I like my stand up freezer in general, but I have always felt like its shelves were inefficient. Because the contents of the freezer (especially meat) often don’t stack well, it feels like only about half of the shelf’s storage area is usable. Adding baskets is the obvious choice, but every time I look for baskets I find them to be over-priced and inefficient (the sides are usually sloped, and they are never the exact right size). This fall, while surfing for a basket solution again, I had an epiphany.

If I could fence in the front of the shelf, it would act as if it were a perfectly-sized basket (a non-removable basket, it’s true, but I’m ok with that). I headed to a local Lowes and found some reasonably priced wire shelving that I could cut down and some zip ties.

The problem freezer with, hopefully, the solution.

I used an angle grinder to cut the shelving down into the correct size to fit between the two middle gaps.

The first of the two sections installed. I used wire ties to quickly (and reversibly) attache the section.

Both sections installed, and with this year’s meat.

The whole project took an afternoon (including the trip to Lowes) and cost around $20.