How to Organize Your Refrigerator

We’ve come a long way from the icebox of the 1800s to refrigerators with computers in the door of the 21^st century. While technology marches forward, organization remains a mystery.

Here are a few tips we’ve found on proper placement for freshness, making space when there is none and the tools you need to make it happen.

Happy organizing!

Stage a Fridgervention

Does your messy space need a complete overhaul? Live Your Style DIY home décor and style expert Sharrah Stevens teaches these tips for a start to finish intervention for your fridge:

1. Purge – Get rid of expired items and things you bought for that one recipe you will never use again. Take the rest out of your refrigerator and set to the side. Now clean.
2. Add shelf liners – If you are dealing with spills on a regular basis, shelf liners make cleanup quick and easy.
3. Organize with clear containers – You have a meat drawer, a veggie drawer and a fruit drawer. Add extra organization drawers for similar items with clear containers.
4. Store items in the correct temperature zone – Check out the list below from our friends at Real Simple Magazine for a great guide to temperatures for your refrigerated items. Stevens also recommends keeping the healthy items in the easiest-to-reach location – front and center.
5. Rotate your fridge – When you go grocery shopping, bring the oldest to the front and top. Stack the newest behind and under the older items.

Want more? Watch Stevens’ video.

Keeping It Fresh

Nicole Sforza of Real Simple Magazine shares this step-by-step grocery placement list:

1. Eggs –  Eggs fare best on the middle shelf where the temperature is most consistent. Sforza tell us to store eggs in the original cartons. She recommends not moving them to the refrigerator’s egg container.
2. Milk –  While we often put milk on the top shelf, Sforza says that’s not the best place for it. She recommends putting milk on the bottom at the back, where temperatures are coldest.
3. Yogurt, sour cream and cottage cheese – Keep these dairy items on the bottom shelf where temperatures are coldest. Try putting them on a turntable so they are easy to access, and you can easily see the expiration dates.
4. Packaged raw meat – Sforza says to keep meat on the bottom shelf. Not only is it coldest, but if juices from the meat drip, they won’t contaminate the rest of the refrigerator.
5. Vegetables – Veggies stay fresher longer with some humidity. You most likely have a drawer labeled vegetables (or high humidity). This is the moistest spot in the fridge. Keep vegetables in the original packaging or loosely tied in a plastic bag.
6. Fruit – Fruit, unlike vegetables, goes in the low-humidity drawer (sometimes marked crisper). Like vegetables, keep fruit in its original packaging or a loosely tied plastic bag. You can keep citrus on its own without a bag. Sforza says to wait to wash fruits and vegetables until you use them as water can cause mold and bacteria to grow.
7. Deli meats – Keep deli meats in the shallow meat drawer. The shallow meat drawer is slightly colder than the rest of the refrigerator. If you don’t have a shallow meat drawer, keep deli meats on the bottom shelf.
8. Butter and soft cheeses  – Because butter and soft cheeses don’t need to be super cold, you can keep them in the dairy compartment on the door. This is usually the warmest part of the fridge. Soft cheeses, such as Brie and goat cheese, should go in an air-tight container after opening.
9. Condiments  – Condiments are generally high in natural preservatives like vinegar and salt. Ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing, pickles and jarred salsa can stay in the refrigerator door, while olive and vegetable oils are best in the pantry. Nut oils, like sesame or walnut oils, should go in the refrigerator’s door.
10. Orange juice – Orange juice is fine in the refrigerator door if it is pasteurized. Keep fresh-squeezed orange juice on the bottom shelf where it is colder.

Now that you have reorganized your refrigerator, ready to redo your kitchen? Spectrum Stone Designs can help you redesign your kitchen for a fresh, clean and organized look. Contact us today.

About Spectrum Stone Designs

Spectrum Stone Designs is Lynchburg’s only local fabricator of natural stone countertops, surrounds and tiles for kitchens, fireplaces and baths. Serving Lynchburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville and all of Central Virginia, Spectrum Stone Designs imports top-quality granite, marble and other stone and expertly cuts and polishes before professionally installing in homes or offices. Spectrum Stone Designs strives for excellence in craftsmanship and customer service.