Fridge Organization 101

Want to know how I organize my fridge?

I’ve always loved having an organized fridge. Let me tell you how I organize my fridge, saving time and money.

Step 1. Clean.

The first thing I do when organizing my fridge is empty it all out. This is the best time to clean it and sort through all your leftovers and condiments. I usually do it when the fridge is running low of food.

Then, I like to wash it down with warm water and vinegar. Smells clean and fresh.

Step 2. Line the fridge.

Step two of organizing my fridge is to insert new Fridgecoasters. They come in so many pretty colors. This time I chose the mint. They are like coasters for your fridge, absorbing spills and keeping your bins and shelves easy to clean. When you order them they send enough to line your fridge twice! I change mine out once a quarter unless there is a spill. They are also biodegradable and can be added to your compost or recycle bin when you are done with them.

Step 3. Create zones.

I love creating zones when I organize my fridge, and I do it by adding these fridge bins! I have them labeled to make it easier for my family to find all the like items together. It also helps when my family puts away groceries, they know where everything goes. I have one for fruit, lunch, and snacks.

Use bins to contain like with like.

Labels make it easy to find what you want.

Create a lunch bin with all your favorites in one place.

I love organizing my fridge this way. When I want lunch (my favorite is a veggie and hummus sandwich) I just grab my lunch bin and take it to the counter. The same goes when packing lunches. You can grab all the bins, bring them to the counter and everyone can make their own lunches. When you organize like with like, you know exactly how much you have. Makes less waste too, as nothing gets lost in the back of the fridge.

Step 4. Decant.

Just like with snacks in my pantry, I like to decant my liquids too. These carafes make it easy to see exactly how much milk and OJ is left. I don’t have to worry about expiration dates as we always run out before they expire.

The other product I love to use are these wine stackers. They are perfect for keeping white wine cold or stacking my hubby’s favorite lemonade. The bottles are too tall to stand up so these stackers help a ton! Use that vertical space.

Decant liquids.

I also keep frozen drinks in my freezer for company or parties. I like to have drinks ready, all I have to do is take out a frozen treat and make it in this carafe. Drinks look prettier when served in clear carafes don’t you think?

Keep frozen food on hand.

Step 5. Food Prep

Last but not least, I prep food for the week. I love using these egg trays. I keep one dozen hard boiled eggs (perfect for a quick breakfast, in salads, egg salad sandwiches, etc) and one dozen raw eggs for baking or scrambled eggs.

Make ahead food.

I also wash and prep all our veggies! These  Oxo Green Saver containers help keep my fruits and veggies lasting longer. They come with a carbon filter which absorbs ethylene gas, keeping my produce from turning bad. I love the strainer that is included as well. I keep grapes in one of them and just wash as I eat them.

Keep produce fresher longer.

 

You can also find more food prepping ideas here….Food Prepping – Back To School Edition or here.

Last step….enjoy!

Having an organized fridge saves you time and money. Time is valuable and having food prepped and ready to go each week will cut down your stress, I promise. Prepping healthy food to eat eliminates those last minute decisions to run through the drive through. Time and money saved!

Organizing your fridge is as easy as this!

Are you in the DFW area? Do you need help organizing your fridge or other areas of your home? I’m an email away. And did you know I offer virtual organizing? I FaceTime with you and help answer all your questions during our call, then send you a detailed to do list and a follow up email in two weeks. Click here to schedule. I promise it’s fun!

 

As always, I’m ready to help you today,

Lisa

 

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**this blog was done via partnership with The Container Store, however all editorial comments and opinions are mine.

The Home Edit

I’m so excited to show you the new T.H.E. organization products from iDesign at The Container Store!

I’ve been sitting on this fun secret for a while, and now I get to share it with you!

If you don’t know who The Home Edit girls are click the link to see! They are organizing guru’s from Nashville, TN that have taken the organization world by storm. They just published a book and now have a line of products at The Container Store. #GOALS!

 

 

Today I’m going to show you their craft room/school room/play room products! I tried them out with my grandkids and they gave the new products two thumbs up.

 

 

My grandson loves all things lego so these large divided drawers were a perfect solution. He loves color coding as much as I do! He can easily find the pieces he needs to make his lego creations!

 

 

He built this little house and garage complete with a car that has lights on it!

The Home Edit kids label pack made this organizer and label lover so happy! They are easy to peel and stick, and come off just as easy! They designed label packs  for your whole home too!

 

 

I love that the lego sheets fit the top of these stacking drawers perfectly!

