Fridgescaping: Cool Customization Or Total Waste Of Space?

Folks have long customized their refrigerator doors with non-food-related memorabilia and personal paraphernalia: Gaudy collectible magnets from family vacations, candid photo booth strips from less-than-lucid nights out, etc. Now, some particularly zealous, aesthetically minded home cooks have turned their decorative sensibilities toward uncharted terrain — the inside of the fridge.

The #fridgescaping began trending on social media platforms from TikTok to Instagram, and folks seem to have some pretty heated opinions on the cool new trend (cool as in low-temp). Whether or not it's fashionable is up to foodies to decide for themselves. One TikTok by @gardenof_eve depicts a fridge interior with sprawling plastic baby's breath and floral vines pasted to the walls and a framed picture of a cat. Another fridge from Lynzi Judish via Instagram sports Bridgerton-inspired regency era decor, aptly called "Fridgerton," which features ceramic swans, mirrored trays, and porcelain bust figurines. Setups vary, but generally in most "fridgescapes," every food item is transferred into an ornate glass jar, and antiques and potted flowers are common too.

Don't get us wrong, we're all about boasting a well-organized fridge here at Tasting Table. Good fridge etiquette can help you throw stress-free dinner parties and cut down on food waste from day to day, and Ina Garten herself has a tried-and-true fridge organization system. But problems arise when the design interferes with functionality, and maximalist fridge interior design is less a cute trend and more yikes fuel, or a sign to hit your friends with a "you good?"

As over-the-top as it might seem, interior fridge decorating is not exactly a new trend. Home and lifestyle outlets have been reporting on "fridgescaping" tips since at least 2022. The term and subsequent mania that is "fridgescaping" might have first been coined in 2011 by retired California-based design consultant Kathy Perdue in a blog post, where she described the idea as a way to "enjoy the process" of the otherwise mundane utility of opening your fridge door to grab food several times a day. From this stance, fridgescaping is simply an exercise in romanticizing life, which rules.

On one hand, fridgescaping definitely provides an opportunity for maximum customization. After all, it isn't weird to display a prized cast iron tea kettle on a stove burner — an aesthetic choice that isn't always practical, considering you have to move the kettle every time you want to use that burner for any other purpose. Still, decorating the entire interior of your refrigerator is a far cry from an appliance or two left out on the countertop.

For starters, all those eye-catching decorations can pull your attention away from what matters most in your refrigerator: The deteriorating freshness of your food. How are you supposed to know that your leafy, wilting dill is about to go bad when there are so many pretty framed photos and plastic flowers to look at on the same shelf? Still, nobody is heralding fridgescaping for its practicality; that isn't the point. It's about beautifying the inventory, not keeping track of it (which in itself is a pretty bleak symbol of wealth disparity and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis as nationwide food inflation remains high, but we digress). 

The pleasure of fridgescaping lies in crafting a highly-curated visual display. Indeed, it can be a good way to put all of those cute, overpriced resealable food containers to good use. Although, we would argue that splurging on some cute Tupperware and a ceramic egg tray is a pretty different animal from putting framed photos inside your refrigerator next to a 24-pack of Busch Light. For the best of both worlds, skip the non-food-related decor, but implement some smaller, practical fridge beautifying tips, like hand-writing pretty labels, positioning the labels to be facing frontward, grouping bottles and containers by size, or investing in some stylish baubles like vintage Pyrex or a jade butter dish.

Fridgescaping fans have presented the counterargument that beautifying organization could inspire people to cook more – which might be totally true, unless you happen to live with even one other person (let alone two or three). When your roommate comes home hungry from their closing bartending shift, your perfectly positioned orchid is getting knocked over. If it isn't your roommate, then you might find yourself knocking over that potted plant when you try to pull out a bundle of celery. No one is feeling compelled to untangle that mess and cook at home more. 

Allow us to leave you with a final parting sentiment on the contentious trend. It comes from the cult classic Disney Channel original movie "High School Musical" (2006). Athlete Chad warns aspring actor friend Troy not to audition for the school musical with the following adage: "[Michael Crawford] was the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Now, my mom, she's seen that musical 27 times. And she put Michael Crawford's picture in our refrigerator. Not on it, in it ... So, my point is, if you sing in musicals, you're gonna end up in my mom's refrigerator." Don't be Chad's mom. If romanticizing the fridge means that much to you, you're better off tying a pink coquette ribbon around your Brita pitcher and calling it a day.