Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott have a clever fridge trick to prevent them from overbuying produce at the grocery store

'It’s super important to my family and me to maintain a clean fridge': Begin with a tip that's so simple, we can't believe it has not been done before

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Jonathan Scott and Zooey Deschanel
(Image credit: Michael Kovac via Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation)

Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott may enjoy the best of Los Angeles from their beautiful Gerard Colcord-designed Georgian revival in Brentwood, but in some ways, their lives are not so different from our own. Starting with their refrigerator habits.  

Just like us, the actress and Property Brother do what they can to maintain an organized fridge – and this includes taking steps to ensure they don't overstock on produce with a temporary shelf life. 

'Do you want to know what's in our fridge? I don't even know what's in our fridge,' Scott jokes as he shares how to organize a refrigerator via Instagram. As the tour proceeded, we were met with a host of goods: cream cheese, yogurts, fruits, and champagne – however, we were slightly more unconventional items, starting with a camera (yes, really). 

'The one thing I do love about this fridge is that there's a camera, so when we're at the grocery store, and I can't remember if we have something, I can look from my phone, inside the fridge, and it will show me what I have and what I don't have,' Scott explains.

In Scott and Deschanel's case, it appears their camera is built into their refrigerator, but we can still follow their example by investing in a lens that's specifically designed for purpose, such as this one from Amazon below.

'Zooey is the cook in our house, and she can walk in here and make 100 meals instantly. I'm pretty basic; I usually make a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, egg, or something like that… but I do like keeping things super organized,' Scott explains. Ensuring they overstock their shelves is one way Scott and Deschanel keep their shelves tidy, but having a regimented home for different food categories is another. 

'Any of our leftovers always go on the bottom shelf. We keep random things here [on the middle two shelves,' Scott explains.

'Another thing I highly recommend is that we have a produce drawer [separate from the main fridge in another cabinet]. Below, the kids have their yogurts and things like that. It takes that out of the fridge and creates room for everything else. We have condiments and soups [on the top shelf]. On the door, we have a variety of stuff, from olives and pickles to condiments.'

And, once again, just like us, their fridge is prone to a little disorganization over time.

'I find slowly, over time, everything gets mixed up. It's good to go through at least once a month and pull everything out, look at the labels, and make sure you're good,' Scott says. Whether we invest in cameras or not, this advice translates to kitchens far beyond Brentwood –because an organized fridge never falls out of style. 

Megan Slack
Megan Slack
Head of Celebrity Style News

Megan is the Head of Celebrity Style News at Homes & Gardens, where she leads the celebrity/ news team. She has a history in interior design, travel, and news journalism, having lived and worked in New York, Paris, and, currently, London. Megan has bylines in Livingetc, The Telegraph, and IRK Magazine, and has interviewed the likes of Drew Barrymore, Ayesha Curry, Michelle Keegan, and Tan France, among others. She lives in a London apartment with her antique typewriter and an eclectic espresso cup collection, and dreams of a Kelly Wearstler-designed home.