16 Organizing Hacks For A Clean And Tidy Fridge

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Refrigerators have a way of getting cluttered and messy quickly, mainly because they see so much use. Sure, you start off with good intentions. You throw out the old food and organize what's left. But in the rush of everyday life, condiments get tossed on a shelf instead of their usual door spot and leftovers get shoved wherever they fit. Soon, you can't find that container of hummus you know you bought, and a stack of food containers crashes down while you look for it. 

Creating a refrigerator organization strategy you can stick with could help cut down on food waste and spoilage because items won't get lost in the back, where they sit and mold. Plus, certain foods benefit from being in specific spots in the fridge to maximize freshness. Organization also saves time when you're looking for food items, and that means the fridge door won't be open as long, which reduces energy usage. A large part of keeping your fridge tidy is designating spots for foods. Beyond that, adding specialty containers or organization items encourages you to put items where they belong, even when you're in a hurry. We have 16 tips that will help you avoid the most common mistakes when organizing your fridge to help keep it neat and clean.

Having a designated spot for everything makes it easier to keep refrigerated items neat, but the location you choose for different types of food also matters. That's because the temperature isn't completely consistent, even if you choose the correct temperature for your fridge. The back on the bottom shelves is typically the coldest spot, partially because it is usually closest to the cooling units. But it's also away from the door, where warm air enters when you open the fridge. Lower shelves also remain cooler since colder air drops. However, upper shelves are sometimes the coldest in fridges with integrated ice makers. Putting items that need to stay colder on the bottom shelf can help them last longer and avoid messy spoilage. 

Condiments and beverages can typically tolerate slightly warmer temperatures, so they should go in the door, as they also fit well in the narrow compartments. Top shelves are best left for foods that are ready to eat or items like leftovers. Raw meat and other foods that spoil quickly (and have to be cooked fully) should go to the bottom. Not only do they stay colder there, but they also won't drip on other foods. Fruits and veggies go in the crisper drawers with higher humidity settings for items that have thinner skin. Deli drawers are often ideal for cheese as they limit drying airflow around those items.

Whether you're cooking a meal from scratch or assembling brown bag lunches for work and school, you often need multiple items from the fridge to prepare a meal. Organizing items that you use together regularly makes those trips to the fridge easier — grab multiple ingredients at once without digging around to find what you need. This goes beyond just putting similar items together. Of course, it makes sense to put dairy items together because they need similar cooling requirements and may go together frequently. But it doesn't have to just be the same food groups that go together.

For example, you might put deli meat and cheese slices together for easier sandwich making. If you eat burrito bowls for lunch, put the cooked chicken, rice, and toppings close together. Creating an area with ready-to-eat food items makes it easy for kids to grab a snack or pick items to put in a lunch box. Consider what meals you make frequently and what goes into those meals. Then, arrange those items near one another.

Refrigerator drawers often fill up quickly, which means it can be difficult to find what you need or remember what you have, especially in deeper drawers where different items get piled on top of one another. Wide, shallow drawers might result in some items being shoved to the back. Adding drawer dividers makes it easier to keep different types of food separated within one drawer. You can put similar items in each section to keep them from shifting around and getting lost.

There are plenty of Dollar Tree items to use as drawer dividers, like small organizer bins. Make sure you choose bins that will fit snugly in the drawer so they don't slide around or waste space. Or, buy expandable drawer dividers that will fit in your refrigerator drawers. Vtopmart shallow drawer dividers, for example, fit in deli drawers or other spaces that aren't very deep. To find the best options, measure the width, length, and depth of each drawer before buying. 

Food items comes in all different types of packages, including bags, cartons, and containers that lack visual appeal. Plus, they can take up extra space in your fridge, growing increasingly inefficiant as contents run out. Varying package shapes and sizes also make it more challenging to use up all of the space on your fridge shelves. Grabbing plastic storage bins creates a more aesthetically pleasing and uniform way to store smaller items in your fridge. Clear plastic is ideal, because you can easily see what's inside, but you can also find solid plastic containers in different hues to create an organizational color-coding system. 

Decide which items will go in the bins before purchasing, so you can match the containers to the items. Measure the depth and height of each shelf to find bins that will maximize the space while also leaving empty shelves for larger items that don't need bins. This strategy doesn't have to cost a fortune — there are plenty of creative ideas to organize your fridge using Dollar Tree containers that won't break the bank.

