How to Transform A Refrigerator Drawer Like A Pro

A recent refrigerator purchase gave me a new dilemma - what to do with the wide deli drawer? If you look at refrigerators now, some have a super-wide "deli" drawer that usually has one or two dividers in it and not a lot of flexibility. Adding items to this drawer can be quite annoying - the items lay on top of one another and, over time, get forgotten and pushed into the back, where it is left uneaten. No good! We don't like wasting food in our home, so this drawer needs to be updated. Feel free to visit our How to Keep Your Refrigerator Organized post for more tips about this frequently-used space.

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Supplies Use to Organize this Refrigerator Drawer
How long did it take me to organize this refrigerator drawer?
Here's how to transform a refrigerator drawer like a pro.
BEFORE Image
Measure the needed container size
Buy shallow containers
Snap lids help keep items fresh longer
Clean the containers and let air dry
Remove the dividers from the drawer
How much can fit in a 4-cup container in the Refrigerator Drawer?
Label the Containers
Video Tutorial
Reveal

How to organize a Refrigerator wide drawer like a pro

Supplies Use to Organize this Refrigerator Drawer

The links below are from Amazon (Affiliate Link). If you click-through and purchase these products, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost. Happy Shopping!

Snapware Pyrex Glass Food Containers, two 6-cup containers, and four 4-cup containers
Square or chalkboard container labels - mine were repurposed but, since then, I used the chalkboard labels (Affiliate Link) for these containers and they work well too.

Marker or liquid chalkboard marker (Affiliate Link)

How long did it take me to organize this refrigerator drawer?

This DIY project took me about 1.5 hours to plan and implement. I purchased the containers after determining how many I needed.

Here's how to transform a refrigerator drawer like a pro.

First, empty out the drawer. Here is what my drawer looked like before I reorganized it. See how the items layer on top of one another. There are other things underneath the lunchmeat and cheese. Then, as you open and close the drawer, those items move from the front of the drawer to the back of the drawer - annoying. We dug through the drawer to find the right item, hoping and praying the food didn't return because we had forgotten about it for a few days.

BEFORE Image

As you can see, all the food containers (Affiliate Link) and things are lying on top of one another. And, as the drawer would fill up, it was so easy to lose items.

Measure the needed container size

Next, I wrote down how many containers and what size I needed. I also made a note of the measurements of the drawer. I started by measuring the length of the item I wanted to store in the container. If it has measurements on the packaging, like 4 cups of shredded cheese, I noted these measurements because most containers show how much volume they hold. If items are flat, like lunchmeat, I measure their height, width, and length. This will also help determine the container size.

Buy shallow containers

The best use for a large drawer like this one is buying shallow containers with or without lids. Since it is a drawer, it's up to the user if he/she wants containers with lids. The benefit of lids on containers is that they contain the odor of the item if it goes bad.

Snap lids help keep items fresh longer

I found these great Pyrex® Snapware®(Amazon (Affiliate Link) Affiliate) glass containers (Affiliate Link) at my nearby grocery store. FYI - I am not getting a commission from Pyrex®. They snap on all four sizes and have a great seal all the way around the glass container (Affiliate Link). I love that the container is glass because it will last longer than plastic. The lid is plastic, but that doesn't bother me since the food in this drawer usually doesn't touch the lid. The product is made in the USA, too =) and has a Limited Lifetime Warranty. It is also oven-safe (Affiliate Link) glass, microwave-safe (Affiliate Link), dishwasher-safe (Affiliate Link), and airtight leakproof. Cool, right?

I purchased two 6 cups /1.5 L food keepers (Amazon (Affiliate Link) Affiliate Link) and four 4 cups / 950 L food keepers (Amazon (Affiliate Link) Affiliate Link).

Clean the containers and let air dry

I cleaned the containers first and let them air dry. I prefer to let them completely dry rather than dry them myself because if I miss an area and there is a wet spot in the container, adding food will make the food go bad faster. Moldy food is no-bueno unless you like that sort of thing.

Remove the dividers from the drawer

The next day, I removed the affixed divider in the drawer and removed the food from the wrappers. I added them to the appropriate-sized containers.

How much can fit in a 4-cup container in the Refrigerator Drawer?

This container is the 4-cup version. It can hold one extra-large wholesale container of Kraft Shredded Mexican Cheese.

Label the Containers

I also added a label (Affiliate Link) to each with the date I purchased the food. You can also write the expiration date on the label (Affiliate Link) if you want. It usually finishes before the expiration date in our house, so it's not that important for us.

This photo is what it looks like when there are no labels (Affiliate Link).

Drawer organization containers without labels

Video Tutorial

Reveal

Here's the after picture. What do you think? It's much better, right? This change has made the drawer much more functional. Items don't move around as much anymore, and the food doesn't lie on top of one another.

Drawer Organization containers with lids and labels - after image

I hope this refrigerator drawer organization helps you with your refrigerator drawer. Do you have one of these drawers? How did you deal with this large drawer? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.