I never thought I’d have to protect my fridge from unrealistic beauty standards.
But now Tiktok has popularised the trend of “fridgescaping”, the art of arranging the stuff in your refrigerator for decorative display. Fruit and veg is presented in rustic wicker baskets and whimsical ceramic vessels. Flower-laden vases share shelf space with jugs of milk and twee statuettes. LED fairy lights twinkle beguilingly.
The fridgescaper is not merely the owner and eater of edible things, but their curator and art director too. Literally, how does anyone have time for this shit?
Generally speaking, I’m loathe to yuck another’s yum. And maybe there are people out there whose main joy in life comes from curating a really, really, really ridiculously good-looking fridge. If they can indulge their hobby without accidentally spreading bacteria through their food stores or buying a heap of unnecessary storage containers destined for landfill, then I guess more power to them.
For the rest of us, fridgescaping seems like another step in the scope creep of perfectionism that modern life has become. A ridiculous one, to be sure. But it’s one more expectation to be set and met. One more aesthetic chore to be ticked off the list.
And, of course, it’s a highly gendered list.
As a whole, fridgescape content creators appear to be cis women. Their disembodied hands and voices in Tiktok vids are usually feminine; their aesthetics (whether Bridgerton or Hobbit themed) tend towards the dainty.
We’re in the kitchen, after all, traditionally a woman’s space for good or ill. Which might explain another level of ick: the performative domestic-ness of fridgescaping has more than a whiff of trad wife toxicity to it. Like a romanticised rendition of mid-century Stepford wife drudgery that doesn’t just have to serve the household and the family, but also look pretty too.
Is it ironic? Is it kind of camp? Is it being more of the thing (domestic drudgery) that it’s parodying? Like a lot of internet culture – flat earthers, MAGA – it’s difficult to see if this is a joke we should take seriously, or a serious thing that’s become a joke.
Also, just on a practical level, does it actually work? Some fridgescape enthusiasts say they’re doing it to help audit their produce and avoid food waste. But it seems like there are much easier ways to do this, most of which involve judicious use of paper towel and airtight containers.
On the fridge front, we’ve had some innovations in form over recent years including, lord help us, the annoying trend of invisible built-in fridges and, worse, glass-front appliances. But by definition, a fridge is a functional thing. It’s there to keep our food and drink fresh and edible. It should be a place of purposeful storage, not public display.
Are we still allowed to have those? In modern home design, the labour of the kitchen gets pushed out of sight into the butler’s pantry. The labour of laundry is romanticised in aesthetically pleasing utility rooms where everything matches and even the washing powder has its own stylish receptable and calligraphy label. The labour of restocking pantries and fridges becomes ASMR material.
Where is the mess of real life meant to happen? Where can we chuck last night’s leftovers in an old takeaway container? Where can we haphazardly shove those almost-empty jars of olives and pickles that we swear we’ll finish off any day now?
Here’s my pitch for a new Tiktok trend: the door. Simply put all your functional, practical, non-aesthetic shit inside a receptacle and close the door.
Got all your pretty kitchen things collecting dust on open shelving? Bang up a cupboard and you can stash the ugly-but-useful stuff too.
Tired of the open-wardrobe tyranny that means you have to fold all your clothes Konmari style? Chuck on a closet door (or even a screen) and exhale.
And finally, let us embrace the jumbled functional mayhem of a fridge interior that isn’t cosplaying as an art installation. That holds equal space for elderly bolognaise-stained Tupperware, rotisserie chicken carcasses and home brand minced garlic. That lights up when we need it to and then sits unseen behind closed doors. A fridge unbothered by fashions and trends. A fridge that is free.