There are many unique organization products to keep your refrigerator under control that are designed for specific items. Egg holders, yogurt organizers, pickle strainers, and food pouch hangers are a few examples. Some of those items can take up more space in your refrigerator, but others fit into traditionally unused areas to maximize your storage. Some are effective at keeping items from falling all over the fridge. For example, the Semcide yogurt organizer mounts to the side of the fridge, where you can slide your yogurt cups so they don't tip over on fridge shelves.

Scan your fridge for small items that are tricky to store, like eggs, yogurt, bagged ingredients, or food pouches. If you regularly have those items in your refrigerator, look for a specialty holder designed for that type of item. Give priority to products that mount under shelves or on side walls of the fridge, so you can fit them into spaces that are underutilized.

With so many brilliant ways to repurpose a lazy susan around the house, you might not think about using it in the fridge. But it can be useful for bottles, jars, and tubs that normally get crammed onto a shelf. It seems like those items constantly get shuffled around as you try to find the items you need. In the process, they might tip over or even fall off of the shelf. Using a turntable or lazy susan on the shelf is an easy way to look through the items you have to find what you need. As a bonus, it also keeps similar items contained to small spot, so they don't encroach on other storage areas in the fridge.

Separate the items that will work well on a lazy susan — condiment bottles are compatible with the turntable option, if you have some that aren't kept in the door. Slender containers take up less space on the turntable, making it more practical. The Dollar Tree Storage Essentials clear acrylic turntable is an affordable option, especially if you want to use multiple lazy susans in your fridge.

Bins allow you to separate items by type of food, but the organizational system might not always be obvious, especially to other members of your family. The contents of a snack bin could look similar to items in a bag lunch bin, for example. Family members might mistake a yogurt bin as a general dairy container. Adding labels to the containers eliminates any confusion as to what goes where and which bin you need for specific items. 

Talented Kitchen labels or similar preprinted options give you a tidy look for your refrigerator bins. But the included labels might not cover the specifics you want to use. MESS erasable labels offer a customizable option where you can write specific category names yourself and change them as your storage needs change. Or, create custom vinyl labels for bins using your Cricut, which allows you to choose the font, color, and size for an aesthetically pleasing display. 

Prevent food waste with a fridge organizing tip that changes the game: putting items that you need to eat soon in a designated spot that's easy to see. This reduces the risk of those items going bad and leaking or stinking up the entire fridge. An eye-level location reduces the chances of you overlooking those items that don't have much time left. Keep in mind that the items with the shortest shelf life will change frequently as food items get older. Get in the habit of checking food expiration dates regularly and moving them to the "eat first" spot as they near the date.

Identify a spot that's most visible in your refrigerator — that's often the top shelf or one that sits at eye level. That's where you want to put the items that will reach their expiration dates soon. If you have several smaller items, you can create a bin for the foods you need to eat first. When you need a quick meal idea or snack, get in the habit of checking that area first to see if anything there will work. 

Your life will be easier when the refrigerated items you use daily are easy to grab. It saves you time and reduces stress by eliminating those frustrating deep searches through every shelf. Priority items will depend on your family's preferences and eating style. For many busy people and families with kids, snacks are a priority, which makes a spot near the front and within reach of all family members ideal. If you cook meals from scratch frequently, the go-to refrigerated items are likely ingredients like eggs and butter.

Pull out the contents of each section of your fridge to determine which items you use most often. When you put the food back in the fridge, put those items near the front so they're easy to spot and quick to grab. If you use a storage bin system, place those items in a dedicated bin that you can put in the most prominent spot (after the soon-to-expire items, of course). 

Do your fridge shelves work well with the typical food products and storage containers you use? If not, consider taking out and rearranging the shelves for better spacing to match how you use the fridge. Fridge shelves (and even drawers) often come out easily by lifting them up. Then, choose a set of slots that best matches the desired spacing between it and the shelves or drawers above or beneath it.

Once you organize the contents of your fridge based on expiration date, frequency of use, and similar product types, look at the available space in those areas. If one shelf is crowded while another has lots of free vertical space, shift the shelves to better align with the contents. The adjustment can free up vertical space on the crowded shelf without sacrificing storage on the less-used shelf. You may need to change the spacing periodically as your buying habits or favorite food items change.

