This may take some rearranging once every couple of days, but by placing foods you need to eat first upfront, you’ll be wasting less food. May you never find slimy salad in the back of your fridge again.
2. Store products in clear packaging
Another example of great fridge organization ideas is a great trick that will help you have a clear view of what you have inside. Not sure which container holds last night’s lasagna leftovers and which one you prepared for your lunch break? Spare yourself the time and hassle of opening each of your containers by investing in clear ones.
Though it may sound generic, this is one of the best fridge organization ideas that will make you wonder why you haven’t tried it until now. Invest in glass storage containers for organizing pre-made salads, lunches, leftovers, and everything under the sun. For example, these Rubbermaid storage containers neatly stack in the fridge, which will help you maximize vertical space.
What’s great about glass is that it lasts for years and is ideal for reheating food.
3. Keep products you reach for often close
Fridge organization ideas can really make your life easier. Nobody likes a messy refrigerator, but most of us end up with a chaotic one.
One of the most frustrating things happens when you’re looking for a particular item and you cannot find it. Eventually you lay eyes on it, and it is fine. But the next day, the same thing happens with another item.
If you’re constantly grabbing for a product in your fridge, here’s our advice: keep it at the door for easy access. Butter, milk, and eggs are natural picks for this easy-to-reach spot, so go ahead and personalize your fridge to what makes the most sense for your cooking and eating habits.
4. Add shelving to suit your personal inventory
One of the great things about fridge organization ideas is that you can get creative and come up with your own tricks to store your food. For example, if bottles are causing chaos in your fridge because they always wind up rolling around on their sides, consider how you can adjust your shelving.
In most cases, there’s no need to squeeze a gallon of milk or orange juice into a too-tight door or waste precious space above another item, like a package of butter.
So, whenever the situation requires it, evaluate the spacing of your refrigerator’s shelves. You obviously don’t have to adjust the shelves after every grocery store trip, but occasionally taking a look at how they are working for what you frequently buy will spare you a lot of stress.
Keep reading to discover other fridge organization ideas!
5. Label your leftovers with masking tape
No. 5 on our list of fridge organization ideas is marking your leftovers so you know exactly when you cooked them. If you peek into any restaurant’s walk-in cooler, you’re guaranteed to find the humble yet so helpful combination of a masking tape and a Sharpie put to work.
The same thing you can do in your fridge and freezer. Stick a piece of masking tape with an expiration date on the containers that store the foods you’ve cooked, and it will help you keep track and avoid food waste.
Now you’ll know for sure if those carbonara pasta leftovers are still good.
6. Implement an “eat first bin”
You return home after a grocery store run, and you’re happy you found some fresh strawberries or berries. But there’s nothing more heartbreaking than a perfectly good container of your fresh produce that goes bad simply because you forgot about it or couldn’t see it. Which sends us to the next entry on our list of fridge organization ideas!
A great trick that will help you avoid this common sorrow is an “eat first bin”. Organizing experts suggest storing the about-to-go-bad products in a container at eye level. This way, it’s the first thing you reach for when you feel like you need a snack.
7. Storage bags are your friend
Next on our list of fridge organization ideas is using silicone bags to store food. Combine them with glass food containers, and you’ll become a pro organizer.
We all know how the fridge tends to overflow with different foods and ingredients, and without even realizing it, everything is a mess inside there. That’s why storage bags are great for consolidating pre-made salads, sandwhices, leftover rice, and even soup (you’ll need special ones that store liquids).
They are a storage must-have that will fit in smaller areas of your refrigerator and store oddly-shaped food that would be counterintuitive to keep in plastic containers.
Pro Tip: Step up the organizing game and invest in a slatted organizer that keeps the bags in an upright position, making the most of every square inch of your fridge.
8. Ditch a product’s original box
The next one is a trick that will help you make more room on the shelves. Boxes can sometimes pose a storage problem, especially if they are larger.
According to organizing experts, if a box is half-filled with food, it will use up the same amount of space as a box that is completely full. They suggest that once you open a box and use some of the food, transition the remaining food into a bag.
Moreover, you can label the bags with a sharpie to remind you what’s inside and how to cook them.
9. Use turntables for less frequently used condiments
Last but not least on our list of fridge organization ideas is getting a turntable to store those condiments you use less often. We’ve all been there, reaching for a bottle of salsa on the top shelf, when an avalanche of mustard, maple syrup, and mayo tumbled on top of you instead.
That’s why most of us keep rarely used condiments on the back, top corner of the fridge. Instead of storing them there, organizing experts recommend using a turntable for the condiments that don’t fit in your refrigerator’s side door, like hummus, sour cream, and salsa.
If you liked our article on fridge organization ideas, you may also want to read 8 Things You Should Take Off Your Kitchen Countertop.
