How To Create A Gorgeous Looking Totally Organized Upright Freezer
Quite a few years ago I invested in an upright freezer. I much prefer it to a chest freezer because it takes up less room in the mudroom where it is located. I love just having to open the door as if I were opening a closet door to add, return or remove whatever frozen food I am looking for. But there are some issues with an upright freezer just as there are with a chest freezer. The upright freezer has five shelves inside. I tried to designate each shelf for a different category of food. But have you noticed that frozen food is not packaged the same so it can't be neatly stacked on the shelf in an organized system? Are you like me and have lost track of what is exactly in the freezer and how long it has been there? Have you also noticed that frozen food is actually quite unattractive and unappealing? Looking inside a freezer is a very drab experience. I changed all that with some inexpensive ideas!
I bought 15 plastic bins that are actually shoe bins. Three bins fit perfectly on each of the five shelves. Plastic bins can look pretty drab in the freezer too so I decorated each one with pretty blue washi tape.
More Washi Tape Ideas
I used my Brother PT-D600 label maker to create labels for each bin. These labels work on both cold and hot surfaces so I do not have to worry about the labels coming off. I have had this storage system for two years and the plastic bins have held very well. One of the bins does have a chipped corner. I think just sliding them back and forth when needed has made them quite a user friendly storage solution.
With this bin system I can easily see what category of foods I have a lot of and which ones I need to replace. This photo shows that I have a lot of pork meat. I tucked some pork roasts beside the bin because there was no room. It also looks like the family will be eating sole fish a few times in the near future.
I mentioned earlier that food does not come in nice uniform packages that nicely fit into the freezer. I like to buy my frozen vegetables and fruit in bulk packages at Costco. What I do when I get home is repackage the food into smaller more manageable packages that are easy to stack and store in the plastic bins.
Here is the BEFORE...
Here is the AFTER. I can't believe what an improvement it is! Food is expensive and I see it as an investment. Having a totally organized upright freezer helps me keep track of my investment by immediately seeing what I have purchased or need to purchase when I open the upright freezer door.
By the way, I see these organizing tips also working for a chest freezer!
I go into more details on the blog. I invite to stop by for more information!
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I will definitely try this out. My freezer is a mess! Thanks for this fabulous idea.
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Good idea! You have inspired me to go and tackle my messy frustrating freezer. Nice job . Thank you.
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how to properly store bottom freezer
carole
I havent bought any shoe bins so I am not familiar with the type of plastic used. But wouldn’t they crack after being frozen awhile since they’re not designed for that (low of a) degree if temperature, especially after continually sliding them in and out?
I see someone asked about a side by side freezer. How about a chest freezer????!!!!
Those are a real challenge!