Why the latest social media vogue is a fridge too far

Thought wall-to-wall beige and displaying books the wrong way round was bad? They’ve got nothing on fridgescaping’, the most unhinged Instagram trend yet, writes Helen Coffey

- Helen Coffey

Forget I new year, new you. In 2025, it's all about new year, new fridge.

We’re not talking buying a new fridge here – oh no, it’s about styling the inside of the fridge you already own. Giving it a refresh. A makeover. A facelift. Perhaps adding a strategically placed photo frame here, a vintage vase filled with a fresh flower arrangement there. Welcome to “fridgescaping”, officially the most unhinged interiors trend to grace social media since… well, ever.

While I am technically on Instagram, I’m not on on it; I’m not an “Instagram person”, if you will. I might watch a friend’s story from time to time, or like an acquaintance’s reel, but I’m not in the habit of scrolling through endless influencers’ posts showcasing the hottest new lifestyle choices that tell the world how perfect you are, one totally unnecessary design hack at a time. So it fell to a Gen Z colleague who frequents TikTok to inform me of the existence of “fridgescaping”: accessorising the interior of your fridge with pictures, pottery, wicker receptacles and candles (I mean, come on!). Though the trend has been doing the rounds since summer, it’s taken until now for it to bubble up onto the radar of this creaking millennial.

I initially assumed the concept must be a joke. Ha ha. Pull the other one. It’s got bells on.

But no. The latest heinous trend to be birthed by mumfluencers and Insta-interiors “gurus” is all too real. However small the demographic, some people really are putting framed paintings inside their fridges alongside their scrag ends of cheese and tubs of marg (hidden behind a genteel ceramic dish, naturally).