Over the past year, Greg and I�ve been working on a major kitchen renovation. We�re finally bringing the project to a close by putting some of the small finishing touches in place. Something Greg has wanted in the kitchen since day one is a coffee station. Not a big, fancy espresso machine or anything, just a little section of the kitchen where he can easily put together his morning coffee and indulge his inner coffee geek. While Greg looked at this as a morning necessity, I saw an excuse to organize!
Having a coffee station is a great way to get your morning started on the right foot and makes those extra early mornings a little more enjoyable. When you�re half-awake and up before the sun, it�s great to have a nice, organized area where you can prep your coffee without having to think too hard � especially if you�re not a morning person, haha!
When making a coffee station, you obviously need to start with a coffee maker, right? We just got around to buying a coffee maker this past weekend, which is what spurred this project on in the first place. We decided on Cuisinart�s 12-cup drip brewer and hot water system, and we LOVE it. I promise I don�t work for them, haha. The hot water dispenser is what sold us. You can use it to make anything from a cup of tea, cocoa, oatmeal, soup, to ramen. We eat oatmeal around here quite often, and we both enjoy a cup of hot tea from time to time, so this feature comes in especially handy. Which, I guess would make this more of a
coffee/tea/oatmeal station�?
Next to the coffee maker, we have a small tray with a few of our daily necessities. I like to keep the kitchen counters as uncluttered as possible. That being the case, I decided to keep things simple and corralled just a few things and put them on a small tray. That way, if I need the counter space for anything, I can easily move it out of the way. I filled a small creamer with tea spoons for stirring and placed it on the tray with a jar of nutmeg and a glass votive candle holder turned Starbucks Via packet holder. I plan on switching out the nutmeg for other seasonal flavorings as the holidays roll around. I have a bottle of gingerbread flavoring waiting in the wings!
Like I mentioned earlier, in the mornings, the less hassle the better. In that case, I�m more of a Starbucks Via person {their Carmel Macchiato is really good} while Greg, no matter how much of a hurry he�s in, avoids any form of instant coffee like the plague. That�s why the Via packets are sometimes replaced with a container of Greg�s favorite coffee. Yep, marriage = compromising from time to time.
I designated three shelved in the cabinet above the coffee maker to the rest of our coffee/tea necessities�
Let�s start at the top. Here, I put the things we don�t need to get to on an everyday basis � extra coffee, extra filters, scoops, boxes of specialty tea, etc. I designated one basket for tea and one for coffee by hot-gluing bookplate labels on the front. Next to the baskets are the coffee grinder, a silver sugar bowl and matching butter dish that I only use every now and then.
I designated three shelved in the cabinet above the coffee maker to the rest of our coffee/tea necessities�
Let�s start at the top. Here, I put the things we don�t need to get to on an everyday basis � extra coffee, extra filters, scoops, boxes of specialty tea, etc. I designated one basket for tea and one for coffee by hot-gluing bookplate labels on the front. Next to the baskets are the coffee grinder, a silver sugar bowl and matching butter dish that I only use every now and then.
On the middle shelf, we have the tea bags and sugar {which is actually Splenda}. I put the tea bags and sugar in glass jars. Ordinarily, I�m a label fanatic, even when it comes to clear jars like these. However, in this case, since you can clearly see what�s in them, I decided to refrain myself. But it might not stay like that for long, haha. Next to the jars are our to-go mugs for hot drinks on the go.
I put the things we use most frequently, like coffee mugs and {more!} flavorings, on the bottom shelf. To keep things simple, I decided to keep only four mugs on the shelf � just enough for the two of us. I keep the rest of our mugs in another cabinet and only bring them out when we have family/friends over. Next to the mugs is what we call the �flavoring tray�. I filled a silver creamer with individual French vanilla creamer cups. The saltshaker is filed with cinnamon {one of my favorite coffee flavors next to nutmeg} and the little ceramic owl is a sugar shaker for �real� sugar for people who prefer it over Splenda. It�s fun to pull it out when people come over so they can have a variety of options for their coffee.
"I'm Ashley from 7th House on the Left - a blog where my husband, Greg, and I talk about renovating, decorating and living in our first house here in Hanover, Virginia. I�ve been an interior design enthusiast and a long-time fan of all things organizing. Yep, I was the kid with the perfectly arranged Disney stuffed animals, alphabetized coloring books and the categorized and color-coded sticker book. When I'm not busy writing or doing projects around the house, I love classic TV shows (particularly I Love Lucy) and curling up with Greg, Bentley (our 9-pound Pomeranian), a blanket and a good black and white classic movie � I�m a complete sucker for Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant films. I'm thrilled and honored to be a part of the IHeart Organizing team and excited to get to work!"
I put the things we use most frequently, like coffee mugs and {more!} flavorings, on the bottom shelf. To keep things simple, I decided to keep only four mugs on the shelf � just enough for the two of us. I keep the rest of our mugs in another cabinet and only bring them out when we have family/friends over. Next to the mugs is what we call the �flavoring tray�. I filled a silver creamer with individual French vanilla creamer cups. The saltshaker is filed with cinnamon {one of my favorite coffee flavors next to nutmeg} and the little ceramic owl is a sugar shaker for �real� sugar for people who prefer it over Splenda. It�s fun to pull it out when people come over so they can have a variety of options for their coffee.
Now that we have a totally organized coffee station, it makes mornings a little more enjoyable and a great way to get the day started right. We�ve only had the new coffee machine for a few days but I�m already getting the used to my new morning coffee ritual. Coffee and a muffin, anyone?
"I'm Ashley from 7th House on the Left - a blog where my husband, Greg, and I talk about renovating, decorating and living in our first house here in Hanover, Virginia. I�ve been an interior design enthusiast and a long-time fan of all things organizing. Yep, I was the kid with the perfectly arranged Disney stuffed animals, alphabetized coloring books and the categorized and color-coded sticker book. When I'm not busy writing or doing projects around the house, I love classic TV shows (particularly I Love Lucy) and curling up with Greg, Bentley (our 9-pound Pomeranian), a blanket and a good black and white classic movie � I�m a complete sucker for Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant films. I'm thrilled and honored to be a part of the IHeart Organizing team and excited to get to work!"
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