It’s spring cleaning time, and there’s one last place in your home that you’ve been avoiding: the refrigerator. It’s easy to forget this appliance that’s hiding in plain sight, but giving your fridge a thorough once-over will only add to your apartment’s overall aura of cleanliness. Follow these tips for a clean and well-organized refrigerator.

Get Rid of All the Expired Foods and Drinks

It’s something that everyone is guilty of. Sometimes the jar of pickles just happens to get buried behind everything else, and sometimes you just didn’t like that salad dressing that looked so appealing at the supermarket. Your first order of business when organizing your refrigerator should be to get rid of all the expired stuff. Liquids you’ll want to dump down the drain, but if you’re able to recycle organic matter, go for that instead of just dumping it all in the trash–the environment will thank you.

Keep Only the Things You Use

Your refrigerator should only keep things that you’re sure you’ll eat and drink. Sounds simple. That said, it’s easy to get random foods at the supermarket that you try once, decide you don’t like, and don’t have the heart to throw away. Then, you end up with too many condiments and random foods staring at you every time you open the fridge. Always ask yourself in advance if you’ll actually use the food you’re buying. If you’ve got some food that hasn’t expired, don’t ditch it. Rather, give it to someone else who might put it to better use or take it to work to share.

Give It a Clean

If you’re going to organize your refrigerator, you might as well go the extra mile and give it a clean as well. Take everything out and give all the surfaces on the inside a proper wet wipedown.

But be sure to dry up any excess water, too. It may seem like a lot of hassle, but honestly, it should only take a few minutes. You might just be surprised at all the grime you pick up that you never even noticed at first glance.

Give Every Object Its Place

One aspect that leads to clutter is a lack of organization. It might sound silly, but if you put things in places willy-nilly, you end up with an inefficient use of space. While how you want to organize your fridge is really up to you, there are some guidelines as to where you should place certain foods so that they keep longer. Keep fruits, veggies, and meats in the lower parts of your fridge where it’s coolest, then going up, dairy products, eggs, cooked meats, drinks, and leftovers. You’re probably used to keeping your condiments in the designated spaces on the fridge door, and for good reason–condiments require less refrigeration and the fridge doors are the least cool spots of the appliance.

Once you’ve got your designated areas for eggs and drinks separated, you’ll be in business. The real trick is sticking to the plan you’ve set up and to keep it minimal. When you’ve got a well-organized fridge with only the foods and drinks you need, you’ll be able to breathe–and eat–a little easier.