Wife's 'fridgescaping' hobby takes over family fridge, husband and son lash out and belittle her: 'Be nice to your wife'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Aug 24, 2024 8:00 PM EDT

Everyone is allowed to have a hobby. Some of us ski or snowboard. Some of us scrapbook. Some of us collect rare Sonny Angels. Some of us plant vegetables, and some of us fridgescape. If you've been on TikTok, you might have noticed the trend of "fridge restocking" videos, where homemakers meticulously organize and stock their fridges with the help of plastic organizers and jars. But fridgescaping takes that one step further, concerning itself not just with the ergonomic organization of the fridge, but how it looks. It's not good enough that it's clean, it also has to look like an inside spread in Architectural Digest. 

But hey, in the words of Sheryl Crow, "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad." But that's not what one husband thought of his wife's new hobby. What ensued sparked an interesting discussion about which hobbies are valid, and which ones need to be stopped. Read on for the details.

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  • 01
    ello Reusable PRODUCE BAC 1009
    via Ello
  • 02
    AITA for telling my wife I hate her fridgescaping
    via u/Icy-Shelter9897
  • 03
    Recently my wife has taken to "fridgescaping," I guess it's a recent trend because I'd never heard about it before this. She started decorating our fridge and it was really getting on my nerves, for example she put
    via u/Icy-Shelter9897
  • 04
    flowers in the fridge, in vases, in front of food so you have to move things just to get to the food. She put all our food in fancy baskets, jars, and similar things. I know it sounds absurd but if you just search up "fridgescaping" you'll see what I'm talking about.
    via u/Icy-Shelter9897
  • 05
    I didn't care at first because I don't have to use the fridge much anyways, I don't cook a lot. But she's getting too meticulous with it and adding too much decor. It's made the fridge very uninviting for me. She gets upset when I get something from the fridge and don't put things back perfectly. She keeps taking it as a personal
    via u/Icy-Shelter9897
  • 06
    slight and acts like I've done something to deliberately hurt her, when I haven't, I just find it unnecessary to maintain such an organized fridge. Before she started this it would take me 30 seconds to grab something quick from the fridge whereas now it's a whole ordeal
    via u/Icy-Shelter9897
  • 07
    Last weekend she confronted me after I grabbed some leftovers from the fridge and left it in "disarray" according to her. I explained how I find the hobby stupid and she can decorate other things, it doesn't have to be the fridge. It gets in the way when I want to quickly eat, when I come home from work hungry
    via u/Icy-Shelter9897
  • 08
    and tired and want to grab a quick bite it's frustrating. I also talked to my son about it, and he finds it annoying, which I told her. She didn't argue back after that, and she's removed all of the decorations from the fridge, which I have to admit has been relieving. But she's also been acting very distant towards me and just hasn't been herself, and has been weird intimacy-wise.
    via u/Icy-Shelter9897
  • 09
    coastalkid92 NTA I mean, was it nice to call something she put time and effort into stupid? Probably not.
    via u/coastalkid92
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    My move would have been to call it impractical, especially as it's a communally used appliance and not fully in her control. Having a fridge that is practical to use, is important and chances are, most of these content creators don't actually leave their fridge "fridgescaped" as it's just not functional.
    via u/coastalkid92
  • 11
    Maybe you can apologize for the stupid comment and then ask her if there's somewhere else in the home she'd like to decorate solely to her liking.
    via u/coastalkid92
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    Edit: this is more toward other commenters rather than OP, but I do think people need to consider how it is to call things other people might find a spark of joy or fun in "stupid" or "dumb".
    via u/coastalkid92
  • 13
    All too often people, women in particular, are called stupid for liking...basically anything. Taylor Swift is dumb, the Barbie movie was dumb, Bravo shows are dumb, Stanley cups are dumb, Starbucks is a waste and so on and so forth.
    via u/coastalkid92
  • 14
    Would I decorate the interior of my fridge? Probably not. But if it was something OP's wife found a bit of fun in, then who cares. It literally harms no one. And OP's wife lives in a house with two guys who probably dominate a lot of the household with their wants and interests.
    via u/coastalkid92
  • 15
    R4inbows Or compromise. As much as it's impractical to have flowers and decor in the fridge, I can get down with the bins and jars. If everything has a spot and is stored in the best containers for that particular food, seems pretty convenient, functional and easy to keep clean.
    via u/R4inbows
  • 16
    Hareikan NAH its reasonable to not want too much decor in the fridge, or to not be scolded if you dont put things back perfectly.
    via u/Hareikan
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    But you did totally belittle. something that brought your wife joy and made her feel creative, not surprised she's been distant. Most people don't like it when you on their interests, and most people like it even less when its a spouse. I'm nicer to my friends about their interests that I dont like than you are to your literal wife Not understanding that it might make her distant is completely clueless of you tbh
    via u/Hareikan
  • 18
    Welford Nelferd TIL about fridgescaping. Thanks. I hate it. NTA. If it makes someone happy to store food in attractive containers and neatly organize the fridge, that would be one thing. But adding like flowers, framed pictures, and assorted tchotchkes (that make it difficult to use the fridge for its intended purpose) is just plain ridiculous.
    via u/WelfordNelferd
  • 19
    TouringPotato You know most of these am I the posts come down to communication. It's hardly ever the situation. You're not the for not wanting your fridge scaped. But you're the for how you talk to people. There's so many better ways you could have approached it and you approached it out of anger and annoyance and belittled your wife and made her feel it was you and your son against her.
    via u/TouringPotato
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    To her this was a fun little hobby that felt fulfilling to her and you essentially told her that the thing that brought her happiness is stupid and annoying and to stop. You could have said it looks wonderful, but it's a bit inconvenient and maybe she could have put her efforts somewhere else like the laundry room because, as much as you enjoy the aesthetic, the fridge didn't seem the best place to showcase her efforts.
    via u/TouringPotato
  • 21
    BE NICE TO PEOPLE YOU LOVE! why does that seem so feckin hard? Why don't people do that more often?? And the audacity to wonder why she doesn't want to be intimate afterwards. I only all over her hobby, why is she not taking all of her clothes off?
    via u/TouringPotato
  • 22
    Be nice to your wife. Apologize and say it THE RIGHT WAY and there's always a right and wrong way to communicate with someone you love. Right now, YTA. Not because of the situation. But because you treat your wife like she's less. Be better.
    via u/TouringPotato

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activity relationship advice marriage tiktoks decorating marriage-drama relationships hobbies influencer marriage advice influencers fridge men vs women women relationship memes tiktok hobby
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