There are several major advantages to having an organised fridge. Most importantly, it helps to save you time and money by ensuring everything is easy to find, and less produce goes to waste. An organised fridge can help you use your storage solutions more effectively, and encourages your fridge to run more efficiently. Here's a little look at how I recently whipped ours into shape!
We've just returned home from a wonderful Summer holiday at the family beach-house. I love having so much quality time with our little ones and my husband while he's on break. Beach adventures, park visits, lots of ice-cream, and block tower creations made for a lovely few weeks, and a great way to unwind from a super busy December!
Not so fun though, was coming home to this sight.... I mean, could this fridge be any emptier?! Look at that poor lonely egg....
Because we go away for about 10 days every year, I always try to run the fridge and cupboard supplies down at the end of December so we're not wasting any food. Which means, when we come home in January, there is a major food shop to be done! The only thing we grabbed on the way home yesterday was milk and bread, but I needed to stock up on everything else.
After posting some fridge inspiration on Instagram, I decided that now was the perfect time to get our fridge in order. This year, I'm all about trying to come up with systems that make life as easy as possible, and having an organised fridge full of healthy food is definitely one of my goals.
BONUS: Get your free 10-step checklist for organising your fridge by clicking on the button below!
When the fridge is this empty, it's the perfect time to give it a thorough clean! I sprayed the shelves down with a water and vinegar combination and gave them a good scrub. I usually give the shelves a wipe-down each week/fortnight before I do the grocery shopping, so they weren't too bad. I also took out the side bits in the door and gave them a wash in some hot soapy water (these were bad as I rarely remember to complete this step!!)
Nothing like starting with a blank slate!
After hitting the shops, I laid everything out on the bench-tops so I could start to categorise. Believe me, every surface of the kitchen was covered during this organising process!
I then starting placing food items into the storage containers I had on hand. This included 3 handled baskets, which are great for easily grabbing whatever you need rather than having to reach into the back of the fridge. I also have a large storage basket in which I keep everything lunch related. I've used this for a few years now, and still love it for the convenience of grabbing the whole basket out so I can quickly put sandwiches together for the family.
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I made some new fridge labels using this free download, and just printed the words out separately and stuck them on. Aren't they cute?
BONUS: Get your free fridge organisation checklist by clicking on the button below...
Time for the fun part - putting everything back in! The fridge door pretty much remained as it was, but I found room to load up the spare milk containers (we go through SO much milk in this house!), and the sauces were moved to the bottom shelf.
I also labelled the eggs with the date so I can tell which ones need to be used up first when we purchase fresh eggs.
In the main part of the fridge, the space on the right of the top shelf is now free to store our mason jar salads. We usually make 4-6 at a time for the week, and they do take up quite a bit of room! The things we grab for breakfast each morning, such as yoghurt and fruit, are now easily accessible, and there is room behind for back-ups/extra supplies. The second shelf holds the lunch basket, cheese basket (parmesan, feta, cheddar), and leftovers, which I label using washi tape so I can remember the date it was made.
Shelf 3 holds two handled baskets for fruit (which I try to mix up the variety of each week), and apples, which we always buy. The smaller container holds citrus fruit, and there is a space at the end of the shelf for defrosting meat for dinner. The bottom shelf holds containers full of prepared veg, which I still find to be such a time-saver, plus they stay fresh for so much longer! There is actually nothing at the moment in the crisper, but it's always good to have extra space.
So glad to have the fridge sorted and organised at the start of the new year. I'm tackling the freezer next, and am looking forward to sharing that with you!
Don't forget to grab your free 10-step checklist for organising your fridge by clicking on the button below...
