Tips for Organizing Your Fridge

The start of a new year often brings resolutions to stress less, work out more and to eat healthier foods. However, even if you aren’t engaging in a major life overhaul, it is definitely a good time to clean out your fridge and dispose of all evidence of holiday excess. We just undertook this endeavor ourselves and have a few tips for you to make organizing it and maintaining it a little easier. 

• After cleaning out your fridge and washing out the bins and shelves, consider lining your produce drawers with reusable cloth liners and your refrigerator shelves with clear plastic wrap to make future cleanings easy. The cloth liners can be tossed into the washing machine between uses and the plastic wrap can ripped up and replaced once something has spilled.
• Gather all like products together - such as produce, spreads or snacks - and put them in clear bins or baskets with labels. This makes finding and retrieving the items easier for you and the family as they can easily be pulled in and out. We even use a variation of the clear bin for the produce we use most often so that we can easily grab the tray and have everything we need in one place. 
• If space is at a premium or you don’t love everything in bins, try a Lazy Susan to maximize shelf space and keep everything within reach. 
• For smaller fridges, check out these magnets that will keep your metal capped bottles on the ceiling of the fridge freeing up space below for more food items.
• Clearing out expired food would be easy if you could easily read the date. Our trick for staying on top of it at home is to write the date on the product in Sharpie so that it is easily seen. We also do this with items that have a shorter shelf life once opened such as chicken broth, tomato paste, etc.
• Avoid spoiled dairy and meat products by storing them on the lower shelves of the fridge where it is coolest, not the door where temperatures can vary through daily use. Also, consider putting all raw meat products in a clear bin so that any drips are contained and don’t contaminate the whole shelf.     

How do you organize your refrigerator?

Kitchen Organizing Tips

Our kitchen day dreams are filled with visions of see-through refrigerators filled with beautiful produce (We’re looking at you, Yolanda Hadid!) and huge, bright pantries. However, the realities of New York living (think small apartments and cramped kitchens) dash many of those dreams and frankly a see-through fridge really isn’t practical. I mean I don’t think we want half-eaten pizza and last week’s Chinese takeout boxes on display for all to see - right?

Even if smaller space living is your reality, don’t despair! There are many ways to make the most of it and below are some of our favorite product picks for a beautifully organized kitchen regardless of size. 

Lazy Susan: Make the most of every nook and cranny of your kitchen by using a Lazy Susan. They can be placed in hard to reach corner cabinets or on deep shelves to make items more accessible. 

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Shelf Liners: Make cleaning inside cabinets easy with plastic shelf liners like this one. Liners are particularly helpful in food storage areas in case of spills or drips.

Shelf Pullouts: Accessibility is an important part of organization. Add roll-out cabinet organizers to your lower cabinets so that you can easily reach items without straining your back and to maximize the space.

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Small Appliances: If space is really at a premium, try purchasing reduced size appliances to save room in your cabinets and/or on counters. The products function the same but the bowls are typically smaller - 3.5 quarts versus 5 quarts. 

Clear Storage Bins: Not everything needs a bin but they are helpful for keeping smaller “like” items together in your cabinets and drawers.  Use them in drawers to organize your kitchen tools and cutlery and in cabinets and pantries to make organizing food stuffs easier. 

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Canisters: One way to make your space look cleaner and more organized is by using the same style organizing containers. If you are looking for new options, we are big fans of using clear canisters for cooking and baking supplies like flour, sugar and mixes. Not only do they look nice but clear containers show you when you need to restock. 

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Step Stools: Make good use of your upper cabinets and even the space between the cabinets and the ceiling with labeled storage bins. This will keep supplies out of sight but not out of mind. And, keep a step stool in the kitchen to making accessing those high up spaces a little easier. Folding step stools are good for saving space but we also love a rolling option as it is much easier to move around and it can stand in for an extra seat in a pinch. 

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Labels: The level to which you use labels to organize in your home is a personal decision but we do recommend them as an organizing tool. Clearly labels are great for containers holding specific items whether it is food or supplies but labels can also be helpful for creating designated areas in your home. For example, create sections in your pantry for breakfast foods, snacks or drinks. By sticking to categories on your labels, it is more likely that your family can and will help out and maintain it.

What are your favorite ways to keep your kitchen organized?