The $10 Organizer That Transforms Unused Storage Space in the Most Ingenious Way
The refrigerator is one of the only household appliances that you’re actually supposed to customize after you bring it home. Unlike your microwave or your oven, you don’t have to feel stuck with your fridge as-is whenever you wish it was designed a little differently. You can lower and raise the shelves to fit extra-tall items, as well as move (or remove) hanging bins to create a food storage space that suits your needs. And, when you consider the potential that magnetic shelves provide, you can really make your fridge one of a kind.
One smart way to make the most of your fridge’s interior is by adding bins and organizers. These hold food in more economical ways so you avoid wasting space and can comfortably fit more jars, cans, and Tupperware containers in your fridge without making it a crowded mess. I thought I’d seen every kind of storage bin available, but I just came across a new one that adds space in an unexpected place, and it only costs $10.
This plastic mesh bag hooks onto the bins on the inside of your refrigerator’s door and has two storage pockets that face outward. You can use the pockets to keep all kinds of little items that can otherwise get lost in your fridge, such as sauce packets, tubes of tomato paste, and small aromatics including chili peppers, garlic cloves, and knobs of ginger. Each bag comes in a set of two, and when you need to clean them, you can easily wash or rinse them off in the sink.
Whereas most fridge organizers are larger pieces of plastic that take up space on your shelves in order to build a more structured environment to keep food in, the brilliant thing about these bags is that they only use an underutilized space — so they won’t interfere with any other organizers. Their slim design helps them stay out of the way and their simple hanging mechanism makes them easy to move around when you want to. They’re also an ideal spot to hold snacks such as individually-wrapped cheeses and smoothie pouches, so they definitely come in handy for families.
I suspect these could also work well outside of your fridge, such as storage pouches for small bags of spices or even for non-food items like bag clips or plastic utensils. Personally, I plan on grabbing some of these to round up the extra ramen noodle spice packages and take-out sauce packets that have taken over one of my kitchen’s drawers (as well as the tubes of wasabi and harissa paste that I always misplace in my fridge). Once you see the storage opportunities they create in your fridge, you’ll probably start looking for ways to use them all over your home.
Buy: Sherxibo Home Kitchen Organizer Mesh Bags, $9.99
This post originally appeared on Kitchn. See it here: The $10 Organizer That Takes Advantage of Unused Space in the Most Ingenious Way