Hello friends, Monica here! Who out there just can’t get going in the morning without a cup of coffee or tea? Anyone out there have a coffee station in your home? We do! In fact, this is our second time having one. We loved it in our last house so much that we had to do it again, only better and more organized.
Why Have a Coffee Bar in Your Home?
For starters, having a coffee bar is convenient, serves guests, and over time is much more affordable than buying coffee every day from fancy coffee shops. A coffee bar also adds a cozy touch to your home. We’ve seen some coffee bars that are just so cute!
What Does Your Ideal Coffee Bar Look Like?
Would you like it built in? Would you prefer a custom coffee bar cabinet? Where would you put it? What type of coffee bar accessories would you have? How would you organize your coffee station?
In our last house at the lake, we had our coffee station in the living room, right by the french doors leading out to the porch, just off the kitchen. This was the ideal location for us because it was centrally located and convenient. We used it all the time. We didn’t have a lot of room in that house, so we had to make the most of every square inch.
Our First Coffee Bar
What type of coffee bar cabinet did we have at the lake house, and how did we organize it? Well, we had a simple open console table with shelves above on pretty scroll brackets. The console was long and fairly shallow, rather than tall and deep. We had our Keurig on the top left, with a carousel next to it to hold all our K-cups. We had a pretty beverage dispenser for icy lemon water that we kept full almost year-round on the right. On the shelves below the Keurig, we had pretty baskets for a selection of teas and hot chocolate, snacks, and a tray for straws and honey. We had a wire basket to display pretty drinking glasses and a cake stand to hold our tea and coffee mugs.
A wire stand for bananas and other fruits graced the shelves above the coffee station, along with glass containers for nuts, fruit snacks, trail mix, and mints. All of our containers had pretty chalkboard labels to keep things organized.
Coffee Bar in our Four Gables Farmhouse
When we built our Four Gables farmhouse at HartLand, we knew we wanted a coffee bar similar to the last one, but fortunately, we had a little more room this time around. Rather than use a long console table, we had Galen, our cabinet maker, make us a custom built-in cabinet. Since we loved the location of our last coffee bar so much, we placed our new one right by the back door, but close to the kitchen. Just like the last time, our coffee bar is directly behind our sofa in the living room, which is once again, the ideal central location.
The Inspiration for Our Coffee Station
I have been obsessed with Tracey Rapisardi’s coastal designs for quite a few years, and I stalked her portfolio and Pinterest pages regularly, never guessing that I would collaborate with her on our Four Gables farmhouse! A pretty blue-green cabinet with a trolley door that Tracey designed for her former home in Maine became the inspiration for our coffee station. After weeks of working with me and learning my likes and dislikes, Tracey drew up the plans for our coffee bar and sent me the files. I was thrilled that she had incorporated the darling and functional trolley door with crossbuck detail. Once the design was finished, I took the drawings to Galen so he could work his magic, and he did not disappoint!
Our Custom Coffee Bar Construction
Our custom coffee station is constructed from solid clear maple and finished with a catalyzed varnish that matches Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace. Drawers are dovetailed and the feet match the kitchen cabinetry. Our trolley door slides on a small stainless steel barn door-style track. No detail was overlooked!
How to Organize a Coffee Bar
We have drawers and cabinet doors to conceal everything from our air fryer and water bottles to napkins and placemats for our outside farm table. One drawer is for honey and odds and ends, and the other drawer has a huge K-cup organizer for all our flavored coffees. So convenient! Open shelves with baskets hold a variety of teas and hot chocolate, mugs, cups, and other accessories. We also love the open shelves for decorating.
How to Style a Coffee Bar
We have a lovely display of our favorite GreenGate latte cups, teacups, and dessert plates on the open shelves of our coffee bar. Tracey made us a large distressed “H” in a cheery shade of aqua that perfectly coordinates with our GreenGate. Light natural wood baskets mingle nicely and enhance our cozy cottage style. Pink and white straws are so cute in an aqua mason jar, and several varieties of honey are right at our fingertips.
We would love to hear from you for more coffee bar inspiration. Show us what you’ve done. We love to see your ideas!
Until next time…