Organize your Refrigerator

Have you had any science experiments growing in your refrigerator lately? lol
refrigeratorIt is so easy for things to get pushed to the back of the refrigerator and get lost. I don’t have a side by side, my freezer is on top and our refrig. isn’t all that big. When the milk and big things are on the top shelf that is just over waist high, then it is harder to see down to the lower shelves to see what might be on the bottom.
Plus ours had gotten so dirty! Yuck! I did wait until the refrig was pretty empty to take on this project. It is not normally this bare!
Before
You can see from this picture how some things are pushed way to the back. There is a pop can underneath the drawer and I’m not sure what is in that round container on the bottom in the back. I don’t normally get back away from it on this level (like I am to get this picture)

Ok… fresh Parmesan cheese. That was from the beginning of December, wonder what the expiration is on that?
Looks like 2 open jars of applesauce. The mayo should be in the doo
Here is one of the things that drive me crazy. I can’t get my hubby or kids to put lunch meat and cheese in the meat drawer. Then they get pushed to the back of the refrig. and not found.
refrigeratorThen I open the drawer and see this – the cheese wrapper without any slices of cheese in it! There is one underneath it. For pete sakes… can’t anyone throw away an empty wrapper? Do you have to deal with any of this at your house?
Here is the door. I see duplicates …. it will feel so good to get this cleaned out
Empty everything out of your refrigerator! I suggest 1 shelf at a time.
This is the top shelf contents.
Oh.. I’m not opening that to check it… would you? It is what… 2 1/2 months old! lol
Here is what I was left with on the top shelf after I purged what I didn’t need or was expired.
Pretty amazing huh? No…. pretty bad!! Good thing I waiting until the fridge was practically empty anyway.
So I kept going…. and cleaned and purged the rest of my refrig. This is actually good to do routinely before you go to the store (not clean the whole thing, but get rid of old things and make room before you leave, it helps you to see what you need and it eliminates stress when you are trying to fit everything into your small fridge and have to do it while your food is melting sitting on the counter.
Clean your refrigerator!
Look how gross this is! Don’t just take a rag and clean it off ! You need to clean thoroughly! ewwww!(like your whole lawn with big best zero turn mower)

Take out those shelves… make a big sink full of soapy water… and go to it!
This way you can really clean it well!
Look at the difference from one that has been washed to what another shelf looks like pre-wash.Big difference!
So pull out all the shelves and all the bins off the doors…. and then clean the rest of the refrigerator good too.
Warning…… Naked Refrig Alert!! lol
Reassemble the Refrig and don’t forget that your shelves are adjustable! You can decide where you want them.. it doesn’t have to be traditional.
adjustable shelves in refrigerator
You can use your tallest item (pop bottle, wine bottle) to check that you have at least one place that is tall enough in your arrangement of shelves.
You may have seen my lime green baskets I got at Old Time Pottery for my pantry. I found red ones for my refrigerator too. They are plastic, so they are washable. They have a handle, so you can pull them out easily. They came in different styles and sizes.
Old Time Pottery baskets
It just seemed to me that this might help take care of the problem of things (like best above ground pools in summer) getting stuck in the back of the
My only concern is that they “just fit”. So if someone pulls them out, and doesn’t push them all the way back…. then the door might not close completely. I will have to keep an eye on it… and might realize that I have to go back and get a smaller size