I've struggled lately with the lack of organization in our family's refrigerator, so I decided to do something about it.
With so many leftovers piling up all over the fridge, it can be daunting to consider what yumminess might need to be rescued and what yuckiness might be lurking beyond its normal retirement age.
How do I pull out all this stuff, and then put it back more nicely and functionally than before.
Separation by height
The first challenge in organizing (or even in designing) a fridge is the height.
So many food items with various heights to consider.
Each item is one more variable in the equation of my fridge and those variables vary over time.
So most fridges are formed with adjustable shelving.
In theory, the adjustments can improve fit of food and function of fridge according to my spatiotemporal needs.
Separation by food group
The second challenge in organizing a fridge is being able to
Find food easily
Find a good place for food easily
Help others to find, place or replace food with minimal coordinated effort
Reduce cross-contamination if food leaks or spills
Separation by bulk size
The third challenge in organizing a fridge is being able to
Reduce leftovers
Reduce drops and spills from removing and stowing food
Reduce food spoilage and food kept passed its sell-by, best-by or expiration date
Measuring height against food group
Subjectively, I collected the food groups at the moment, and measured the group height, or the maximum height within that group.
Although a couple categories offered an advantageous height consideration (meats and produce being short in general, drinks being tall in general), other categories appeared in my fridge with a higher degree of variation.
Food group
Maximum height
Dairy
10.00"
Meats
5.00"
Produce
6.00"
Drinks
12.00"
Leftovers
8.00"
Sweets/breakfast
8.50"
Condiments and sauces
Asian
9.75"
Tomato
9.75"
Barbecue
7.75"
Dressings
8.50"
Relish & mustards
10.00"
My first planned refrigerator layout
To truly organize my fridge shelves by food group seemed impossible due to height variance.
But a few categories were of consistent height which offered a start.
I combined that knowledge with an observation of my fridge design. The difference in custom shelving between my main fridge and fridge door space indicated to me, that taller items would fit better in the door of the fridge.
So, I put drinks, tall sauces and dressings, and pickles in the door.
What follows is an approximate illustration of the layout I first settled upon.
Basic rule
Main fridge (short/medium items)
Door (tallest items)
Breakfast Meats Spices Sauces Sweets ↑
Spices Eggs Mustard
Pickles Milk
Sweets Breakfast
Hot sauces Meats Leftovers
Sauces (tall)
Meat drawer
↓ Veggies Grains Dairy Fruits
Yogurt Cheese Cream Leftovers
Drinks
Produce drawer
Grains drawer
Dressings
As a fine tune to my layout, I specified where items within a shelf belong: essentially according to its shelf life and bulk size.
Leftovers
Front of a shelf
Big items
Lidded containers
Packages
Center of a shelf
Small items
Bottles, jars, and glass containers
Perimeter of a shelf (back or sides)
My latest refrigerator layout
As with the best laid plans, they change.
Some of my organizing was a bit ideal or peculiar to the contents of the moment.
The layout which has evolved over time is much closer to the steady state of our nearly organized fridge.
To sum up, I put ice cream and leftovers in the front, and I try to keep major food groups grouped.