Modern Mountain Kitchen Remodel – The Cookbook Shelf (plus my five favorite cookbooks)

Let’s talk cookbooks. ???? ????One of my favorite subjects (my top 5 listed at the end). Whenever I travel, I bring home a cookbook as my souvenir. I read them like novels. I earmark pages I want to come back to, take notes, and compare ingredients with similar recipes.

When we bought a new house and began our kitchen remodel, the first thing we wanted to do was take down some kitchen walls. It would open up the entire room and allow for a very large island. The original design had a hallway in the kitchen, a laundry room (which we turned into a pantry), and a coat closet. All of that needed to go to make room for the open concept we were going for in the space.

As we moved forward, we realized that some walls could be removed, and one could not.

We went round and round about what design to create for the part of the wall that needed to remain. We could have done iron beams, a see through wall, or a solid wall. In the end, we landed on a cookbook shelf.

Now my beloved cookbooks have a new home where they can spread out. I love it so much – more than I even thought I would! I prefer cooking with actual books, and this makes them easily accessed and available.

While I would have loved the entire wall to come down, I am now glad it had to stay. Before. I had to stash all of my books everywhere and get on tall ladders to reach them. Now I can grab the one I want at a glance and I use them every day. It’s such a blessing!

Here are my top five cookbooks of all time (at least right now):

1. Gold N’ Delicious from the Spokane Jr. League
2. The New Basics Cookbook by Lukins and Rosso
3. The Pioneer Woman Cooks – Food from the Frontier by Ree Drummond
4. The New Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated
5. A Place at the Table by Kelly Minter

What about you?

What’s your favorite cookbook?