Fridge Archives - Graceful Order

Let us begin our 2014 organizing series with the kitchen. More specifically, the refrigerator.

I don’t know about you, but after the holidays my refrigerator is a mess. During the holidays, I purchase food items that are either for Thanksgiving, Christmas breakfast and other holiday get togethers. All these items, in addition to our regular shopping list, culminate in a messy refrigerator.

January is the perfect time to completely empty the refrigerator and start fresh!

The first thing you want to do is remove all sauces and dressings and place them on the counter. This is a good opportunity to look at all the dates and toss out all the expired items. Also, you may have opened a container of ricotta or sour cream, but you only needed half a cup…throw out what has since spoiled.

Once you have the bottles that you are keeping, wipe them clean and set aside.

Next, let’s remove the refrigerator shelves and bins (if they are removable) and soak them in a mixture of 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 1 quart of warm water. You can use the same solution to wipe down the rest of the refrigerator. Clean, dry and put all the bins back in place.

I use refrigerator coasters from “Fridge Coaster” and I had not changed them out in almost a year. I used this opportunity to pick out a new set. I love the pop of color that they add to the fridge!

This is also a good time to reposition your shelves to better suit your needs. I adjust them fairly often to fit the products I buy.

Start placing all the items back in the refrigerator. Designate a spot for everything.

And the side bins…

I keep clear OXO containers (without the lids) inside the pull out bins so that all the garlic and onion skins that collect at the bottom, can be easily cleaned up. Also, any vegetable that has gone bad doesn’t seep all over my clean bin.

Lastly, the deli drawer. My kids favorite and the only one that my toddler can reach.

I have clear bins in here as well to keep like-items in place. Also, I have a bin for oily items like pesto and other spreads, that would otherwise leave oily circles inside the refrigerator. I keep a larger clear bin in the top shelf for defrosting items.

You can find some bins in my amazon shop under “Refrigerator Bin” and Fridge Bin. You can also find them at Bed Bath and Beyond. Sometimes, even Homegoods will have a few. Just make sure that you purchase bins that are refrigerator safe so that they don’t crack.

Having a clean and organized refrigerator has more advantages than just being visually appealing. If you always put your butter in the same spot, then you know when you are out. Even grocery shopping gets easier.

Stay tuned next week as we move on to the rest of the kitchen, and eventually the whole house!

Happy Organizing!

Maria

Give them food and they will come…the fridge. Everyone congregates in the kitchen and everyone is always checking out what there is to eat in the refrigerator. With all the hands coming in and out of the refrigerator it is bound to get messy fast. There are ways that I have discovered to minimize the mess. Here I will share with you how I organize the refrigerator in my home. These systems work for me and maybe they can work for you too.

The fridge. We have had this refrigerator for about 5 years now. When it is clean it is perfection. When it’s not….its gross. I have to clean it everyday to keep it looking like this. It’s part of my night routine to give it a little wipe down before I sit down to watch some TV with the boys. Considering that I have a toddler that is always putting his little sticky hands on the freezer drawer, it doesn’t stay clean for very long. I must admit it is kind of cute when I see his little hand print there at the end of the day. When I see my 40-year-old husbands hand print it isn’t quite as cute 🙂 .

Here it is on the inside:

It’s ready for its close-up!

The first thing I want to share with you are these adorable fridge coasters that you can see below and also peeking through the picture above. They are so cute! This proves that you can bring beauty to anything and everything. They are from fridgecoaster.com and they are very absorbent and should be changed out as often as you change out your water filter unless they are still in great shape. They come in many colors and designs. I couldn’t decide on one design so I mixed and matched different designs in the yellow. I don’t endorse the product, I just love it. I will be doing a giveaway on the coasters at a later date so I will keep you posted!

You see the huge blue water bottle? How could you not? Well, here is the story behind it: I used to buy individual water bottles which I would later recycle. The recycling helped me feel better about the environment but not about the BPA that was in the bottles. I found these gallons at Whole Foods Market and they are BPA free and just cents to refill. I place two of these in the bin (I took one out so that you could see the cute coaster).

Here is the deli drawer. My favorite drawer (also my toddlers favorite because it’s the only one he can reach) because somehow it stays organized most of the time. I purchased the clear refrigerator containers that you see below and they help keep the items from shifting and the refrigerator clean from spills.

More bins! I have one container that I use exclusively to hold meat that is defrosting or marinating. So many times I have had to clean one whole side of the refrigerator because of some spill from meat…gross. This avoids that problem so I don’t put anything else in the large shallow container. Next to it is a smaller container that I use for the boys juice boxes. My 9-year-old started taking his lunch to school so I grab a juice from here everyday.

Below is where I place the milk and creamer since I now place the large water gallons on the door bin. As you can see the shelves on my refrigerator don’t line up. I move them around to fit what I currently have in the fridge. I have a really tall space for the milk and then a really narrow space for tortillas and small items. You can really maximize the space in your refrigerator if you do this. The bins on the door are also removable and I have moved those around as well. Most newer refrigerators have bins and shelves that can be repositioned.

The freezer. I don’t like it. I love the rest of the fridge so much that I just try to work with the space in the freezer. We have to have a separate freezer in the garage because this one is so small and I can’t stock up here. Also the ice bin takes up quite a bit of space. In the top wire bin I keep homemade chicken stock and homemade waffles. The bottom wire rack has an awkward shape so I just place things in there the best I can. I do love the design of the fridge and having the freezer in the bottom. I just think the freezer should have a better design. Oh well! That’s a first world problem. Not a big deal!

Enjoy organizing your refrigerator and thank God for the sticky hands!

Maria

The Graceful Refrigerator

Kitchen: Refrigerator Organization