 

 

I chose these canisters to hold his lego vehicles and back stock pieces. They stack for easy storage. The labels help my grandson find what he needs, and also reminds him where the pieces go when he is finished.

 

 

He could literally make lego creations all day, and I love that!! Legos over TV at Nana’s house ;-).

 

 

My granddaughters love creating art, so I couldn’t think of a better way to store art supples than with these divided turn tables.  I’ve always loved these iDesign turntables, but T.H.E. girls made them better with removable dividers and a storage cup!

 

 

The cup allows you to take a specific item out easily! The labels help the kids know where everything goes when they are done!

 

 

 

 

 

As a teacher, these would be AMAZING in a school room! Set one on each table and let the students create to their hearts content! Hint: great teacher appreciation gift!

 

 

One last thing I want to show you is this smaller turn table that I use to hold play doh and play doh tools. The sides are lower but still spin for easy access…. I get giddy just thinking of ways to use these new products all over my home!

Head to The Container Store today to see all the amazing designs T.H.E. girls created. Don’t have The Container Store near you? Visit their website! They deliver right to your door!

These products are kid tested and teacher approved!

 

Want help organizing your home?  I’m ready to help you today!

 

Lisa

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Organization: Before & After

My most popular posts on instagram and facebook are the before and after pictures. This pantry I organized earlier this month has gotten the most likes ever!

Here is a before pic….

 

And here is the after…

 

 

These pictures show instant gratification….and that’s what happens when you organize. You see and feel instant results in your space and in your mental state!

 

 

When you walk into a cluttered space your brain feels overwhelmed and your eye can’t find peace or calm. That results in the open and shove method….close the door on clutter and “you can’t see it”…..but guess what? You can feel it….

 

 

By putting a few simple elements in place like baskets, bins, turntables and labels, the visual clutter goes away, telling your brain “ohhhhh this is wonderful”.

 

Do you have spaces like this in your home? Are you ready to feel peace and calm in your surroundings?

 

 

I can help you! If you live in the DFW area, I’m an email away. If you don’t live in the Dallas area, I offer virtual organizing OR can recommend you to one of my many organizer friends all over the country.

Summer is around the corner, it’s the perfect time to get organized!

 

Ready to help you today,

Lisa

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The Farmhouse Bin

I pretty much organize every day all day, and I get stuck on current favorites!, my “Steady Eddy” go to’s. Well these are my faves right now!  The Farmhouse Bin  from the Container Store.

 

 

 

They work with every aesthetic;  modern, farmhouse, or eclectic… whatever your style may be, they work.

I use them all over my home, as well as in my clients’.

 

 

I just switched out my summer and winter clothes in my closet, and used these bins for all my hats. In the summer I’m a total hat girl, gotta keep that sun off my face! #tryingtogrowoldgracefully !

 

 

I spring cleaned my coat closet and organized all the winter hats,  scarves, and gloves using these covered farmhouse bins .

 

 

Add a label so everyone knows where to find things, and call it done!

 

 

All cleaned, sorted, and ready to go for next year! Do you swap seasonal clothes? Try using one box for two things. I use this farmhouse under bed box  to store sweaters in the summer, and beach bags in the winter. One box for two jobs! #spacesaver too!

 

 

Store beach bags in the winter……

 

 

and sweaters in the summer….win-win!

 

I recently organized a master closet for my client and sorted her denim into two of these bins.

 

 

light denim…..and….

 

 

dark/white denim….just needs a label and she’s all sorted!

 

What are your current faves for organizing? I’d love to know!

 

 

And if you need help, I’m a message away.

 

Ready to help you today,

Lisa

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Organize My Drawers

I love it when someone asks me to organize anything!

I was born the oldest of seven kids and with the gift of organization; and nothing makes me happier than to help other people.

It will be one year in June that I launched Neat Freak McKinney . And on this amazing journey, I have met so many interesting people and companies on Instagram.

One of these amazing companies is called Organize My Drawer. When they reached out to me to see if I wanted to collaborate, I was ecstatic! 

 

How cool is this acrylic insert? It fits perfectly into my drawer! 

Their website is so easy to use. Trust me, if I can do it anyone can! I sent them the measurements of my drawers and picked 3 different styles from their templates. But you can customize them any way you like!

 

The first thing I thought of was “wow” these would be great to organize all of my husband’s drawers.

We have lots of drawers in our master bath that we use as dresser drawers.  My husband travels a lot and I love making his life easier by organizing everything he needs for his business trips.

He has hundreds of ties and it was time to purge and donate some of them. He gets in a rut and wears the first ones he sees, which happens to be the same few over and over.

