on top of spaghetti...and all the other leftovers

I just read a decorating book--don't remember which one; I read lots of them!--that specifically forbade placing anything on top of your refrigerator.  I can certainly see the appeal of avoiding fridge-top clutter, but let's be realistic.  When you actually use your small kitchen for storing and cooking food, something's got to give.  In my case, that's the unsullied-fridge look.  Sorry, O Decorators of Fancy Homes.

Here's how things have been looking for the first few weeks:

It was nice to still be able to access the high cupboards, as much as anyone can access cupboards that require you to reach halfway across your fridge....  But at least the doors weren't blocked; I'll say it that way.

Just for fun, want to guess what's hanging on the side of the fridge, where it's easily visible from where I stand at the stove?  Yeah, my menu.  Want to guess the other thing Miss Designer said not to allow to clutter your fridge?  Yeah.  (What planet does she live on?  Wherever it is, I imagine the living must be fine: catered meals three times a day so the owners of kitchens don't have to mar them with the lowly tasks that lesser beings performed in kitchens on the Old Planet. Har.)

Anyway, I'm perfectly happy making a big ol' mess of my kitchen, especially since I now have a dishwasher!  Oh, my goodness, bliss....  I wasn't quite as blissful about the arrangement of my cookbooks, though.  I wanted to put them in a basket or something.

Didn't take long to realize none of the baskets that would fit in that narrow space were anywhere near sturdy enough to hold all those heavy books.  So I opted for something that, while it may not be the prettiest you ever saw, lacks nothing in the sturdiness department:

This way all the spines face the stove, so I can see my menu (which notes which cookbook to use for each recipe) and my cookbooks at the same time.  It may be clutter, but it's organized.  The two dessert-only cookbooks, which see a bit less use (but only a bit), sit under hubby's new blue lunch bag.  I'm not crazy about having so much stuff up there, but what I am gonna do?  Space is at a premium.

Here's the side view, just for a complete comparison:

The bin does block those little cupboards but in one quick swoop I can get it out of the way.  So far this arrangement is working well.  Soon I will show you the cousins of the cookbook bin helping corral a mess in another part of the kitchen.  Get excited, but don't hold your breath--it's going to be a day at least.