I'm a mom of two toddlers and have something of a dilemma.  I only have time to make bread on occasion, so most of our sandwich bread is storebought.  I prefer to buy whole wheat bread without preservatives.  My current favorite is Trader Joe's White Whole Wheat for the kids; it's soft enough where they even scarf down the crust.  I often like to keep a more rustic "adult" whole grain bread around too.  However, these breads begin to mildew in just a few days.  Back to being a mom of toddlers - I like to go to the grocery store once a week, not every other day.  But I don't like the effect that refrigeration has on bread, and I'm not a fan of freezing it (my freezer is always full of other things; bread gets "lost" in there; just like having ready-to-eat bread, etc)

To make matters worse, now that it's spring in the Midwest, I've been keeping my windows open... and the temperature is often around 80F, not to mention the humidity! 

Sooo... I got to thinking... what if I purchased a small wine cooler for storing my bread & butter?  I've often thought that it would be great for keeping butter soft enough for easy spreading, or to take out & be nearly ready for creaming into recipes.  But what about bread?  If I stored it around 50 to 55 degrees (F)... shouldn't it stay fresh a couple days longer & retard mildew, without the condensation & negative effects of refrigeration?

Please tell me if you think I'm on to something or way off base here.  Do I need to suck it up and just divide & freeze my loaves?

Thanks in advance!

Christine