Between storing all of the leftovers from Thanksgiving & working on recipes for Christmas, our little fridge always looks like a scene from Hoarders around this time of year! I’ve been playing around with different storage solutions to try to find easy, affordable ways to maximize our fridge space, and I finally have a few tried-and-true tricks to share. Oh, and no worries, I don’t have any fancy labels or super-structured refrigerator organizing “zones” — these tips are all low-maintenance & slacker-friendly!
Tip #1: Maximize Space & Accessibility
I bought these wire pantry drawers for our fridge because I love baskets & pull-out drawers, but wanted to make sure they were deep enough to reach all the way to the back of my fridge. I didn’t want to give up storage space for the sake of organizing, and these fit my refrigerator’s measurements perfectly! (I didn’t use the drawer slides because they took up too much vertical space, and am happy to report that the wire baskets slide beautifully on my wire shelves.) I can pull the drawers all the way out, so I never have to do any awkward reach-that-thing-in-the-back-and-try-not-to-knock-everything-over maneuvers. WIN.
Extra Tip: I recently started storing my salads & leftovers in mason jars, and I really love them. They take advantage of vertical vs. horizontal space and they make food a lot more visible than traditional tupperware-type containers. We are doing a much better job of eating our salads & leftovers now that they look so appetizing and pretty. (I also placed them front & center in the fridge so they were harder to ignore!)
On the bottom shelf, I used a cheap little cabinet shelf under our deli drawer to stack bread & english muffins. On the right side, I repurposed a plastic storage drawer (it’s one of those Sterilite drawers you can find in dollar stores) to hold all of our loose food containers (extra condiments, yogurt containers, etc).
I also use these little nanosuction clips on the interior walls of my fridge to keep small items (bacon bits, fresh herb clippings, etc.) from getting lost or crushed. I love that I can take advantage of previously untapped storage space in my fridge this way!
Tip #2: Keep It Contained
Storing loose fruit in a bowl or container can help keep it from rolling all over the place & getting bruised or cut.
Containers are also helpful if you store a lot of snack bags or items that don’t stack easily — it keeps them neat & easy to grab!
Aaand that’s it! Nothing gets lost in the shuffle, no mysterious science projects are growing in tupperware hidden on the back of my shelves, and fruits and veggies actually get consumed before turning into puddles at the bottom of our produce drawer! Hooray!!
What are some of your favorite food storage tips? Share ’em in the comments below!
To read more from Casey, visit her at her blog, Pretty Organized.
Casey Osmundson
My name is Casey, and I live in a sweet, tiny little house in Delaware with my hubby & our two adorable rescue dogs. As a longtime fan of Toni's phenomenal organizing skills, I am absolutely THRILLED to be a contributor for A Bowl Full of Lemons! I used to be a total mess, but after I let go of the idea of “perfect,” I found freedom. I stopped trying to fit the mold, learned how to make organization work with my natural habits, and have been obsessed with creative organizing solutions ever since! When I'm not drooling over the latest amazing project features over here, you can find me happily tinkering away on my own blog, Pretty Organized, where I share my addiction to aesthetics, small space storage ideas, DIY projects, and all things aqua! Learn more about Casey at www.prettyorganized.com.
Tags: contributor, how to clean the refrigerator, kitchen
Blog, December 2013, food storage, Kitchen, Pretty Organized Posted in
24 comments
24 comments on “Slacker-Friendly Organizing: Smart Storage Solutions to Pimp Your Fridge!”
Those suction cups are an excellent idea!!
atelier zozo
Yes to suction cups. No to me wandering aimlessly looking for what store (much less dept) would stock them. Asking for suction cups that have a clip attached to hold things? A baby store? An office supply place? Amazon?
Great article! Lots of useful tips!! Thanks!
