It’s a week of reveals around here. Or at least sneak peeks. Today, you’re getting a preview of my kitchen! I’ve teased about its design in the past (here, here and here to be exact), but I couldn’t’ be happier with the final result. One of the keys to creating a dream kitchen is picking the right appliances. There are a ton of choices out there, but I knew I wanted three things: the highest quality, great functionality and gorgeous design. Case in point: my refrigerator.

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Don’t you just love it? Wait – you can’t see it!? That’s because I knew from the get-go that I wanted an integrated refrigerator. That’s when your refrigerator is covered to look like the rest of your cabinetry. Appliance trends tend to come and go and I wanted to ensure our kitchen would be timeless. Mission accomplished (if I do say so myself)

When it comes to amazing appliances there are only a few obvious options out there, but after doing my research I was sold on Thermador. The timing happened to be ideal – Thermador is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year – so they seemed fitting for my 100+ year old house! Thermador intentionally designs their their appliances to function as fully-flush integrated refrigeration that can seamlessly blend into virtually any design, and offer as much or as little refrigeration, freezer and wine preservation you desire.

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We ended up selecting the Thermador Freedom® Collection refrigerator with french doors and freezer drawer below and I could not be happier. Thermador explains that their refrigeration system features technology that ensures better temperature management for optimum preservation. Basically, that means it keeps things really fresh for a really, really long time. Seriously, I’ve been so impressed. Our food doesn’t go to waste anymore. Th refrigerator drawers are sealed so the temperature flowing around the drawer keeps the contents fresher longer, up to twice as long. I used to hate opening the refrigerator only to have my chosen ingredient gone bad. Thing of the past!

But what I really love about my Thermador refrigerator is how it lets me store everything easily and most importantly, beautifully. The refrigerator features a full width meat drawer (which I’ve actually coopted for cheese), gallon door bins and adjustable shelves. It also has the best lighting of any refrigerator I’ve ever used. Turns out that’s all intentional too. Thermador placed its LED theater lighting on the sides of the columns to ensure that everything in the column can be seen and all labels are readable, making it even easier to spot those secret ingredients the cook has hidden way in the back.

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Since I’ve been on an organizing kick lately (have you toured my pantry yet?), I turned to the professional organizing gurus at Neat Method to wave their magic want on my refrigerator as well. There are a few easy ways to take your fridge organization to the next level. I thought I’d leave you with Neat Method’s top refrigeration organization tips. I making use of them on the daily now and feel much more pulled together every time I open my fridge!

How should you approach organizing anything – fridge, kitchen, closet?

Don’t think it has to be all done at once. Organization should be done one space at a time or else you can get easily overwhelmed, burned out and quit. Even just getting one shelf or family of items, like nail polish, together, edited and binned, can feel like a major accomplishment. And it should!

When it come to creating an organized fridge what is the most important thing to consider?

Visibility. If you don’t see it, you won’t eat it and it will go bad.

What is the biggest complaint you hear about refrigerators?

Food is frequently lost/misplaced/forgotten. I have a two-fold strategy to combat this. One is clear glass food storage. Your prepared foods will always be visible. No more scary tinfoil package in the back corner everyone avoids. The second step is creating a leftover shelf or area in your fridge. If you need a quick lunch or dinner, you will know exactly where to reach and food is less likely to go bad. I even repackage take-out in my glass storage. This way I can see what’s in there and my refrigerator looks less chaotic with the coordinating storage containers.

How often should you “reorganize”?

A refrigerator should be “touched-up” every week or any time you do your big grocery shopping trip. All leftovers, produce and raw meat should be looked over to make sure they are still good. All new containers of hummus, cottage cheese, etc. should be rotated to the back so the partially full containers can be finished first. And it’s a good idea to take a quick peek in any vegetable or meat drawers to make sure nothing got “lost” in the back.

What are your top three tricks of the refrigerator organization trade?

1: Washing all refrigerated fruit immediately (besides berries) and placing them in an open container to encourage people to eat them. Something like a white ceramic berry basket or a pretty ceramic bowl. You can quickly pull the bowl out and set it on a table for a snack then it goes back in when done.
2: Make sure raw meat is in a drawer or separate bin that is easy to pull out and clean. No matter how on top of it you are, meat can leak and create havoc on your fridge.
3: Lazy Susans are a great way to corral condiments and encourage people to use them. If you see them, you will use them. (I love ours!)

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7 Comments

  1. Love your fridge organisation! But I just have to say… here in Europe (at least where I live!), it’s super UNcommon to NOT have an integrated fridge. Is it an American thing to have a fridge that ‘stands out’? x

    1. That’s so interesting Gabriella. I would definitely say stainless steel appliances have a been a big thing in the US for some time. Currently black appliances are also making a comeback but I appreciate the European aesthetic. Actually much of the inspiration for our renovation was of Parisian apartments!

  2. Erin, I’m dying to come to your kitchen and cook with you. Beautiful work as always! xoxo.