In the freezer we apply the same logic as in the fridge; declutter, clean and organise.

However, there are some differences.

What is the size of your freezer? If it is tiny then you can get away with cleaning it when it is still on. If you have a large chest freezer we are dealing with something big! It is better to take it off electricity, clean it and do this as a larger project.

Declutter the freezer

Take everything out and only place items back if you are going to eat them.

Ask yourself what is working and what isn’t in your freezer in terms of storage.
Clean from top to bottom, remove old items, clean one tray and shelve at a time.

If there are items that you don’t know what they are, you probably should toss them (or defrost and eat a surprise meal tonight). As with the fridge take this as a learning opportunity what will you stop buying and doing in future?

Clean the freezer

I like to vacuum the freezer as I store a lot of bread in there so heaps of breadcrumbs to remove.

Hot soapy water is also key especially if you take everything out.

Organise the freezer

I find the freezer a challenging space to organise like the fridge there is continuous movement. Sometimes it is hard to remember what you put in there 3 months ago etc.

Some key things when you organise your freezer

Can you add baskets and racks in the freezer to double or triple your space?

The cheap wire racks are fantastic in the freezer as it doubles your shelve space.
For deep chest freezers how can you use bigger / smaller boxes to stack on top of each other. Maybe you want to have different colours in a chest freezer, green for vegetables, pink for meat and blue for fish.

Ask yourself how you will label?

You could colour coordinate put easy tape with labels.
A key with labelling is will this storage solution last for a long time or is it once off.
Having painters tape and a black marker in the kitchen is really handy to keep your freezer organised.

Shelve your frozen items.

A great way to get much more in your freezer is using the zip lock plastic bags and freeze meals or items like “sandwiches” this will allow you to stack meals in your freezer as the will all be frozen in the same shape. I will freeze something let it rest on the lid of an organising box once it is frozen in the shape I like I can literally file the meal or food.

How much will you freeze and for how long?

I would love to be a freezer guru and create meals for months to come, honestly, I am not there yet. My freezer items have a quick turnaround but for now, it works.

If you are new to freezer organising start simple with frequently used foods and work your way up. Don’t store things you will never eat.

If you want to start experimenting maybe purchase bread or meat and divvy/cut it up. In containers and zip lock bags (this way you can see you have bread and meat for xxx amount of weeks or months).

The principles of organising won’t change. Think about your needs find a home for your item in this case frozen food and test if it works. Now you know how to organise your refrigerator and freezer, maybe work on them between 1 – 4 times a year (yearly or quarterly) and note improvements over time.

As always let me know how you go