Why Are People Decorating the Inside of Their Refrigerators?

‘Fridgescaping’ is a thing, but does it actually make sense for home cooks?

The refrigerator door has always been a canvas for self-expression, or at least a place to show off your priorities: souvenir magnets, save-the-dates, to-do lists. But the latest fridge decor trend is all about what’s on the inside — and it’s not always edible. In #fridgescaping videos on Instagram and TikTok, antique butter dishes might share space with flowers, framed photos, or even eye cream to create a visually stunning display.

Allison Hester (@rosemaryfairy), a Charlotte-based photographer who is known for her foraging and gardening content, remembers when she first came across a “fridgescape” about a year and a half ago.

“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 says. Since then, Hester and other content creators like Lynzi Judish (@lynziliving) and Jenefer Taylor (@jenefertaylor) have racked up thousands of views (and plenty of skeptical comments) for the granny-chic contents of their refrigerators.

What actually is fridgescaping?

Fridgescaping is the act of styling a refrigerator’s contents. Although it might seem like a trend born of social media, the term nearly predates Instagram. Kathy Perdue, a retired design consultant based in Brentwood, California, coined the phrase 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.

Perdue’s version of fridgescaping looked a lot more like today’s “fridge restocking” videos, in which groceries and storage containers are arranged like Tetris blocks for a visually satisfying (yet functional) display.

“What’s funny is that you can call different levels of fridge organization ‘fridgescaping,’” says Ellen Marie Bennett, the founder and chief brand officer of Hedley & Bennett and host of Kitchen Glow Up, a kitchen makeover show focused on cooking. Bennett has kept a hyper-organized fridge since she worked as a line cook in professional restaurants, but says the pandemic heightened her fridge fixation.

"“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.”— Allison Hester (@rosemaryfairy)"

“I would find myself in my pantry at nine or ten o’clock [at night], and my husband Casey would be like, ‘What are you doing?’” she recalls.

Judish, a home decor content creator based in New York’s Hudson Valley, posted her first fridgescaping video in May, but received the most attention for her Bridgerton-themed fridgescape on Instagram, which she cheekily called “Fridgerton.”

“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.

Judish lives with her husband, but for others, fridgescaping is an opportunity to take up their own space. Hester, who lives alone, relishes decorating a typically shared space exactly how she wants. It’s part of what inspired her to create a viral video of her “girl fridge,”based on the “girl dinner” phenomenon.

“I can pick and choose. I can redecorate things,” 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,” she says.

Bennett guesses that the fridgescaping trend is also an easier — and, of course, more affordable — way to decorate a space.

“It’s something you can give a before and after to without having to do [over] a whole room,” she says. “You get a hit of energy because you open your fridge and it looks better than it did before — and it almost feels like little tiny rooms.”

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Practical or performative?

“I think [fridgescaping] is a really funny, bizarre trend, but I don’t think it’s a trend by people that cook,” says Bennett. “I think it’s a trend by people that maybe decorate and want to make their house look cute, but are by no means trying to bring function to their home.”

She adds, however, that “the irony of it all is this will make people cook more.” Wanting to use up the contents of your beautiful fridge isn’t so different from choosing produce from the farmers market based on its looks, she explains.

This has been the case for Judish, who says she has always enjoyed cooking but has been inspired to try new recipes and even grow her own food to stock for her fridgescapes.

“It made me start to get into gardening because I wanted to grow my own food and have my own herbs at home,” she says. “So now I have my own raised garden bed situation that I use all the time.”

"“Obviously I don’t run around my house with lace gloves on, and I don’t actually store a jewelry box in my refrigerator, although some people on the internet genuinely think that I do things like that. I think some people miss that it’s supposed to be a little silly, too.” — Lynzi Judish (@lynziliving)"

While many elements of #fridgescaping culture are rooted in function — such as the concept of “first in, first out” — it’s not always practical.

Judish admits that storing berries in an open dish, however beautiful it may look, isn’t the best way to extend their shelf life (for what it’s worth, she says it simply encourages her to eat more berries). Judish and even Bennett admit to decanting their takeout dishes into pretty containers.

“I’ll take a dressing from my takeout container and then I’ll put it into a mason jar and that’s just obnoxious. That’s what I find ridiculous,” says Bennett, with a laugh. “Or I will take all of my two-year-old’s yogurts and I will line them up so they all say Stonyfield Farm at the top.”

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Also, as with anything, Instagram isn’t reality — and it’s not meant to be.

“Obviously I don’t run around my house with lace gloves on, and I don’t actually store a jewelry box in my refrigerator, although some people on the internet genuinely think that I do things like that, which is really funny,” says Judish. “I wanted it to be something that was like, this is what my refrigerator looks like right now, one hundred percent. But I also wanted it to be kind of fun. So I think some people miss that. It’s supposed to be a little silly, too.”

How to bring the fridgescaping trend home

While fridgescapes might borrow design elements from the rest of your house, keep in mind that not everything is food-safe when stored in certain vintage finds. Any furniture or utensils that predate the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act of 1971 might contain unsafe amounts of lead. Judish and Hester both say they get any antiques tested using tools like a Fluro-Sped Instant Lead Testing Kit; for Judish, recent purchases including a quiche dish and porcelain basket didn’t pass the test.

If you would rather reserve your antiques for the living room, there are still plenty of practical takeaways from fridgescaping.

"“What a time to be alive. I’m here for this. I would rather people spend their money at the farmers market than at Sephora.” — Ellen Marie Bennett, founder of Hedley & Bennett and host of Kitchen Glow Up"

Bennett suggests sticking to one container style with flat lids for easy stacking. She also swears by dry-erase markers to create “zones” within the fridge for veggies, drinks, leftovers, and more.

“The reason I do it that way is so that my husband, our nanny, my mom, or anyone visiting knows where the heck to put things back after they take it out, or else people are just shoving shit everywhere and it’s like a bad parking lot,” she says with a laugh.

And if you want to add a framed photo or two, you have her blessing.

“I actually love this. Instead of us talking about beauty trends, we’re talking about making our refrigerators look cool. What a time to be alive,” says Bennett. “I’m like, I’m here for this. I would rather people spend their money at the farmers market than at Sephora.” 

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