I love those ideas!! It looks so fresh and user friendly! But… is your fridge really THAT small, or is there more to it that’s just not in the picture? 🙂
Hey Aubrey! It’s not a mini fridge, but it’s pretty small. There are two small crisper drawers on the bottom that aren’t pictured, and that’s where we store our produce & bottled beverages. (The photo with the carrots in snack bags shows one of the crisper drawers.)
Great ideas! I love how orderly everything looks. I would love it if you could show me how to adapt this for my family of 5 who eat 3 meals a day at home nearly every day. Our refrigerator is screaming for mercy and it totally makes me crazy trying to get to things in the back or on the bottom shelves, but we have to store so much in there it is hard to implement any of the cute ideas I see online.
I definitely think it’s important to leave at least one shelf open for the random stuff (like how there’s nothing really on the top left side other than some milk & egg whites). Maybe a second fridge or mini fridge could help? I also read a really cool article recently that talked about how we really don’t need to refrigerate things as much as we think we do, and they gave some pretty cool tips for storing food outside of the fridge — maybe that can help free up some space? Here’s the link: http://www.treehugger.com/kitchen-design/saving-food-fridge-it-will-taste-better-may-even-last-longer-and-reduce-your-energy-bills.html and here’s another article with some pretty cool ideas: http://lazyhomesteader.com/2012/03/08/practical-ways-to-store-food-without-a-fridge/
Great post! Especially love the nanosuction clips! Great job Casey and thanks brilliant “lemons”! 🙂
These are such great ideas! We do a pretty good job of eating all of the food before it goes bad but it takes some skills to get everything I want out of the fridge. I’m going to get a basket or two to start out and see if this works for me. Thanks so much Casey!
Good luck, Angela!! The trick that worked for me was finding a basket that reached all the way into the back of the fridge. That way, I wasn’t wasting space or still stuck reaching bc I’d stacked stuff behind the basket!
I’d like to see a view of your fridge from further back to get the whole picture. I just purchased one of the french door fridges after years of debating over it. Honestly, I miss my older model fridge. I could stack my bowls and taller things fit better. I’m sure this is just a learning curve issue. I could use help from more seasoned fridge organizers. 🙂 Thanks
Hey Jae,
My fridge is just a standard-looking small, older fridge, where the freezer is on top, then there’s the fridge with wire shelving & under the shelves are two small crisper drawers. I have heard a lot of the same stuff about getting used to different storage with French door refrigerators (unless you get a really wide one or something). I hope you can get used to it soon!!
I use storage bins from the container store in my fridge. I removed one of my drawers that did not function well for us. In its place I put 3 storage bins that hold my cheese bags, biscuits (standing) and yogurts. Two plastic shoeboxes contain condiments and jelly type items. Will definitely be adding a drawer to hold lunchmeats and sliced cheeses.
Thanks for the great idea!
Oh, smart idea replacing the bad drawer with bins!! It’s probably easier to see stuff & keep it all separated that way, too!
These ideas are genius! I especially liked the mason jars with leftovers. Thanks so much, Casey. Keep on posting!
I love these ideas! Thanks for sharing your space-saving tips.
You could free up nearly 25% of your fridge space by not keeping your bread in there. As a bonus, it will stay fresh 6x longer on the counter than in the refrigerator. Win-Win!
I wonder if it depends on where you live. We keep our bread in the fridge and since doing so haven’t had to throw out a single loaf. Keeping it elsewhere, we were tossing loaf after loaf.
Wonderful ideas, I never even thought of using mason jars! Great post Casey!
I love the idea of the little clips to keep things from getting lost. Totally one of those “why didn’t I think of that” items.
OOoooo! Mason jars and suction cups! So smart Casey!!
Annie XO
Those are really smart storage ideas. I would certainly implement them in my household maintenance routine. Thanks for sharing!
this is nice! thanks for the ideas. if i can offer a tip in return, the avocados should not go in the fridge.
The mason jars and the clips to hang baggies … aaaah! So going to do those! Thanks for the inspiration to FINALLY get my fridge in better shape!