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In these contemporary times with tablets, smartphones, and thousands of recipes available at your fingertips, collecting and using non-virtual, bound-and-printed cookbooks might seem antiquated. But cookbooks remain one of the hottest-selling nonfiction books in the United States with annual sales hovering around $20 million each year. The truth is, many people still enjoy cookbooks for the tactile sensation of turning the pages, making recipe notes in the margins, and discovering stains on the pages of well-loved and oft-made recipes. The biggest problem is where to put them all.
One of the most ingenious and affordable hacks is to use ledge shelving to display your collection on an unused wall in your kitchen. Perhaps there’s an empty space behind a door or in the hallway leading into your kitchen that you can fill with a collection of exquisitely photographed cookbooks instead of simply hanging a picture. Before purchasing ledge shelving, such as Axeman 30-inch floating shelves, or dish display racks, such as MyGift wall-mounted plate holders, be sure to measure the width, height, and depth carefully. You want shelves deep enough to hold your cookbooks, but not if they block a door opening or walking space. It’s also important to ensure the shelves can bear the weight of your books.
No free walls? No problem
If your kitchen is tiny or if every available inch of wall space is taken, you can still use ledge shelving or narrow dish display racks by mounting them on the end of your countertops. Again, before you start drilling holes into your custom kitchen cabinets, be sure to measure — and then measure again! If you’re an experienced DIYer with a hand saw or table saw, you can create the shelves yourself using cardboard to create accurately measured stencils. You can even create your own bespoke dish rack frames at a fraction of the cost.
Before you know it, you’ll have a large, visual collection of the 14 best cookbooks every baker needs, or your beloved collection of retro cookbooks that are still indispensable. There’s even an answer to an easy DIY cookbook stand hiding in your closet. Granted, you don’t have to do away with your tablet as the internet is an invaluable recipe resource, but there’s no reason your cherished cookbooks can’t share the limelight.
