Do you have that same old problem with your fridge: no matter how big it is, there’s always a lack of space there for just one more thing you wanted to store there? It can be a logistical nightmare to get everything sorted and organized, even if you have enough time – especially if you go grocery shopping only once a month.
However, when we talked to home appliance pros at Lars Appliance Showroom, they assured us that most people don’t need oversized fridges and that the standard size of a fridge can serve the needs of a typical family just fine with a bit of organizational skills. Here’s what they recommend.
Add a Shelf, Not Volume
If you think that there is no room in your fridge for an additional shelf, you are probably wrong. In fact, chances are that your fridge has at least one rung more than the number of shelves installed in it. This is because people tend to store items vertically. This may be important for some things like condiment bottles or beverages, but most items can just as easily be stored horizontally.
With the additional space, you can store those things that were previously just not fitting into your fridge. By limiting the amount of wasted space, you are making your fridge better optimized – which is especially important if you have a relatively small fridge.
Separate Storage Areas or Bins
If you are thinking that introducing spacers or bins into your fridge will actually reduce the amount of space in your fridge – you are right. This tip is more oriented towards organization than increasing storage area.
Storage bins are a great way to organize your fridge. Whether you want to go by color, food type or the meal mostly associated with the food item in your fridge – keeping yourself organized is definitely a way towards better utilization of your fridge.
Case in point, if you are looking for a certain item, instead of rummaging through the fridge, you can just take the storage bin where this item is supposed to be, take it out of the fridge and search it much more easily. Your fridge already comes with several of these storage bins (like those for veggies and eggs). All you are doing is pushing this idea a step further.
Organize and Label Your Fridge
Having these containers added to your fridge doesn’t really help you much on its own – you may still end up searching through your fridge. The only difference is that instead of searching through the whole thing at once you’ll be going through individual containers.
Instead, consider taking the time to properly sort everything in its appropriate bins and areas and then simply just labeling those areas. If you can get your family to follow these simple rules, not only will you solve the issue of spending oodles of time in front of an open fridge, but you will also be better aware if you’re running low on any particular foodstuff.
Give Your Fridge an Occasional Cleaning
Organizing and cleaning the fridge may be a drag – it will take some time, and if there were any spills, you may need to clean them. However, once you’ve done it, you’ll feel a lot better every time you open the fridge.
While you’re there, cleaning, take a look at things you have in the fridge and remove any items that are past their expiration date (we all have at least one jar somewhere that should really be thrown out.
These simple tips will ensure that you always have enough space in your fridge. And if you don’t, well, there’s nothing stopping you from buying a larger fridge.
