Last Sunday night Matt realized that our fridge wasn't cooling well, by morning everything was close to room temperature. We called in a repair guy, but I knew in my mind it wasn't going to be good. (We have had horrible luck with this fridge since we got it.) He gave us a quote of nearly a thousand dollars to repair everything... at that price I would rather go buy a new one!!! Thankfully God had provided the funds for us before we even needed them. We were able to get a good deal at Lowe's and picked up this beauty...
Before I started loading it up I knew I wanted to get a plan first. I hit up Pinterest for organizing ideas in french door refrigerators, but there weren't many. So I just pulled all of my supplies from last time and set to work.
I knew I wanted to start with the drawer in the middle. I wanted the kids to be able to easily reach their snacks. We loaded it up with fruits, veggies, yogurt and cheese sticks. After almost two weeks, I have replenished this drawer 3 times, and our jar of crackers and granola bars has stayed full!
Next, I juggled around the shelves until I found the set up that would work best for us.
On the right side I took out one of the door shelves to make room for two rows of gallon jugs. The top shelf is for left overs, so we can't miss them. Below that is my small Lazy Susan for jar items. I kept the sandwich making bins on the next shelf. It really has proven helpful to just be able to pull the bins out when it is time to make lunches. The bottom is open all the way across for thawing meats.
The left side is a little more narrow to allow for the ice maker. I put the eggs on the top shelf, kool-aid and tea pitchers in the middle and I use the drawer for tortillas, bagels and english muffins. I am going to try to use the condiments and dressings we have on hand so we don't get overloaded again.
The only area I was worried about when I made this purchase was the freezer. It looked pretty small in the store, but after a trip to Sam's for bulk meat buying, I can happily say that it has enough room for our family of 5 (and a half :])! Poultry on one side and meat on the other. The top has more than enough room for bread, cookie dough and ice cream, you know... the essentials.
So far this system has worked pretty well. The little ones love having a "kid drawer" and love being able to see and reach everything with ease. Now, as long as I don't have to call anyone out to repair it every 8 months I will be a happy girl!!!