The types of food storage containers you use matter. In a small or crowded refrigerator, you need to free up as much space as possible. Round containers aren't as efficient with space, because you can't line them up right next to one another, and they don't pair well with other squared containers, either. Square and rectangular containers stack easily and sit side-by-side without any wasted space around the corners. Even if the containers are different sizes, you can arrange the longer sides easier to use up all of the shelf space.

You don't have to throw away your round containers if you already have some. Use them in other areas where maximizing space isn't as crucial. Save the square and rectangular food storage options for the fridge. If you invest in new containers, make sure they're stackable to maximize vertical storage space, too.

Some items are small or odd-shaped and don't fit well into a traditional storage container. If you do store them in those containers, they often take up more space than they need to. Instead, consider using reusable silicone bags to store those items. Not only are silicone bags one of the best eco-friendly kitchen products you can own, but they can also save space in your refrigerator. You can often fold or tuck them into smaller spots, which allows you to fill in those little gaps in the fridge.

Keep silicone or other types of reusable bags on hand. Having different sizes and shapes allows you to better match a food item with a bag to minimize wasted space. When possible, store the reusable bags upright to avoid taking up lots of shelf space. You can often tuck the bags between items, or lay them horizontally on top of another storage container.

Adjusting the shelves that come with the fridge can help you customize the storage, but you still may struggle to use vertical space effectively. Sure, you can stack items atop each other, but different foods don't always stack well. Then, when you need something on the bottom, you have to pull out everything on top of it. A more convenient option is adding risers or under-shelf drawers and storage solutions. These allow you to use the full space while keeping the items separated.

Options like the OXO Good Grips fridge shelf riser offer adjustable platforms that you can customize to the perishables you're storing. Slide heavier bowls or containers underneath, and put lighter-weight items on the upper shelf. If you want more drawer space, grab options like the URALFA fridge drawer organizer, which clips onto the bottom side of a shelf.

Cardboard and plastic packaging around beverages is often bulky, inefficient, and not very attractive. On the other hand, lettinh loose drink cans and bottles roll around in the fridge also gets messy — even if you put them in neat rows, they rarely stay that way as people dig into the fridge for various items. Drink dispensers keep the beverages contained and typically put the next drink forward, so your beverages are always readily accessible.

Dollar Tree soda can holders will revolutionize your kitchen organization, in and out of the refrigerator. But for fridge organization purposes, load a Storage Essentials acrylic soda can organizer with your favorite canned beverages. If you have different sizes of beverage containers to organize, look for different variations, like the IBORING drink organizer with multiple rows and levers that push the drinks forward. These options dedicate a certain part of the fridge to beverages to keep things tidy and organized. Or, choose specialty storage, like the IVAILEX egg holder.

The contents of refrigerators vary significantly, but some people have a large amount of prepared food or leftovers. These are items that are ready to eat right out of the refrigerator, like precut fruit, or leftovers that simply need light reheating. You might grab premade heat-and-eat meals at the grocery store for quick options on busy nights. These items make your life easier, which is why you want to keep them accessible. Grab what you need and get a meal on the table quickly. 

Designate a good spot for those easy-to-use foods that are basically ready to eat. You want to keep them cold enough to prevent bacterial growth, but they don't necessarily need to be in the coldest part of the fridge. In fact, you don't want those items near raw meat because you could cause cross-contamination with the potential bacteria in or on raw foods.

Drips, crumbs, and spills happen in refrigerators, even when you're careful. Putting a shelf liner, mat, or tray on each shelf keeps those fridge messes contained. Instead of scrubbing an awkward shelf, you can pull out the liner, shake off the crumbs, and wipe it down or wash it. Various shelf liner options add color or grip to the shelves, and many materials can be cut to size.

The liner option you choose depends on the look you prefer and any additional benefits you want. A nonslip shelf liner keeps jars and containers for sliding across shelves, for example. You can even bring style and organization to your fridge with inexpensive placemats to line the shelves. Don't forget drawer liners, too, especially in your produce drawers. Fruits and veggies can get mushy fast, so having an absorbent layer in the drawer helps soak up loose liquid that comes out of them can be a huge help.