Cooking books
Other elements that add style to your kitchen are cooking books displayed on the counter. Many cooking books are literally pieces of art. A lovely hardcover and an artistic spine deserve to be seen and admired, right? Besides, if cooking is part of your daily routine, then those favorite recipes should be within reach.
But keep in mind that cooking can be sometimes very messy as spills of oil, tomato sauce, or other semi-solid food can get almost everywhere, book covers included. You don’t want to stain beautiful cookbooks as some of them can be pretty expensive.
Try storing them on open shelving or in a glass door cabinet to keep them clean and on display. This way your cooking books will still be in a good condition and you’ll still have a stylish kitchen.
For more healthy cooking books, check out our Amazon favorites!
need info
Great article – really appreciated as I’m a neat freak!
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ARTICLES I’VE READ IN A LONG TIME. LEARNED SO MUCH FROM IT. THANK YOU.
This article was pretty much common sense… only thing In my opinion I don’t agree with is a knife block is something 90% of people who cook at home use so it’s heavy and having to lift back and forth would be stupid so there is no reason not to keep it on your counter.
I agree with the idea that knives need to be handy. The traditional knife block can add to contamination so instead of taking up counter space and possibly adding a chance of contamination I use a 12 inch magnetic strip attached to the wall above the counter area where I would use my knives the most and keep all my knives on that strip. On the opposite side of the kitchen where I’d be using steak knives or splitting bagels or english muffins I have another magnetic strip with those particular knives. Knives are pulled, used, cleaned then replaced where they are not in the way but visible and quickly attainable. The full knife is visible so no quessing which handle is to what blade if they had been stored in a block.
Sorry.
If the goal is to have a magazine “photo shoot ready” countertop, then just take everything away.
For my real life, yes—-I do use my toaster, knives, coffee maker and a cutting board daily.
That is why I have a kitchen counter layout to accommodate them.
Still plenty of room for what needs to be accomplished.
Taking those things in and out of cupboards daily would be exhausting.
Sure, keep the blender or waffle maker or slow cooker or other gadget not used daily (or even weekly) out of sight.
Common sense.
One size will not fit all.
There is a balance to convenience, functionality and the decorator optic.
Not advocating “clutter”, but the kitchen is a functional area
Mary has said it correctly.
The kitchen is a WORK area. The tools & supplies need to be conveniently near but not in your way. Safety first.
I am with Mary too because much on my counter is used daily or 5x weekly. Wish there was a storage solution that allows for daily kitchen uses yet decluttered without having to put in cabinets for those with problems with back and hands. Had surgeries on both hands and back. I even had kitchen remodeled and ended up with less space. Yet my kitchen is rather small and I do use some of the suggestions but need more affordable options please.
No enough cabinet storage space for all my appliances so on t he corner cabinet they will stay!