Best Way To Organize Your French Door Refrigerator
Organizing your kitchen is an important part of keeping your home clean and clutter free. The one place in the kitchen that gets the most consistent use is the fridge.
Fridges can get messy fast. And it can be difficult to know where to start if you want to keep it organized and clean.
If you need some fridge organizing ideas and tips, this post is for you!
This blog post will show you how to organize your French door fridge.
When we first moved into our townhome, one of the biggest purchases that we made was buying our french door refrigerator.
And, it was one of those purchases that I was really looking forward to! That’s when you know you’re an adult – when you want to buy a refrigerator.
Seriously though, I was so excited to finally have a refrigerator that was big enough to hold our groceries.
Because we got to choose our own appliances, I was set on buying a french door refrigerator.
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What is the Advantage of a French Door Fridge?
The advantage of a french door fridge is that they are easier to organize.
With both doors on the top, you can see easily see and keep track of your food. Everything is at eye level, and you don’t need to sort through the bottom to find anything.
They also have wider shelves and larger pull-out bins. This maximizes your storage capacity and allows you to better organize all of your food.
LG French Door Refrigerator
We chose an LG French Door Refrigerator model. This is the exact refrigerator we have. It is about 30 cubic feet which is a large refrigerator. That means tons of storage space!
Our fridge model is unfortunately no longer sold. But there are a few new models that are very similar and great options if you are looking for a French door fridge. I really love the fridge with the snack drawer.
LG French Door Refrigerator Options
- LG 29.7-cu ft French Door Refrigerator (Door within Door)
- LG 29-cu ft French Door Refrigerator (Door within Door)
- LG 29-cu ft French Door Refrigerator
- LG 29.5-cu ft 4-Door French Door Refrigerator (Snack Drawer)
How To Organize Your Refrigerator
The difficult part about organizing a fridge is that they can hold so much food. Which also means they can get really cluttered easily and food can get lost.
When my fridge gets messy like this, I’ve figured out an easy way to get or clean and organized again. I have a simple 5 step process that I follow each time.
These steps can work for any fridge, even if you have a different size or style than mine.
Get Rid of Old Food
The first step is to get all of the food out of your refrigerator. It may seem overwhelming, but this step is essential. It’s easier to organize when you’ve completely cleared the space.
You need to see everything that you have and purge old, expired foods.
Take everything out of your fridge, check the expiration dates, and throw away old food.
Our cat Widget took this opportunity to see what exactly was in the “giant cold box.”
Clean the Fridge
Next, take an all-purpose cleaning spray and a microfiber cloth and wipe down the entire refrigerator. Make sure to really deep clean the fridge.
Our shelves had some food residue and the drawers had crumbs. I spent some time really getting all of the surfaces clean so they looked brand new again.
How to Remove Odor From Refrigerator
If your fridge still has a lingering odor, I recommend using a fridge deodorizer. Baking soda will absorb bad odors and leave your fridge smelling fresh again.
An open box of baking soda in the back of the fridge will do the trick. But if you want to save shelf space, I recommend these wall mounted fridge deodorizers.
Sort Food Into Categories
After you’ve cleaned, start organizing your food into categories. This will help you figure out how much food you have and how much space you will need in your fridge.
Here are some of my suggestions for categories:
- Meats – fresh meat, lunch meats, etc.
- Cheeses – sliced, shredded, and block.
- Fruits – apples, oranges, clementines, limes, lemons, etc.
- Vegetables – peppers, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, etc.
- Breads – loaves, buns, tortillas, etc.
- Drinks – milk, juices, sodas, etc.
- Condiments – dressings, ketchup, mustard, other jarred items.
- Spreadable Foods – butter and cream cheese.
- Prepared Snacks – cut up fruits, grab and go items, etc.
- Leftovers – any extra foods from meals in the past week.
Adjust the Fridge Shelves
The next step is to adjust and configure all of the shelves. Most refrigerators now have shelves that are adjustable and can be moved around to accommodate different layouts.
Because you’ve already sorted your foods into categories, you should have an idea of how much space you will need for each type of food.
Move around the adjustable shelves until you find a configuration that makes the most sense for you and the foods you have to put back into the fridge.
