Day 5-Light and airy

Today is my favorite day. I LOVE cookbooks! I love looking at them, I love reading recipes and envisioning the wonderful fragrant smells that come from cooking them. I buy them, I am gifted them, I have inherited a couple, I drool over them, I might even lick one that I liked so much. I'm just saying!

~Today's "chore" (although I wouldn't really call it a chore) is to go through and organize your cookbooks.
~Brew some tea, coffee or hot cocoa. What ever your heart desires. Have a cookie too if your husband was nice enough to make some. :-)
~Take all of the cookbooks out of your space and transfer them to your sorting area. My cookbooks live in my small pantry space so I will be cleaning off a shelf as I go today.
~Now lets take a hard look at what you have in front of you. NO not in your mug.
~Make some piles. Have you noticed that I LOVE piles? Pile them into catagories: main dishes, desserts, all purpose, family cookbooks, side dishes, healthy recipes, and on and on.
~Here is your de-clutter question: Have you used this cookbook in 6 months? Have you ever used that cookbook? Did you borrow this and need to return it? (NO COMMENT MOM :-)!!!)
~Now that you have looked at all the cookbooks that you have, let get ready to return them. How do you like to have them organized? By size, type, color, frequency of use, etc. Put them in stacks accordingly.
~Before we return them, clean the shelf they lived on. In my case I am taking a damp rag and wiping out the bottom of the shelf above, the back and the sides and of course the bottom.
~Put them back in their home.
~What do you think? Were you able to down size? Did you find a recipe that you love and couldn't find?
~I have to admit that although sometimes I find cooking a chore, I also enjoy it. But I enjoy it more when I have a clean and tidy shelf full of my favorite cookbooks. (They really are ALL my favorite cookbooks.)

Did this help you with your cookbooks shelf? Do you have your cookbooks stored another way that this didn't help? I am more than willing to help you figure out your space. I love helping others organize their spaces so that life is calm and enjoyable.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more kitchen fun!