The luxurious isolation of a well-stocked home
How did we get from Tupperware parties to ASMR restocking TikToks?
I heard a podcast the other day that got the old wheels turning. It was a Decoder Ring episode about the evolution of Tupperware (yes, this is the sort of stuff I listen to). The host drew a line between Tupperware of the 1970s and those weird ASMR restock videos pervading TikTok lately.
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Since when did every good we own need to get put into an acrylic plastic bin? An Atlantic article referenced in the podcast bears an all-star headline: Home Influencers Will Not Rest Until Everything Has Been Put in a Clear Plastic Storage Bin
How did we get here, and WHY? Here are some lenses through which we can examine this behavior.
1. Extreme individualism and self-reliance
Stocking up has become something of a religion. We schlep out to Costco with our double-wide shopping carts and stock up on well-priced goods we will use for months. I know because I do the schlep.
Then you need to store all these supplies. And as long as you’re storing everything, might as well make it beautiful so it sparks joy every time you open the door. And before long we are all running little stores inside our houses.
There is nothing inherently wrong with having a well-supplied home. On the other hand, we used to let STORES store our things. When we needed stuff, we’d go to the store to get what we needed. While there we’d interact with other humans, maybe say hi to a neighbor, chat with the cashier, and feel connected to our community. Now we buy bigger homes so we have room to store all the stuff we buy.
A little aside: When I first met my husband, when he was out of toilet paper, he’d walk a couple blocks to the store and buy…2 rolls. One to use, and one (!!) extra. My brain nearly exploded the first time I witnessed this, but I also appreciated his dramatically simplified approach to living. I had—and have—a lot to learn from him.
As someone who both stocks up and spends way too much time running out to the store realquick, I see the loss of interconnectedness in action. I’m starting to rethink my Costco runs already.
2. Displays of abundance as luxury
Another way to think about restock culture is as performative luxury. It’s not just about having an extra 40 rolls of toilet paper sitting in your garage, it’s about displaying this abundance.
This ties into my issue with storage bins. When you have a lot of things, one approach can be to declutter and reduce the number of items you have. But that’s a lot of work and pain. Another, often more seductive, approach is to buy storage bins to more beautifully contain your items. And then you can make a literal display of the abundance in your home.
Khloe Kardashian’s (apparently) famous cookie jars are a good example of this. She buys 5 packs of Oreo cookies each month and sets aside time to restock her jars. She knows this is a lil nuts, and made this video somewhat in jest, but I have a feeling she has many disciples judging from the number of DIY videos and variations on this I’ve seen.
Tupperware’s advent back in the 1970s was originally about being thrifty, eating leftovers, and avoiding waste. So it’s really interesting to see storage containers now being used to display extravagance. It’s the literal opposite of the ethos that led to the creation of these containers.
3. There is no such thing as privacy anymore
With the Internet and a seemingly endless appetite to see the inner workings of other people’s lives, formerly private areas of our homes are now opportunities to publicly display abundance.
Medicine cabinets, pantries, closets, and even the inside of our refrigerators are now opportunities to put our lives on display.
Which I certainly take no part in. By the way, have you seen my Tupperware drawer?
Or my kitchen cabinets?
😳
Now You
Where do you fall along the abundance-at-home spectrum? Are you full-scale prepper? Or a back stock minimalist?
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Really interesting insights. I don’t follow organizing influencers with the clear plastic bins, but I see this in the wild, especially at Costco. There is an ongoing war in my house between the stockers-up (no names) and the declutterer (me). I believe these are behavior patterns rooted in childhood, and whether we grew up with scarcity or abundance.