I spend some time thinking about where we might want specific foods to go and how much vertical space they would need. This helped me figure out how to setup our fridge shelves.
I decided to leave the right side more open so we could fit taller items. On the left side, I put the shelves closer together so smaller items would all have their own place.
Organize Food with Bins
Now it’s time to put all of the food back into the fridge.
Again, pay attention to where you put each food category.
Try to group similar items together and create zones. This will make finding food for dinners and putting groceries away so much easier.
After all of your food is back in the refrigerator, add in some bins for easier access to frequently used foods.
I used two woven baskets to hold all of my cut up fruits. This helps all of those small items stay corralled together so they don’t end up all over the refrigerator.
I also love using these multi-purpose bins to hold bread and bagels. It’s easy to open up the door and grab the bin in the morning when we’re making breakfast.
The Container Store has all kinds of ideas for using these multi-purpose bins throughout your home. I love the idea of using them for storing cleaning supplies under your kitchen sink.
Best Bins for Fridge Organization
Over the years I’ve tried all kinds of different fridge organization bins. Here are some of my current favorites.
I love using this egg container to keep all of the eggs organized in one place and easy to access.
I have a few sets of these produce containers. They are perfect for storing cut fruits, vegetables, and lettuce. I use them for all kinds of produce.
These are my new favorite leftovers storage containers. I love how clean and clear they look, no matter how much you wash them. They are leakproof, easy to clean, and stack perfectly in the fridge.
This deli container is perfect for storing sandwich meats and cheeses. It makes my life easy to just grab this one bin and have everything I need to make sandwiches for lunch.
These are the perfect basic clear storage containers for the fridge. They can help you contain similar items and group things for easy access.
These multi-purpose storage bins are one of my favorites. They are slim, but also tall so they can contain a variety of different things. Use them in your fridge, freezer, or pantry.
How We Organize Our French Door Fridge
Here’s the layout that I ended up with for organizing our French door refrigerator. And some of my best fridge organization tips.
Organize Fridge Doors
The first zone is the left door. Because the water and ice are in this door, the shelves are narrow.
On the top, I keep butter and jams.
In the middle, I like to keep all the fruit juices together.
Group Condiments Together in Compartments
On the bottom, I grouped together some of the smaller condiments. Having these on a narrow shelf make them easier to find so they don’t get lost with the other larger condiments.
The next zone is the right door. These shelves are much deeper, so they are perfect for drinks larger condiments and items we use frequently.
Contain Eggs in Easy to Access Area
At the very top, there’s a covered shelf where I like to keep our eggs. That shelf is so deep that I can actually fit two cartons up there.
Organize Large Fridge Door Shelves
On the lower shelves, I have all of our large condiments.
I also keep almond milk and coffee creamer in the door so that we can grab them quickly out of the fridge.
Store Breads Together
The main fridge area on the left side is made up of a few zones.
The top shelf is for breads, buns and tortillas.
Catch All Space for Meats and Spreads
The next shelf down is where I keep meats.
Then under that, I keep smaller items like salsas, hummus, and cream cheese. All kinds of things that come in tubs.
Fridge Shelf for Snacks
Finally, the bottom zone is for snacks. After this shopping trip, I cut up a bunch of vegetables and bagged them for lunches.
Maximize Vertical Space for Drinks and Taller Items
The right side of the fridge has two main zones.
The top area is for smaller canned and bottled drinks. I also keep leftovers up there.
The bottom area is for bread we use every day and extra space for miscellaneous groceries.
Organize Fridge Drawers
One of my favorite features of our french door refrigerator is that we have all kinds of drawers for organizing. This makes creating zones that much easier.
The far left drawer is where we keep all of our cheeses.
Use the Produce Drawers
The middle and right drawers are for fruits. The center drawer holds the citrus fruits while the right drawer holds other snacking fruits.
Finally, the large pull out drawer at the bottom of the fridge is where I store all of our vegetables. I love seeing all the bright colors!
Final Thoughts on Organizing Your French Door Fridge
Keeping a fridge organized can be a big task. By implementing these easy steps, you can create a system to keep all of your food organized and easily accessible.
