A 37-Year-Old Woman Went Viral For "Fridgescaping" Her Refrigerator, And Depending On What You Think, You'll Either Find It "Horrifying" Or "Inspiring"
Decorating your space — whether it's your living room or bedroom — is a creative and freeing process, but have you ever considered decorating the inside of your fridge? Well, look no further because "fridgescaping" is making its rounds around the internet, and it's a sight to behold.
Twitter: @taylorsschumann / TikTok: @lynziliving / Via Twitter: @taylorsschumann The home decor trend recently started getting traction on the internet, with one post about it on X (formerly Twitter) reaching over 6 million views. — Taylor Schumann (@taylorsschumann) August 26, 2024
I have come across the fridgescaping trend and I just pic.twitter.com/Z5n27bqFp1
But what exactly is "fridgescaping?" Lynzi Judish (@lynziliving) — whose fridge is in the X post above — credits a 2010 blog post by Kathy Perdue as the first to coin the phrase. Similar to tablescaping, fridgescaping is decorating and organizing the inside of your fridge to look stylistically and aesthetically pleasing, typically using things like baskets, vases, pitchers, and other items to achieve a desired theme.
Though Lynzi, a 37-year-old from the Hudson Valley, isn't the only fridgescaper out there, she's one of the most popular on TikTok, with her videos reaching hundreds of thousands of people. Lynzi told BuzzFeed that she has been fridgescaping for nearly half a year after drawing inspiration from other creators who have shared projects similar to it. "I thought it was such a lovely way to romanticize a place in your life that’s usually pretty mundane," she explained.
One video, in particular, has amassed over 580K views, with the TikToker explaining what she thinks the point of fridgescaping is and how it's helped her in more ways than one.
So, here are Lynzi's reasons as to why fridgescaping is beneficial to her:
1.It helps keep track of produce — According to Lynzi, organizing her fridge this way has allowed her to see all of her produce, making it easy to take stock and see where everything stands, ripening-wise.
"I can open the refrigerator and see that the strawberries are on their last leg," she writes in the TikTok caption, "so I decide to do something with them that day."
2.It encourages trying new food — Lynzi explains that though she used to be a very picky eater, fridgescaping has pushed her to try new and adventurous foods.
She says in the TikTok caption, "I love having beautiful produce in my refrigerator and I am excited about something different in the refrigerator, which means I need to integrate it into my meal plan."
3.She and her husband cook now more than ever — Though Lynzi and her husband have always enjoyed cooking, she says that having "more beautiful things in the refrigerator and on display" has led to the desire to be more creative with their meals.
"A big thing we started doing is working with edible flowers from the garden," Lynzi told BuzzFeed. "Shortly after I began this, I started really thinking about designing my refrigerator safely, which meant I wanted to make sure any flowers in the refrigerator were from the garden and edible."
4.Less food waste — Putting off using produce stored in the fridge until it gets moldy isn't a problem for Lynzi anymore.
"I’m now hyper-aware of what I have and it’s contained in things I really love," she writes in the caption of her TikTok, "so I treat it with care."
5.Lastly, her fridge is clean all the time — Lynzi admits she used to dread cleaning her fridge and used to do it "once in a blue moon." However, since fridgescaping, where she has to display and switch in and out ingredients, she naturally wants it to look nice.
"Because the refrigerator is so clean all the time, all I need to do is wipe down the shelves. It takes 30 seconds," she says.
In fact, Lynzi told BuzzFeed that she changes the theme of her fridge about every two weeks, syncing with her big grocery trips. One of the themes, and her personal favorite, is inspired by the film Practical Magic.
She's also done a Beetlejuice theme:
And, among other themes, Lynzi's second favorite theme she's done is inspired by Bridgerton. Or, as she likes to call it, "Fridgerton."
But, despite Lynzi's reasonings and passion for fridgescaping, the internet, as expected, is quite divided on the trend. Some people are completely on board and love the concept, with one TikTok user saying, "joy. joy is the point. life is too short to not do the things that bring us joy, even if it's odd to other people."
Meanwhile, others had a more negative view of fridgescaping. One commenter said, "I get the pretty baskets and containers but I do not understand the flowers, picture frame, candles.. Like those take space and you have to move everything to get the stuff behind." Another TikTok user said, "Hey so this is insane."
Even so, some people were unsure what they thought about the trend. One TikToker commented, "I'm torn between horror and intrigue."
But no matter how one feels about fridgescaping, Lynzi has some tips for those who want to start — and you don't need a huge budget for it. Lynzi told BuzzFeed that not only can one use pieces they already own, but they can also hunt for pieces in thrift shops and buy secondhand. "I would suggest starting small. Sort of building the decor in your refrigerator," Lynzi advised. "Some easy starter items are things like a butter dish or egg tray or nice food storage. Those are items you’d use anyway, so upgrading to some things you find aesthetically pleasing is a great jumping-off point."
And even though the concept of fridgescaping appears grandiose, some practicality is still involved. "You don’t want to go grocery shopping and just buy everything that looks pretty for your refrigerator," Lynzi said to BuzzFeed. "That’s a really easy way to eventually create food waste for yourself. As much as we love the aesthetics here, we also want to be practical." More importantly, Lynzi stresses the importance of food safety and urges beginning fridgescapers to do their research, test any wares before storing food in them, be careful about cross-contamination, and keep their fridges clean. "Although that’s something you should probably be mindful about in the first place, I think it’s extra important when you’re leaving produce out in the open."
Overall, for Lynzi, fridgescaping — and decor, in general — is a way to romanticize a part of her life, and she believes it's important for people to romanticize pieces of their lives if they can. Lynzi told BuzzFeed that surrounding herself with items that bring her joy and make her smile is a beautiful thing. And as she learned from her husband, Lynzi believes the things we have are meant to be enjoyed. "I think the world we live in can be a scary and stressful place and full of hardship and sadness," Lynzi explained. "Everyone can use more joy in their lives."
What do you think about the fridgescaping trend? If you could fridgescape to your heart's desire, what themes would you draw inspiration from? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
For more content, you can follow Lynzi on TikTok.