The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Rachel at Useful Beautiful Home.
Remember when Laura organized her deep freezer (HERE)? Wasn’t it absolutely inspiring?! Unfortunately, I don’t have a chest freezer. In fact, I don’t have a separate stand-alone freezer at all. Therefore, utilizing every inch inside my kitchen freezer is priority for me.
A few months ago, I attempted a quick freezer organization. Out of annoyance, I grabbed a few white containers and used them to group like items together. They worked great and I still use them today in the freezer. However, there weren’t enough shelves for all the bins I needed. Soon, things started stacking up… and tumbling out at me. It wasn’t my best effort and in no time everything returned to a disheveled mess.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.” Right? This time, before getting to work, I stood back and observed. First, it was a mess, which means something wasn’t working. Second, there were noticeable unused spaces or gaps. Third, I needed more shelves to hold the containers.
The mess I could tackle but the open spaces and shelving issue left me stumped.
Yes, that picture is far from pretty but worse than that, the arrangement was inconvenient. You can see why I got the bug to find a better solution. I knew there had to be a better way to fill the gaps without toppling piles raining down on me.
First, I checked with the refrigerator manufacturer. I thought a simple solution was to order more shelves designed for my freezer. Have you ever price checked freezer shelves? Oh my! They were a bit too pricey for such a small order.
So, I hunted and pecked around on the internet. I measured and re-measured the inside of my freezer. And, I searched local stores until I found what I needed… an under-the-shelf wire basket.
Usually people use these baskets for saran wrap and foil storage, a logical and brilliant use.
Not me! It fits perfectly inside my freezer and is a cost effective solution compared to ordering more shelves!
I have a standard side-by-side refrigerator/freezer in my kitchen. The inside shelves measure 12″ wide and 18″ deep. If that matches your freezer shelf dimensions, then this white wire basket might also work for you. One more measuring suggestion before you order, double check the thickness of your freezer shelf to make sure the basket’s hook will fit around properly (see diagram below).
Why do I love this little addition so much? It’s the right price, it fills the gaps inside my freezer, and it makes small things like freezer packs easily accessible. Above all, it improves the organization inside my freezer tenfold. I purchased two of these under shelf mounting baskets. One holds all our freezer packs and the other holds breads, rolls, and muffins.
This freezer fix was short and sweet but extremely effective in utilizing the empty spaces! Have a great weekend!
In the professional world, I’m a nurse by trade. But, around our house, I’m known as Mommy to our young daughter. My two worlds collided and began shaping into a blog. Useful Beautiful Home represents the hours I’ve dedicated to managing my household as efficiently as possible. I offer you motivation to keep your home healthy, organized, and welcoming. My goal is to share what I’ve implemented in my home to inspire you with fresh ideas and to encourage you to keep up the good work in yours!
Yuliya says
This looks great! I love how easy it is to keep things organised, and clean, too! My freezer is a mess that I really need to tackle. Thanks for sharing.
Rachel says
You’re very welcome! Freezers get messy so easily. Glad this simple solution inspired you. 🙂
Margaret Minor says
This freezer shelf idea is a GREAT idea. We have just had our kitchen remodeled and I am still in a shambled mess. Taking me awhile but am concentrating on getting EVERYTHING organized. I will definitely keep this idea in mind–Thank you.
Rachel says
So happy you found this helpful Margaret! Kitchen remodels are a challenge for sure! Wishing you the best while you get things back in order.
Alice @ Mums Make Lists says
My freezer is a disaster zone but I have drawers rather then shelves so this wouldn’t work but you have given me a brilliant idea for the fridge! Hurrah! And big thank you xx
Nicole says
This is a great tip for a side-by-side, but do you have any suggestions for a top freezer? I have one shelf and food is constantly tumbling out at me. I tried bins but they seemed to take up too much valuable space and there wasn’t enough room to have as many as I would need to properly organize and make everything accessible.
Rachel says
Let me think about that Nicole. I’ll “borrow” my friend’s top freezer to organize and see if I can come up with some handy solutions!
Lisa B. says
I’ve seen people take metal mesh magazine holders, place them on their sides and stack them to use as improvised shelves. Maybe that would work? I bet sturdy plastic ines would work just as well.
Brandi says
Please let us know about the top freezer soon! I have one as well! You are a genius by the way!
Rachel says
Thank you Brandi! Genius… no, but crazy for organization… yes! Lol, thank you and I will soon! 🙂
Lisa says
Great idea. I have the same problem in my fridge and will be looking for some under-the-shelf wire baskets for that space as well.
Renee says
you!! It worked great. Only cost me $5.00 at my local ROSS.