Ideas To Organize Your Freezer

Lots of people have taken the organize freezer challenge, which is part of week #4 of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge.


As usual, the participants of the challenge have outdone yourselves with organizing this area of your home, and I know that your efforts will make your daily life in the kitchen easier and more enjoyable.

If what you see below inspires you, I'd urge you to take the challenge yourself. You can read this challenge here.

Before you begin to organize though make sure you declutter, which as I say a lot around here, is always the first step in any organization project. So here's the declutter your freezer mission to get you started.

Then, once you've removed all the old food it will be time to organize. Take all the steps in the challenge, making sure to take some before and after pictures, and send them in to me at the Home Organization Hall of Fame, and you might just have your freezer makeover showcased here too!


Top photo by sylvar

Organize Refrigerator Plus Freezer Organization With Baskets

by Jan @ The Crafty Mermaid's Grotto

Jan from The Crafty Mermaid's Grotto shared both before and after pictures of her upright freezer, as well as the smaller one she's got above her fridge.

I could only choose four to show off in this hall of fame post, so I chosen mainly her "after" pictures. You should check out her blog post for all the before pictures too, since there was a great transformation.

I know a lot of people really want an upright freezer instead of chest one, and at least from an organization standpoint I can definitely see their point.

With a chest freezer you've got to use freezer baskets to organize, but they are all stacked on top of each other making it difficult to find what you need, at least without a freezer map.

On the other hand, I am in awe of the organized look of Jan's organized upright freezer. She too used baskets for organization, but as you can see it is so much easier to get to each basket when they are on shelves.

Here is what she said about the baskets she used:

I bought these plastic baskets from Target. They have a wide weave, so air can move through them and they are STURDY!

I like these baskets, since they are really cute and do look sturdy. I would caution that plastic, when it gets cold, can get brittle and break, so it may be a good idea to buy baskets designed for the freezer to alleviate this problem.

However, if you can find some cute cheap baskets you may want to try it, and just switch them out if you notice one of them starting to get brittle or crack.

If you're looking to avoid this issue, for sure though, I'd go with wire metal baskets (I've listed some of both below as examples).

Labels On Freezer Baskets & Door Make It Easy For Everyone

by Megan

Megan from Life of the Lorenzens organized the freezer that sits above her refrigerator with baskets and labels.

The baskets are awesome for keeping like items with like, and from having everything spread out too much in the space.

And the labels are very helpful for the whole family, who can now know easily where everything goes and keep the organizational scheme up much more easily as things are put in and taken out.

Here was how Megan made her labels, which I think was a great idea. Megan says:

I made labels on the computer on an address label sheet and stuck them on cut up pieces of scrapbook paper.

Then I laminated them with clear contact paper that I found in the attic upstairs and punched holes in the top.

They can either be taped on to containers or I can use a white twist-tie to attach them to a wire freezer basket.

I made a few extras as well as some blank ones if I decided to do things differently at any time.

Added Bins To Keep Things Corralled

by Leigh

Leigh from Joy and Strength shared an after picture of her small freezer above her refrigerator, shown above.

She explained: "I use a thick plastic bin to hold all the sausages, hot dogs etc & the bottom drawers holds veggies on the right & fruit on the left."

Often we think of baskets or bins being used in a chest freezer, but this is a good demonstration that such items can easily be used in whatever type of this appliance you've got!

Here's another example of using bins to help you organize, shown by another reader, Sarah.

You can get clear acrylic freezer or refrigerator bins here to help you organize:

After Pictures Of Two Freezers, Completely Rearranged

by Lee-Anne

Lee-Anne from Life In A Peanut Free Shell tackled two different freezers as part of this challenge.

I've only shown the after pictures here, but you can check out her blog post (link above) for the before ones as well.

She had two different freezers to work on, the little one above the refrigerator, as well as a small bar freezer.

Before this challenge she had things just crammed into both of the appliances rather haphazardly. She took the time to rearrange items, moving all like items together.

That meant it no longer had an equal chance of being in either freezer, but she and her family would know which one to look in for the item they wanted.

She explained that it's "so much easier to find stuff and so far it’s been a great way to keep track of what needs replacing when we go shopping!"

Freezer Organization Pictures For Both Side By Side And Upright Freezers

Angela from Confessions of a Craft Addict shared pictures of her organization efforts for two different freezers she's got in her home, which you can see above.

First, she has a side-by-side freezer, next to her refrigerator, and in addition, she has an upright freezer where she stores produce from her garden, from the co-op and also food gifts from friends and family members.

If you've got a garden or get fresh produce from a co-op freezer organization is essential, since you've got to be able to preserve all that produce while its fresh, for use all through the winter and early spring.

The pictures Angela shared are a great example of how to do it, where you can find what you need, when you need it.

Notice her use of both freezer storage containers, but also how she uses freezer storage bags to store lots of her produce. I love using freezer bags for storing things, since they take up so much less room than actual containers, and that way you can pack a lot more food into a small space.

It doesn't look like she actually uses a FoodSaver vacuum sealer system for some of the produce packaging, but she easily could. Click the link for an article for tips for using this product to help you get your freezer organized.

Here's another organized upright freezer, shown by a reader, Stephanie.

Freeze Food In Cube Shaped Containers For Maximum Space Efficiency

by Patty

Patty says:

Here is my freezer.

I like the cubes since they maximize space.

Pop one in the crockpot and you've got dinner!

Taylor says:

Thanks for sharing your picture Patty.

Yes, it just makes complete sense logically that square and rectangular containers will take up less space, in general, because you can push them next to each other, along with stacking them.

Round containers are notorious space wasters because even pushed together there is space in between!

Jennifer's Organized Freezers: Made Zones For Items

Jennifer from shared before and after pictures of both her upright freezer, and the smaller one above her refrigerator.

She organized both her freezers into various sections or "zones" to help her find what she needed, and know what she was running low on.

She said, in regard to her upright freezer: "Here is a list of what I put on the shelves, from top to bottom..."

1. Frozen meat
2. Desserts - ice cream, Italian ice, frozen fruit
3. Frozen vegetables/prepared meals and snacks
4. "mystery" containers (plan is to take out 2 a week to thaw, if good we'll eat, otherwise I'll have a backup dinner to eat).
5. labeled frozen soups/meals

Are You Inspired To Get Organized Now?

I hope these before and after pictures have inspired you to get your own freezer in order.

If you've now caught the organizing bug I would encourage you to join the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge here on the site. Over the course of the year we get your whole house in shape, room by room, item by item, and developing consistent positive habits as we go.

Further, if you do get your freezer in order I'd love to see some pictures. You can share your organizing triumphs with me here and I'll add them to the hall of fame.

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Getting Rid Of Food & Pantry Clutter Hall Of Fame

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