Wednesday, August 13, 2008

In Search Of: Magazine Files / Butlers / Storage

One of the things I did this past weekend was move my cookbooks out of the very useful, but small and overflowing bookcase they had been residing in for the past few years and into a larger china cabinet which came out of DH's grandmother's effects.

I also took advantage of an extra shelf to unbox our liquor collection (otherwise known as a bar) from the ABC store provided boxes they had been living in since we moved into the house (ahem, that would be over 4 years of cardboard boxes hiding in my breakfast area).

One thing I realized is I have many torn out recipes that I have not tried for one reason or another (usually the right occasion hasn't arrived, or I don't have all the ingredients at the time the recipe appealed to me) and quite a few cooking magazines from which I don't want to tear the recipes. So, I'm looking for two things: (1) cute magazine files in which I can store the full magazines for future reference (Fine Cooking and Cook's Illustrated), and (2) coordinating storage for my piles of torn out recipes.*

The problem is that I can't find any magazine holders I like that aren't way out of budget, or plastic, or metal. I've looked online at the usual suspects (Target - also in person, Office Depot, Staples, Ikea, Etsy...) Ideally I'd like either red or orange solids or some sort of cute pattern (which could include blues and greens, I just don't want those as the primary color facing out) in either fabric or paper(to minimize damage to the wood shelves in the cabinet). So far, I've found two I can live with but both are on the high end of what I'd like to pay (even before tax and shipping is considered).

What makes this especially frustrating is that I remember seeing patterns and colors I liked - when I wasn't looking for them!

Have you seen any magazine holders recently, and where?


*If you want to toss in any suggestions for organizing said recipes, I'm all ears! They are currently either: a. exploding out of a file pocket, b. waiting to be forced into said file pocket
, or c. in the kitchen on top of the china cabinet from when I pulled them out of the bookcase.

3 comments:

  1. It's so funny you should write about this because I've been looking for storage for all of my recipes too. I'm just like you, I tear them out of magazines or print them out and so I have a huge stack of loose recipes stuck behind my cookbooks.
    I think I'm going to buy a large binder (I'm sure they have pretty ones at Target right now with the back-to-school stuff) and some of those clear page protecters and just slide each of my recipes into one of those and organize them in the binder with tabs. I'll let you know how it works out!

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  2. la petite chic: I read one blogger who when she makes a recipe that turns out well adds it to a binder so all her "good" recipes are together. It seems to work out well for her. Please let me know how well it works for you.

    It seems a little over the top for me to do this before trying the 100's of recipes I've stock piled. Especially considering the cost of those clear binder sheets. What I need is a better way to file them before trying them, so they are accessible when I'm looking for something different for dinner or whatever. I'm a little overwhelmed with concerns like if one or more pages have multiple recipes, do I make a copy and file it under every category, or do I create a special category for collections of recipes (for a brunch or dinner party, say), and how do I find those recipes if I'm just looking for one type (dessert or entree)?

    Hmm. I may be guilty of over thinking this. Perhaps what I need to do is grab some file folders and my recipe box and label the file folders with the same divisions, plus an "event / multiple recipe" file. And then sit down this weekend while DH is away and surprise him by emptying the box of old magazines that he's tired of looking at in the study. I saw some cute file folders at wal+mart yesterday, I should go back and get them, and maybe an expansion folder with multiple compartments to keep the file folders organized.

    Thanks La Petite Chic for helping me develop a plan of action!

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  3. Hey,

    I saw these Stockholm sets from Container Store. It's made out of paper, and its blue and greenish stripes - more preppy than cute.
    http://www.containerstore.com/search/searchresults.jhtml;jsessionid=JEXK500EAPYQVQFIAILSM5GAVABBQJVC?search=stockholm&x=0&y=0

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