Athena Calderone has been nicknamed "the modern girl's Martha Stewart" and for good reason. She's an author, interior designer, culinary storyteller, and entertaining expert who's amassed an 11 million-strong community through social media and her popular lifestyle blog, EyeSwoon. But just like us, Calderone gets the spring cleaning itch, too.
She recently highlighted smart tips for cleaning the refrigerator in her famous swoon-worthy style, and confessed that a lot of creative chaos hides behind her fridge doors. "Since organization isn't my strong suit, I rely on sophisticated storage systems to help keep my wayward tendencies in check," she told us.
Injecting magic into mundane tasks like cleaning is a philosophy Calderone lives by, and the heart of all things EyeSwoon. "When it comes to the dilemma of how to organize your fridge, we want to do it right, but we also want to do it in style," she said. Here's how to clean up the mess, clear out the clutter, and keep your refrigerator organized the EyeSwoon way.
While it's easy to hide a disorganized mess behind refrigerator doors, Calderone pointed out "the fridge is being used every day, multiple times a day (especially if you have kids!)." Start by clearing everything out of your refrigerator to create a blank canvas for a more efficient organizational system. But, don't forget to wipe everything down first.
"Once everything is cleared out, it's time for that deep clean," she explained. Calderone's favorite cleaning products are non-toxic options like Public Goods Surface Cleaner, Murchison-Hume All-Purpose Cleaner, and the Koala-Eco Starter Collection. Wipe down the interior and exterior of your refrigerator and if you're really going deep, don't forget to clean underneath it too.
"The key to reducing waste is storing [things] in the proper areas of your fridge," Calderone said. She encourages sections in your fridge that are personal to your everyday use. If you have kids for example, you might want to create an entire section dedicated to their snacks. For easy, everyday organization, Calderone relies on the following zones in her fridge:
Form and function are at the precipice of everything Calderone does, and fridge organization is no exception. "Why can't everyday necessities like storage be stylish, too?" she said. "When something looks beautiful, you want to keep it that way!" Here are a few of her favorite storage containers, jars, and bins to help you organize your fridge in swoon-worthy style.