With this insert I can organize them by color, season, style, etc. All he has to do is grab the one he wants, which is already rolled up, and pack them in his dress shoes. Rolling helps with wrinkling and saves space in your suitcase.

 

 

The same goes with his socks. This divider holds 16 pairs of folded socks. Tommy John brand are my husband’s favorite.

And how’s this for organized undies? (sorry to our children if you’re reading, I’m showing dad’s skivvies) lol!

Before:

After, a folded and sorted drawer!

 

 

These are great for all of his accessories too.

 

 

 

 

I love the clear look of acrylic. It makes it easy to find what you’re looking for, and creates less visual clutter.

 

And just for fun, here are some other ideas of ways to use Organize My Drawer inserts.

In a baby’s room:

 

 

 

 

 

In a shared children’s dresser:

Before a jumbled mess of little his and little her undies…

 

 

After, with plenty of room to spare, and bonus, this is a great way to get your kids to roll and put away their own clothes! Make it easy for them to help you!

 

 

How about in your home office?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you tell how much I love this product? I can think of a ton of ways to organize every area of my home with these custom acrylic organizers!

Go visit their website at Organize My Drawer.  Practically perfect, custom designed organizers for all your own unique things! Built to your exact specifications with their easy to use online design tool. Start your design from scratch or use one of their templates like I did. It’s that easy.

Don’t forget to follow them and me on Instagram and Facebook to see all the other amazing ways you can use their product… don’t forget to tell them I sent you!

And, as always, if you need help organizing anything in your home, I’m your girl. I’m just an email away.

 

Ready to help today,

Lisa

 

Pantry Redo

Saturday, I travelled to Celina, TX to help organize a pantry.

This is the before:

 

My client had an inspiration picture that she found on Pinterest. Her goal was to have a pantry like this..

 

 

My client shopped for bins and containers from the inspiration pictures. She found most at Ikea, Hobby Lobby and Home Goods.

If time is an issue, I do personal shopping for my clients ;-).

 

 

The first thing I always do is empty the space I’m organizing. I clean shelves, sort like items, throw away anything broken or expired.

Then we start putting things back in, creating areas for baking, dinner ideas, fruits, veggies, spices, paper goods, etc.

 

 

The clear containers below, from Ikea and Hobby Lobby, are perfect are for rice, oats, nuts, cereal, raisons, etc.

Labels make things easy to find.

 

 

After I left, my client was inspired to keep going. She went out and bought more bins, moved some things around and made it her own! That is my goal. To help clients make changes and choices that best fit their lifestyle. What works for me doesn’t always work for them.

She sent me pictures, she was so happy.

 

 

More labels are on their way to her as she came up with some new bin ideas!

 

Before >>>>After

Contact me today if you want to get organized!

I’m ready to help you,

Lisa

Farm House Pantry

 

I had the pleasure on Tuesday, of driving up to beautiful Anna, TX, to work on a pantry. This pantry is a farm house lover’s dream. It has a screen door and window with a view!

 

 

My client wanted to freshen up the space, get everything off the floor, and create rhyme and reason to her pantry.

 

 

We started by emptying out all items, cleaning the shelves, and creating a space that made sense to my clients needs.

 

 

We then combined like items.  Canned peaches and jams (put up by her husband-so awesome), spices, oils, vinegars, etc. onto the shelves. We used these stadium shelves, clear boxes, and clear lazy susan’s, (my personal favorite) that she purchase at Target.

 

 

 

 

I labeled these jars for her but forgot to take a picture!

 

We then turned our attention to her serving dishes. We stored according to like items. Serving platters and bowls in one section,  serving plates and cups into another, all small appliances together, etc.

 

Next, we organized her spice cabinet.

 

 

 

Labeling all the canisters, and organizing into sections like “baking”, cookbooks, spices, etc.

 

 

Displaying all like things together, like her cookbooks, makes it pretty too!

 

 

My client now has a completely organized pantry, with a clean floor, and room to spare. Her spice cabinet is now cleaned, labeled, and organized. She can find anything she needs, and actually has an empty shelf!!

This was the sweetest client ever, she served me a bowl of fresh, home grown peaches that were the best I’ve ever had! She offered to make me lunch, and then sent me home with a bag of just picked tomatoes and more peaches from her garden.

 

 

I love my job, I love meeting people in their homes, and I love the kindness and joy that we share making their spaces productive and beautiful.

I think making some peach salsa is on my agenda today!!

I’m ready to help you today,

Lisa