Why Your Kitchen Isn't The Best Place To Store Cookbooks (And Where They Should Go Instead)

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A colorful collection of cookbooks is a must for any home chef, but finding a good place to store them can be a bit tricky. You might find it tempting to keep your tomes on your countertop or in a kitchen cabinet since it will ensure that they're easy to reach. However, for most homeowners, this usually isn't the best place to keep them. If you leave them anywhere between your stove, sink, and refrigerator, you might expose them to liquid spills, humidity, food crumbs, and heat. The first two of these will damage the pages and potentially wash out your handwritten notes, and spilled food just makes for a sticky mess. The heat that comes from your stove, however, can actually break down the binding of the books, given enough time.

If you leave your recipe books anywhere on your countertop, even in one of the corners, they will also reduce the amount of food prep space that you have to work with. You can maximize your kitchen countertop space while protecting their pagesby moving them to a new location. But where is the best place to keep them, if not in the kitchen? The answer varies significantly from home to home, but in all cases, they should be stored in a location that's easy to reach and as close to the kitchen as possible. Bookcases, floating shelves, and dining room side tables are all potential solutions.

There are plenty of creative ways to store your cookbooks in the areas just beyond your kitchen. If you have a pantry, you could store them there, so long as you have a shelf that's completely separated from your food. If you have a utility cart, such as the IKEA RASKOG, you could put them on its top level so that they're easy to grab. Another solid option is to install a floating shelf for your cookbooks in your hallway or dining room. Fixtures such as these Forbena Rustic Wall Mounted Shelves are affordable and easy to install. Since your books are probably quite heavy, make sure to find your wall studs and drill the shelf brackets directly to them. To keep the books upright, you might need some bookends. Max Gear Tree Design Bookends, for example, will keep everything in order and offer a little decorative boost for your space.

Looking for an alternate but somewhat similar way to display your cookbooks? You could use your bookends to hold them together on your dining room sideboard. And of course, you can always keep your cookbooks on a bookshelf in your living room instead. However, make sure to put them at a height that's easy to reach; you never know when you might need to consult them. You may also want to organize and style your bookshelf in a way that gives them some space from the rest of your library.