Fridgescaping has taken social media by storm. Now, it seems that everyone is doing it as the holiday season approaches.
But what is this new trend that everyone is hopping on board for?
What Is Fridgescaping?
Fridgescaping is the art of organizing and decorating the inside of your refrigerator. While the 1950s pushed refrigerators that were multifunctional and highly organized to the point that owners felt obligated to find a purpose for everything, fridgescaping is about arranging food items in the void that is your fridge in a visually appealing and functional way.
Kathy Perdue, a retired design consultant based in Brentwood, California, coined the term in a 2011 blog post as a riff on “tablescaping.”
“I thought, every time you open up your refrigerator—and we do that several times a day—it needs to be pretty, too,” she explains. But Perdue’s version of fridgescaping looked like today’s “fridge restocking” videos–groceries and storage containers are arranged in a visually satisfying, functional, ASMR-type of way.
Why Are People “Fridgescaping”?
Allison Hester (@rosemaryfairy) is best known for her foraging and gardening content, but something clicked when she stumbled across a fridgescaping video. “I saw a video where someone had an orchid in their fridge, and everything was in an aesthetic jar or picture frame, and it just lit up my dopamine centers,” she tells Food & Wine.
Home decor content creator Judish posted her first fridgescaping video in May, but it is her Bridgerton-themed fridgescaping on Instagram that gained her the most attention.
“I’ve been on a journey this year to romanticize my life a bit, to work on pieces of my house that are mundane and [that] I don’t like and don’t bring me joy,” she explains.“I know everything’s going to stay right where I put it. It really is that whole ‘girl dinner’ vibe of, oh yes, this is exactly what I want, and I’m treating myself with it.”
Who Is This Trend For?
If you are someone who likes to cook often, then this probably isn’t the trend for you. That’s OK! But the romanticism of consumerism–albeit groceries or vintage trinkets to chill–is something that validates our need to participate in the “monoculture.”
While the idea of romanticizing your fridge might be something you want to try, fridge restocking might be up your alley. But if you don’t put a lot of food in your fridge, add some bowls for your lemons, flowers in the corner, or a trinket that brings a smile each time you open the fridge door.
The videos of fridgescaping also give people who often forget about certain perishable foods they have in their fridge ideas of how to make those items stand out and go unwasted.
But what do you think of the trend? Are you ready for it to go out of style, or will you try it yourself? Let us know in the comments below!