Organize Your Refrigerator Door

Time Needed: 20 minutes

When my kids were small and we had a big task ahead, I taught them to break it into smaller tasks.

Sometimes, we think that we want to reorganize our entire kitchen. That’s too much.

We can break that down into reorganizing our refrigerator. That’s still a lot.

Today, we are going to clean and organize our refrigerator door. No more. No less.

We are going to use five steps to accomplish this goal. Find 20 minutes of your week to finish this job. Put it on your calendar, just like an appointment. Find a fun podcast to play, a show to have on in the background, or hype music to keep you going.

STEP ONE: Remove

Take everything out of the door of the refrigerator one at a time. Put each item in one of three places:

Trash

  If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, it goes in the trash:

• Is it empty?
• Has it gone bad?
• Is it expired?
• Will I use it before it expires?

Inside the Refrigerator

 If it falls in one of these categories, put it in the body of the refrigerator. Why? The refrigerator door doesn’t maintain a consistent temperature,

              so avoid keeping foods in the door of the refrigerator that are more likely to be susceptible to bacteria.

• Raw meat
• Milk
• Eggs
• Yogurt
• Soft cheese
• Freshly squeezed juices
• Refrigerated medication

Counters

 These are what will go back to the refrigerator door. As you put them on the counter, divide them into categories. You can consider the following

              categories:

• Condiments (such as ketchup, mustard, barbeque sauce, etc.)
• Sauces (such as soy sauce, marinades, etc.)
• Pickled items (such as pickles, olives, jalapenos, etc.)
• Beverages (such as water, soda, beer, etc.)
• Jellies and butters
• Salad dressings
• Butter and jarred garlic
• Sweets (this is where we keep chocolate syrup and caramel syrup for ice cream and a bag of Reece’s Pieces for when we have a tough day)

STEP TWO: Clean

Clean walls and shelves with soapy water, rinse with water, dry.

STEP THREE: Finalize

Finalize the categories you started with and make any modifications that you need. Things to consider:

• How much space do I have on each refrigerator door shelf?
• How many items do I have to fit in the refrigerator door?
• Do my current categories fit well into the shelves?
• Should I reorganize any of my categories?
• Do I need to make any new categories?

STEP FOUR: Replace

Once you have figured out your categories, put everything back in the refrigerator, creating zones that work for you.

STEP FIVE: Enjoy! And…maintain.

Well done! You now have an even more functional refrigerator door. Enjoy your hard work – AND work to keep it clean and organized as you get back into daily life.