8 Creative Places To Store Cookbooks Other Than Your Kitchen Counter

The holidays and coronavirus have many of us cooking more than ever, but kitchen fatigue can easily settle in. Need some inspiration for tackling a new dish, from ratatouille to creme brulee? It might be time to crack open those cookbooks.

Even in this digital age where recipes run amok online, nothing beats those glossy pages of a physical tome filled with gorgeous dishes. This may explain why most homeowners have a bunch of cookbooks—and often wonder where to put them.

Leaving nice books out in the same place where you fry up the morning’s bacon is a recipe for nastiness.

“Cookbooks on the counter can get pretty gross, so if you don’t have a shelf for them, try and dedicate an out-of-the way space to keep them clean,” says Karen Gray-Plaisted of Design Solutions KGP.

The key is to find a place that’s out of the way (and the food spray) but within reach if you need some motivation.

“If you’re a cook who uses an iPad and smart speaker more than actual books, think about storing them in a distant, but clever spot,” suggests Darla DeMorrow, author of “Organizing Your Home with SORT and SUCCEED.”

For more creative storage, take a look at these eight places to store and organize your cookbooks in the kitchen.

1. Modify a nearby door A cellar door becomes a welcome cookbook shelf.

Catherine Nguyen

Carole Marcotte, the design mind behind the interior firm Form & Function, was rather tight on space in her own kitchen. Her solution: She redesigned the door to the basement to hold her cookbooks.

“It gave much-needed shelf space for my collection, and it didn’t increase the kitchen’s footprint,” she says.

2. Add an island bookcase

Photo by Tara Seawright Interior Design 

Serious home chefs own dozens of cookbooks, which means installing a bookcase or shelving unit at the end of a kitchen island is a good investment. Or if you already have a wine rack or other bottle storage in your island, you could also turn this into a DIY project by repurposing it into book shelving instead.

3. Fill the odd cabinet above the fridge

Photo by Podesta Construction 

What’s up with that funny cubby anyway? Put this high-up spot to good use with a row of cookbooks. Bonus: You’ll store them safely and add visual interest and color to an otherwise forgotten spot.

Other lesser-used areas for book storage include a shelf in the pantry or space in a nearby laundry room.

Or you might show off your cookbooks from behind a glass cabinet front, suggests Drew Henry of Design Dudes. This way, they take center stage but are still protected from splashes and spills.

“You can also display cookbooks if you have cutout soffits, which are small niches under an architectural detail like an eave or archway,” says Julie Coraccio, author of “Got Clutter? 365 Journal Prompts.”

4. Add a wall rack

Photo by Houzz

Make like your local library, and attach racks to your kitchen walls for your cookbooks. Wall-mounted storage like this is inexpensive, is easy to install, and can brighten up a wall when you slot in colorful tomes.

Another related option is to lean books on frame ledges or retrofit a spice rack to hold your stacks.

5. Make a free-standing shelf

Photo by Studio Stamp 

A skinny, stand-alone bookcase is another smart idea for kitchens that need cookbook storage, especially if you have a tiny cook space.

A vertical piece takes up just a little real estate, and ones made from acrylic or Lucite are easy to wipe clean. And selecting a piece made from clear materials means it can fade into the background nicely, making your books the true star.

6. Wheel in a cart Books on wheels? We’re sold!

Wayfair

In a small kitchen, portable cookbook storage is genius. You can slot your manuals in each section and then slide it out of the way when it’s not in use.

This pretty pink pick ($57.99, Wayfair) features four wheels that swivel freely and four bins to hold books, beverages, succulents, and more.

7. Use wire baskets

Photo by Closet POSSIBLE 

Wire baskets are a kitchen workhorse, holding root veggies, bottles of seltzer, and stacks of dish towels. To this long list of uses, add cookbook storage.

Hanging wire baskets are another idea that’ll keep books out of the way and off your countertops. And if you come across old fruit crates or wooden troughs, these pieces house cookbooks in style.

8. Lean on a ladder

Photo by Lucy Call

An old ladder offers patina and texture to an often sterile-looking pale kitchen. If you have one you’re not using to reach high places, lean it against a nearby wall and stack your cookbooks on each step. Or try a skinny, apple-picking ladder to hold upside down books with the pages hanging on either side of each rung,

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