Have you avoided decluttering your collection of cookbooks because in general there’s something you like in all of your books, but still you’ve run out of storage space?  Here are some tips for how you can both declutter your cookbook collection and hold on to the recipes you use or love.

• Tear out the pages you like.  It goes against everything we’ve been taught about taking care of books and yet it’s a viable strategy for reducing the size of your cookbook collection.  Take out the pages you value and put them in a binder or folder and then recycle or donate the rest of the book.  If you only use 1 recipe from a 200 page book, you’re holding on to a significant amount of unused paper.
• Take pictures or scan the pages you like.  Similar to the tip before, hold onto the content you value and let go of the rest.  You can print your images and store them in a binder or folder or keep them electronic and access them via a photo library or a knowledge management tool like Evernote or OneNote.
• Let go of books you don’t use.  If you haven’t cracked the book in over a year, consider carefully why you have it and what you could do with the space if you didn’t have it.
• Don’t be bullied by your cookbooks.  Sometimes people hold onto cookbooks because they think they should like preparing certain types of foods or because a friend thought this would be a good resource.  These books languish on shelves bullying you about the cook you are not and may not want to be.  Let go of bullies!  Keep the cookbooks you use and that inspire you and bring you joy.  Life’s to short to be bullied by a book.

Simply Placed Professional Organizers and Productivity Consultants help clients reclaim wasted space and put a meaningful framework around what to keep and what to let go of.  They can help you with cookbooks or another other items in your home or office that exceed the storage space and don’t add value to your life or work.  Contact Simply Placed to learn more about how to effectively declutter and get on with life.