Advice
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Refrigerator
Organization
07.22.05
Dear
Kathi,
I can never seem to find anything in my refrigerator. I rearrange
my fridge frequently but between my kids and husband, I can’t
maintain any type of order. What steps can I take to organize my fridge
and freezer?
Sarah, San Diego
Sarah,
Refrigerators can be a challenge, especially when you have many hands
reaching in throughout the day. To create long-lasting order, consider
how your favorite grocery store departmentalizes their merchandise.
Mimic this template and it will be easier for you and your family
to remember where to find and return items in your refrigerator.
Every refrigerator has a different configuration. Your solutions might
involve a variation of the theme because of your fridge layout.
Start this process by creating spaces for “like with like”
for instance, dairy with dairy, meat with meat and so on.
Most refrigerators have a butter door. Because of this, we seldom
have a problem locating the butter. The margarine and cheese are probably
a different story. If your fridge is not equipped with a drawer for
dairy, create your own drawer. Buy a long narrow plastic bin that
runs the depth of your shelf. Put all of your cheeses into this container.
Following your grocery format, locate lunchmeats and other meats next
to the cheese in a similar container.
There are usually more condiments than space within your door pockets.
Keep the most frequently used condiments in the door and the remaining
sauces grouped together towards the back of your shortest shelf.
Beverages follow a similar pattern. Keep a few in the door and the
rest clustered together on the top and back of the tallest shelf,
which is generally the coldest zone. If you mix your own juices, keep
this decanter next to the other bottles and jugs.
Leftovers and prepared foods should have their own zone on the short
shelf. Note: when purchasing plastic storage containers, buy square
or rectangular shapes. Round bowls create wasted space and do not
fit well side by side.
If your family eats more than a dozen eggs per week, consider forgoing
the egg container provided by the refrigerator manufacturer. Instead,
stack your eggs in their original cardboard crates on top of each
other on the short shelf beside the cheese and meat bins. If the open
access of the manufacturer’s bin appeals to you, stack it on
top of the remaining closed egg crate. When you are ready to cook
breakfast, all ingredients are close together. Grab the eggs, cheese
and meat bins and you are ready to create your favorite omelet!
For quick snacks, consider keeping a bowl of peeled carrots, cut celery
or other healthy foods in a bowl located on the front of the shelf
nearest eye level. This might distract the hungry hands that normally
root around and rearrange the fridge.
Stack flat boxes together in the freezer. Frozen leftovers should
be stored in square or rectangular containers whenever possible. Juices
with juices, ice cream with ice cream and so on.
Store your frozen vegetable bags in the door whenever possible. If
you have more bags than door space, consider keeping them in their
own plastic bin. This allows you to stack them together and avoid
the hazard of them toppling out of the freezer when you open the door.
To optimize morning smoothie preparation, store your frozen fruits
in a long narrow plastic bin. Each morning, simply pull this bin from
the freezer, choose the fruit necessary to create your desired flavor
and return the remaining fruit to the freezer. A smoothie bin makes
it easy to grab the ingredients with little effort. It also keeps
sticky fruit residues off of the kitchen counter and the freezer shelf.
Please
submit your questions to:
advice@addspacetoyourlife.com
.
San Diego Professional Organizer
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