how to keep a pretty fridge

 

I feel kind of ridiculous posting my fridge on the Internet! A few years ago I blogged this photo of a styled up fridge and my mom made it her mission to make the inside of her refrigerator all perfect and immediately started putting everything into glass jars and making cute labels. She's a much better Martha than me so I am just now catching on. The other day, after a grocery shopping trip to New Seasons, my fridge looked quite lovely. I have a weakness for good packaging design and have been known to pay quite a lot more for butter with nice labels. Here are a few ideas for keeping a pretty fridge other than spending your retirement on butter: 

1. Keep leftovers in French canning jars.

2. Use an egg crate.

3. Store veggies in cheesecloth bags. Buy here or make your own like Anabela.

4. Place a tiny vase of flowers in the fridge.

5. Clean your fridge once a week or whenever you shop. (Novel idea for me!)

6. Wrap butter, cheese, or meat in parchment paper and string.

Any other tips?

P.S. A peek into the refrigerators of design bloggers.

Photos: Chelsea Fuss.

Comments

[Daniella]

Best idea ever. I think i'm going to have a go at this tonight actually! My fridge could use a good cleaning. Plus, I think it helps influence you to buy healthier foods as well.

[jane]

how do you like the drinkable siggi's? my 14yo loves the yogurt.

pretty fridge, btw. :)

[chelsea]

LOVE it, Jane! And the packaging practically had me squealing.

[T.]

Oh my goodness...this post is so well-timed! I am planning a huge fridge makeover this weekend and I am definitely going to use some of these ideas!

Gorgeous!

[donaville]

So pretty! i wish i had suggestions, but i have a family of five + we're booking it with the hub's grandmother for a while so our fridge is probably over-stuffed (and has to be). we store our leftovers in regular ugly tupperware or empty containers that once stored butter. any leftovers that aren't eaten are usually tossed out at the end of every week.

[debbie]

i'm envious of your pretty fridge. i would be embarrassed if anyone went in mine right now. you've inspired me to at least clean it out this weekend. :)

[Sierra]

I get comments all the time on how pretty the inside of my fridge looks...my boyfriend actually instagrams it often for that reason. The biggest tip I can offer is to keep all the contents facing the same way and in an organized fashion. The prettiness however is due to keeping my fruits and veggies in a big basket on the middle shelf and in colored glass and ceramic bowls mixed in among the packed goods.

[Emma at The Marion House Book]

Love your ideas. There is something so satisfying about a clean fridge. We did a big overhaul of ours a couple of weeks ago.

[la domestique]

I love the idea of a well-curated fridge. I keep fruits in different size and color latte bowls. Also, I keep the fridge very clean and use one of those baking soda packs to eliminate odors. We drink a lot of milk at our house so I decant it into an Emile Henry pitcher.

[Debbie B]

I learned from a friend to keep my fruit in a beautiful crystal dish in the fridge right up front. Not only do I eat more fruit, but it makes me smile everytime I open my fridge.

[Sara]

I completely agree. I actually already do the parchment paper but for some reason never thought of using the string. I will now.

The other ideas will definitely be incorporated. I wonder if I can hold out until the weekend to overhaul my fridge?

[M @ Blue and the Girl]

Flowers in a tiny vase in the fridge... I Love It!!! It's like you have given me permission to take my obsession with vases and flowers to a whole new level. Brilliant..... and I may even clean the fridge whilst i'm in there decorating.
Corn flowers to start with I think!

[Nomadic D]

Oh my god, I never even thought about how the inside of my fridge looked! Now I'm going to start obsessing! Noooooo!!!! Actually I guess it's a good thing, to bring beauty into unexpected places, that's what we all strive for, right? My main fridge issue is that the frost builds up so damn fast. Wish there was something we could do to fix it, but I honestly think it's just an old crap fridge.

http://nomadic-d.blogspot.com/

[Jennifer]

Such a fun post!
My dream is to have only products with awesome labels in my cupboards and fridge. :)
I'm with you....I'll buy something because it has a great label.
Have you ever checked out Mast Brothers Chocolate? Their packaging is wonderful.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Jennifer

[lisa]

just an fyi,
because i had a cute egg crate i wanted to use as well.
i have read recently that eggs should be kept in the crate they come in for sanitary/food safety purposes. bummer!

[Julianna]

The last of my eggs always seem to get forgotten about...and then I have to wonder whether to eat them or toss them.. but this simple egg crate makes the eggs visable..duh! totally getting one...

Thanks! xo Jmoksha

[Allison {Taylor Moseley}]

This is such a cute post. I think we all want our lives to be this beautiful and orderly- even though its somewhat unrealistic.

I love it tho. And, even though I won't have time to do this to my fridge anytime soon, I certainly get joy from reading this! I think its something we all can relate to, b/c we all want our life to look like this fridge!

[Meepe]

Oh nooooo my fridge isn't styled or magazine-worthy. I'm going to spend the weekend wrapping my cheeses in paper and string and repackaging everything into fancy, whimsical containers.

Because it really is IMPORTANT how the inside of your refrigerator looks, as it is a direct reflection of your personality.

[Colleen / Inspired to Share]

I love this post and I love your tips!! Oh, to keep a mini vase of flowers in the fridge! That's brilliant! I feel extravagant when we get fancy butter with pretty packaging. ; )

[Melanie Biehle]

Chelsea, you have seriously made me want to clean out my refrigerator. And pantry. And closet. And bathroom. That is quite a feat. Just ask my husband.

Seriously, it feels weird to say this, but the inside of your refrigerator is so pretty! :)

[carina]

'Place a tiny vase of flowers in the fridge' - I'm not sure I'll ever be that kind of woman:-D But I love the idea of using pretty ceramic and glass containers.

[Hillary]

I like putting juice in a nice carafe.

[CAMILLE STYLES]

I LOVE this post, because I truly love an organized fridge. Thanks for the cheesecloth bag link - I'm excited to pick some up and prettify my fridge even more!

[Christina Elaine]

I love this such great advice. Amazing....

Xxx
Ceo

[Silver Strands]

What great advice! Here's hoping my fridge soon looks like yours :)

[DENISE of Hello, Moxie!]

LOVE this! And such great tips. I photograph my cupboards & fridge all the time -- all the colors & labels & such totally inspire me.

[The Local Blogger]

I never thought a refrigerator could look so lovely. Thank you for the tips!

tlb
xo

[Wow]

Wow....Talk about "FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS"!

[Xeyno]

This fridge looks to cute and clean that I would like to eat everything in it :)

[caroline]

So pretty, I wish I had the patience to keep my fridge all neat and pretty. I do have an obsession with keeping items perfecting fitting (like tetris). And I like buying pretty packaged items too.

[Hailey]

long been obsessed with a beautiful fridge - have you ever seen the glass fridge?

The one thing I would disagree with is keeping the produce in the cloth bags - lettuce, herbs and most leafy veggies will completely wilt if not kept in plastic. Learned this the hard way after all my farmer's market goodies completely died 2 days later.