There’s no such thing as having too many books, only too few bookshelves.
I’ve been looking for a source for this quotation, which I think I’ve read somewhere. Even if I haven’t read it, but am quoting myself, I don’t imagine that it’s an original thought. I’ve said it often, while looking at the books stacked two deep on our shelves and contemplating where we might install more shelving. Truth be told, though, I don’t really believe it. There are some books that aren’t worth keeping, that you read once and know you’ll never read or refer to again. Those books can go.
This is even true of cookbooks. (This may be a radical idea for some, but stay with me here.) Some have recipes that don’t work, at least not for you. Some have wonderful recipes, but they don’t fit your lifestyle, cooking style or dietary restrictions. Some you find you just don’t care for. Those cookbooks can go, too.
There are some cookbooks that you will return to frequently. In some, you have favorite recipes, to which the book will eventually open of its own accord. Others become tattered, stained and note-filled from repeated, regular use. These are the books that deserve a home in the kitchen, close at hand (or on your bedside table, but reading cookbooks is different than using them).
When we moved into this house, our cookbooks took up residence on the bookshelves in our living room, within a few steps of the kitchen, but not an ideal location. When I was reworking the plan of the kitchen, I realized that we had a perfect spot for a tall, narrow set of bookshelves. These shelves are in a formerly unused corner of the kitchen (at the bottom right of the ‘after’ drawing in my previous post). They will hold only a small collection of cookbooks, but at this point, we don’t have a large collection. However, we now have an empty bookshelf in the living room, but that certainly can’t last for long. Nature abhors a vacuum… especially on a bookshelf.
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When I moved and packed the cookbooks, I discovered that there were way more cookbooks than would be expected in the amount of cooking I actually did. I must eventually go through and weed them out.
Great use of that space. Do I see a telephone jack just above the little counter?
Envy. My ill-designed apartment kitchen has a small useless counter against one wall- apparently intended as a sort of breakfast bar- but too narrow, and facing a solid wall. I’ve got a few of my more often consulted cookbooks lined up on that counter-between 2 bookends, next to the bread box. They are always sliding around and falling over.
A built in bookshelf in the kitchen, and floor to ceiling built in cases on all dining room walls has always been my dream. (No reason why a dining room can’t also be a library, right?-it even has a big table for reading and writing-between meals.)
It really looks wonderful! I’m making a mental bookmark to incorporate these not only utilitarian but also lovely bookshelves in my future home. At the moment we are students and have books in front of books in front of books on our few shelves…!
Is the empty top book shelf for Paul’s cookbooks or for something else decorative? I understand why your cookbooks are not arranged there.
Your kitchen is looking so fabulous, and this is a great use of space. Beneath the countertop looks like the perfect “junk drawer” to me. What’s really going to go there? And what goes in the cabinet beneath (besides telephone books)? All of the unblemished possibilities in your new kitchen have me thinking about what’s not working in mine. I may need to rearrange some real estate.
LOVE the bookcase! It looks so cool,so special, so unique.