6 Ways to Style Your Growing Cookbook Collection

If you’re anything like me, beautiful cookbooks have slowly but surely worked their way into your home. As your collection steadily grows, you might find yourself searching for extra space for your printed treasures.

Don’t worry – I would never suggest throwing out books solely in the interest of remaining clutter-free, given that even some of my favorite cookbooks have been passed from generation to generation, but there might be a point when your cookbooks are ruining the functionality of your kitchen.

You shouldn't have to dice tomatoes on your dining table because a stack of 25 cookbooks is hogging your countertop space (guilty as charged). There are a few smart ways to pay homage to the beautifully bound books that have inspired what you do in your own kitchen everyday, and you can even achieve a stylish storage solution without using an entire bookshelf – especially if you’re already tight on space.

Our friends at Real Simple have a few tips to make sure that, regardless of what kind of coffee table you have, the surface of your living room’s centerpiece isn't overwhelmed. 

Start by identifying two or three sections of your coffee table that might be good spots for your books – you never want a single towering stack in one corner, nor do you want to cover the entire surface of your table. If you have two or more surfaces to work with, feel free to split them up.

It's more visually appealing to have similar colors grouped together. Layer your books by height – the smallest, most compact tone should be at the top of the stack, while the widest should anchor the bottom of the stack. 

While it’s certainly not required, you could finish off your stack of books with a statement piece or décor accessory that you might have lying around the house; it can help to call attention to the books as well as the accessory itself.

You probably have a few well-positioned walls in your home that aren't being used. With a few fastening hooks, you could mount this shopping basket to your wall – and suddenly you have a space to place your cookbooks that's as adorable as it is functional.

Of course, if you’re feeling like such a statement piece might not fit into your home’s overall design scheme, many interiors come together with floating shelves that can be easily installed anywhere where you have wall space.

It’s easy to come across a spare wooden crate to hold your fresh veggies in – but this kind of storage works even better for your cookbook collection.

Rather than trying to spread your cookbooks across your kitchen’s counters or within your cabinets, reinvent a few of these crates as a storage solution.

If you’re a fan of fun DIY projects, spend an afternoon painting and stylizing these crates to fit perfectly into your home.

It sounds might sound counterintuitive, but the cleanest way to store a bigger collection of cookbooks would be to utilize areas that you wouldn’t normally think of – like the space under your bed, beneath your dressers, or anywhere a few low-lying baskets could neatly hold your books. 

The crème de la crème of the cookbook is the one that we put on display because the cover is just so darn pretty. Make a statement by utilizing a shadowbox to prominently display your favorite cookbooks as wall art.

Alternatively, you could also invest in a larger shadow box and remove the frame’s cover to store a small range of cookbooks in each. It’s a fun way to have alternative shelving without actually using a plain old shelf on your bare wall.