The Home Edit's Joanna and Clea share their golden rules for keeping a fridge organized

The Home Edit is returning to our screens on Netflix on April 1st. If the return of the organizing duo has given you the urge to tidy up your kitchen, the pair recently shared their four golden rules for organizing a refrigerator. 

Professional organizers Joanna Teplin and Clea Shearer, the founders of The Home Edit, became household names when their Netflix show Getting Organized with The Home Edit launched in 2020. They have helped tidy up countless celebrity homes including Reese Witherspoon, and rumor has is Drew Barrymore's home will star in the new season. 

Recently, The Home Edit has teamed up with Eggland’s Best to honor National Nutrition Month. Speaking exclusively to Homes and Gardens, the pair revealed their four rules for keeping a fridge organized.

The Home Edit fridge organization rules

The fridge is a tricky space to keep tidy, even Marie Kondo revealed to us that the fridge is a space she struggles to organize. Fortunately, The Home Edit has some helpful tips to keep even the busiest families' fridges looking neat. 

1. Create different zones 

Zoning your fridge is the first place to start to create a tidy space explains Joanna. 'We like zones everywhere, especially in the fridge to create areas to have different snacks options, fruits, vegetables those types of things. So you can grab and go and easily find what you're looking for as well as having healthy options on hand.'

2. Invest in clear storage

 One of Clea's key rules is investing in clear storage, alongside your other kitchen storage ideas, for the fridge, such as stackable bins available on Amazonor The Container Store. 

'We love clear storage,' explains Clea. 'It means you can see anything less healthy.'

'Clear bins keep all of your categories in order, you can maximize your space, but ultimately you're inspired to eat the healthy food that you see,' add Clea.

3. Capitalize on vertical space

According to The Home Edit, the key to making the most of the space in a fridge is to capitalize on vertical space. 

'A fridge is such high real-estate. They're not very big, no matter how big they are they're still not that big,' explains Joanna. 'Being able to take advantage of all of the space in the fridge by being able to use clear stackable containers allows you to take advantage of the vertical space too.' 

4. Use category labels

Once you have your zones, storage and vertical space covered all that is left is to label it so the rest of your family can utilize the system.

'Labels, have always been a big piece of The Home Edit ethos, but in the fridge, they're even more critical,' says Clea. 'The turnover rate in a fridge is so high, just in terms of the food that you're consuming and the food that you're getting rid of. It's much higher than a pantry, so labels are really important for keeping your systems accountable and setting up a set of instructions for everyone in the household.'

However, to make sure your labels are effective Clea and Joanna both recommend keeping them broad to encompass types of foods. 'So instead of just having a label that says cucumbers, you want to have a label that says veggies,' says Clea. 'Instead of having a label that is for ketchup, you want a label that says condiments.'

For more healthy food storage options, Clea and Joanna have partnered with Eggland's Best to create the EB Better Family Fridge Makeover Sweepstakes. Entries are open until the 15th April.