In its natural state, you can’t use the storage capacity of a fridge to its full potential. With groceries coming in all shapes and sizes, you’ll quickly find that the variety of things you want to store will create awkward gaps, meaning either you fit less in the fridge, or you stack your food on top of each other, creating an unsightly grocery Jenga that will ensure something gets forgotten about at the back of your cooling appliance.
Now, I’m no stranger to how to organize a fridge, and have invested in all kinds of turntables and storage accessories to make mine a more aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-use part of my kitchen. However, when I came across how interior designer Nate Berkus organizes his own fridge, I realized I was missing a trick.
The one organizer Nate includes to keep his family’s food in order makes total sense, especially if you find your fridge door quickly becomes clogged with milk and juice cartons. And professional organizers say it’s a clever addition to a fridge, too.
The Amazon buy Nate Berkus uses to organize his fridge
For Nate Berkus, the secret to making his fridge work harder is a two-tier organizer. ‘I don't like re-adjusting the height on all these shelves’ Nate explained in a video on his Instagram page. 'Sometimes you want something tall like a water filter, but you don't want to waste all the space above.’
It’s a game-changing idea for helping to make your fridge’s shelves more versatile, without sacrificing kitchen storage space. Think about it - how often do you have to store excess bottles horizontally in the fridge if you ever buy in more than a couple of different juices? Worst still, you're prone to leaks when those cartons have already been opened. And let’s not even go there when it comes to fitting in enough wine for a dinner party and you don't have a wine fridge in your kitchen.
I've seen plenty of clever fridge organizers in my time, so the question is: how does this idea stack up to the rest?
'To be honest, when I saw this was made by Nate Berkus, my first impression was that a very talented designer was putting his name on a pretty yet relatively useless organizing tool,' says professional organizer Melissa Gugni. 'On closer inspection though, this is a great idea.'
'He's right - needing to chill a tall frequently used item like the Brita filter, pitchers or bottles can cause a lot of wasted space,' Melissa adds. 'Rather than try to store those tall things sideways (which never works right for bottles that tend to leak), adding shelves is smart.'
So, are there any potential drawbacks? 'The only issue that I see is that those shallow yet deep drawers can easily become a no-man's land,' Melissa advises, 'but regularly rotating the pushed back items to the front can become part of a weekly routine.'
For more storage space in the fridge, it's a routine I can definitely commit to.
