This Office Staple Does Wonders For Organizing Your Fridge

If the thought of organizing your fridge makes you want to run for the hills, you're not alone. Dealing with expired packages, moldy produce, and smelly leftovers is no one's idea of fun. However, organizing your fridge properly can alleviate these issues by making sure that you eat through everything before it goes off. Luckily, there's an office staple that can do wonders for bringing a sense of calm to a chaotic fridge, which is both affordable and convenient: A pair of bookends.

Bookends can create little circumscribed areas to help you better manage the contents of your fridge and monitor which items are soon to expire — they need to be sturdy but slim so they can keep bottles and cans in place without taking up extra space (so forget about fancy thick ones with ridges and patterns). These L-shaped metal bookends from Dollar Tree fit the bill perfectly because they're lightweight and only cost $1.25 each. Plus, they're easy to wipe clean, and come in three cheerful colors, allowing you to split your fridge up easily into designated zones for different drinks and cartons (plastic bins from Dollar Tree make organizing your fridge a breeze, too, because they're clear and compact, so you could incorporate these as well).

To get started, give your bookends a quick clean to remove any accumulated dust or grime that's settled on them in-store. Then there are a couple of ways you can set them up to de-clutter and create more space.

The first way is to place a bookend up against the guard rail in your door shelves and place a can over the base to hold it in place. Then you can stack several more on top due to the extra height the bookend provides, which will keep the cans together. The second option is to place your bookend on one of the shelves so the bottom edge touches the side of the fridge, creating a rectangular gap for several water bottles and cartons. You can slide a second bookend next to it to create more vertical storage space for similar items, such as boxed up leftovers, packages of cheese, or sticks of butter.

Bookends also make awesome tools for keeping cutting boards together on a kitchen countertop. Plus, they moonlight as napkin holders when showcased on the dining table, or can even be used in the pantry to unite sachets of powdered sauces and herb mixes. If you're looking for more ideas, you can declutter your fridge with these 17 best-selling Amazon products, too. This list includes stackable boxes that make use of redundant vertical space and Lazy Susan turntables that are perfect for stowing those bottles and condiments that often get lost in the back. Alongside incorporating these items, make sure to rotate the foods in your fridge weekly to keep it odor-free.