I hope that this post gave you some motivation and ideas for organizing your own fridge. Even if you have a different type of refrigerator, these tips can help you stay organized once and for all.
Do you have a French door refrigerator? I’d love to hear some tips and tricks for how you keep everything organized.
More Kitchen Organization Posts
- How to Organize a Drawer Freezer
- 7 Things You Need to Get Rid of When Organizing Your Kitchen
- How to Organize Under the Kitchen Sink
- How to Plan a Kitchen Organization Project
A really good tutorial on how to organize your fridge. Mine needs a good cleaning. I love your fur baby helper.
Thanks! It felt good to finally clean out the fridge. And yes, Widget always wants to be a part of whatever is going on.
>> Christene
Our fridge is similar. I always thought the large tray under the crisper drawers was supposed to be for meat & cheese. I need more veggie space. That drawer really works ok for fresh vegetables? Thanks!
Corliss, I’m not totally sure what it’s “supposed” to be used for. Apparently I’m breaking the rules, but hey it works for me! lol We needed more veggie space too and it works really well!
>> Christene
thanks for your tips! I hope it’ll help me to organize my fridge
Knocking out some quarantine projects and found this post on pinterest! And now my fridge looks all organized and pretty! Thank you!
YAY! That’s so awesome, Rene. Glad you found this helpful
>> Christene
Hey I just got this new fridge and really appreciate this. The tip about shelf placement was particularly helpful.
Being older bending over and trying to see what is located in the back of shelves is difficult – however I noticed in your refri organization a problem for me, on the left side, where you have the small jars and they would need to be moved to get to the one in the back, I would prefer a pull-out portable shelf to reach these easier.
Everything I’ve read and heard is that the meat should go on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so its juices don’t drip on other food. FYI
This is the way it’s handled in commercial kitchens. Thanks for your tips.
I am not sure how a wine bottle or two would fit if I need to stand it up tall. Or water bottles. My French Door is like yours, but a bit smaller. And there is a half shelf on the right that I still haven’t come to the best organization about. I also have larger containers with food like a roast that I prep for the next day. That is when I get stuck and begin rearranging, and then the organization is lost. Or like a rotissiere chicken container. Any thoughts on that? Thank you.
I have the smaller size one too. And I use that half shelf for eggs. I have two ceramic egg holders from tj maxx that fit perfect and I can see how many we have without having to move things. I just reach past the milk and grab an egg when I need it. It’s the only thing that worked for me on that shelf lol
I love my French door fridge. Keeping it organized is another thing. I love your idea for extra bins in there. I will be using that idea for sure. Pretty colors will help it look nice, too! I have one question, where do you put your milk?
Our compressor just went out on this exact fridge. So while it was on the fritz we had to empty it out completely I took that time to clean it up, shiny as new. On the very bottom right on the door I found a little surprise shelf I never knew he had. I’m not sure what to put there. I see in your pictures you don’t have anything there either. I’m not quite sure why it’s even there. But I’m thinking I might keep it a secret from my family and keep my treats on that shelf. ☺️ Thank you for this very informative post. I’m going to use many of your ideas.
Hi Julie! Yes that tiny shelf was a surprise to me too. At the moment I’m storing yeast for bread making there – but it’s the perfect size for treats.
Glad you liked the post. Have a great week!
>> Christene
Lol I came to your post specifically to find out what people were using that tiny bin on the bottom of the right door for — it’s a little bit of a mystery! I wonder maybe baking soda would work there, also. I think I will likely forget about whatever it is that I put there, but it’s still a nice thought that they maximized storage!
LOL! I’m sorry! When I took this pictures I wasn’t really using that space. Now we use it for random things. Specifically yeast for baking bread. Also sometimes those little bottles of lemon or lime juice. It’s a weird space. Would also be perfect for a candy bar secret hiding place.
>> Christene
NEVER EVER put tomatoes in a refrigerator! Love your organizational input. I’m shopping for new frig so this helps.
Hey Joyce,
Thanks for the tips. I do sometimes put tomatoes in the fridge and they tend to last longer for me. ♀️ But to each their own. Glad the post was helpful.
>> Christene