Craft & DIY Tutorials

Hey friends. Today I want to share with you my new coffee station.

If you know me, you know by now that I love to drink coffee. Preferably, a good blend, a dark roast is fine, with a more than just a splash of vanilla cream and sugar. I drink anywhere between three and four cups a day. I would say I consume about two cups in total. Only because, I never finish my entire cup of coffee before it gets stale or thrown out. But, I do make about two to three, or four cups of coffee a day. And if I’m trying not to be wasteful versus making a new cup, I’ve been known to drink that coffee cold. I’m sure some of you mommas can relate as to why this happens…. because were busy moms!! And…. lastly, I’ve also been known to take a cold cup of coffee and put it in the microwave and warm it up to make it fresh all over again.

So you get the point… its probably my most preferred beverage of choice. I’m officially and old coffee drinking person.

So, I want to share with you a little bit more of my home and my new coffee-making space that I’ve created. I used to have a two by two counter space dedicated to my coffee. My Keurig maker along with the sugar and the spoons and all the things I needed to brew my cup of coffee. Above these things was a that small cabinet where I have all my entire mug collection – which grew by a mug or two form time to time.

Well, one day while scrolling through Instagram, I came across some wonderful Rae Dunn mugs. They are some kind of amazing – nothing at all kind of mugs. And, I’m sure some of you might be familiar with Rae Dunn pottery, but in case you aren’t, it is a ceramics maker who engraves words on them in black and and white that say ‘blessed,’ ‘family,’ ‘friends,’ create.’ You get the idea, and well friends, I couldn’t get over all of those beautiful pictures of Rae Dunn collections all throughout Instagram. I quickly became in love with them myself and just started a collection of my own. I now own ~~ten~~ (twelve) mugs and a coffee and sugar container as well from the collection.

It just really makes everything a little more streamlined yet kind of unique, and different. P.S. if you want to send me one, its totally fine, I will tell my husband the mugs just keep making babies in our cabinet!

You can pick these mugs up anywhere from TJ Maxx to Marshalls or even on Amazon. Prices range from $3 to $20 depending on the popularity of he mug and season. You might pay a little bit of a higher price depending on where you’re purchasing them from, but you can also probably pick some up from a seller on Instagram who has too many. (wink wink). They all vary in shape and size, and they all are slightly different from the next. They just make for a great statement on the coffee bar.

So here I am with my growing collection of mugs overflowing in our cabinet. I decided a new coffee area was in order, and a dedicated space that will actually hold all of my mugs.

I have a buffet in the front living room that was hardly full and in a odd place that I moved to an area just off my kitchen. The buffet was not really holding important things, so after a quick cleaning and decluttering of leftover candles, an old stack of Christmas cards that I didn’t put away, plus some odd coasters, it was almost brand new.

I took that buffet, moved it into my kitchen, and wah-lah! My original thought was to paint it white. I just recently painted our kitchen walls a warm gray beige color. So I was thinking it would pop on the wall. Once I moved it however, I couldn’t decide whether or not I should actually paint it white. Since its a busier time of the year, I haven’t done it. I’m happy with it in the original stained color, but I can’t promise that in the future it may or may not end up being white after all.

Once I had the cabinet in place, I began filling it up with all of my coffee mugs in the bigger side cabinets of the buffet. They all fit and still have room to collect a few more! On top of the buffet I placed put my coffee and sugar canisters in the center on a white platter. I found the three-tiered rack from a thrift shop and use it to hold all of my k-cups. That way, I can just grab one at any time. Lastly, I purchased some shelving to display some coffee themed frames and signs. On the top shelf, I have a memory frame box that holds all of my grandmother Rose’s spoons. She left them to me after she passed, and they are all different. One representing each country or place she visited during her life. Truly a treasure.

Just under the shelving, I added some metal hardware hanging racks to display my collection of Rae Dunn mugs. Only because they are similar in color (white) and I love the way it pops against the wall. It makes it easy to grab one of these mugs hanging on the racks and it functions as a display.

I really think overall, the space came out very nice and after using it for a couple of weeks, I just love to go over there and make a cup of coffee. I’ve found that it is a nice space to have designated in your home, without it being too overwhelmingly cramped especially since every morning we start our days here. Its a cheerful spot that I love right in the heart of our home.

Another thought that I had was that this space could be decorated seasonally as well. One of the things I really enjoyed as a kid was how my mother made each season or holiday in our home extra special with seasonally placed decor throughout.

Now that I am mom I really want to try to do this for my kids as they start getting older. I think its important to show as a way of participating in what life has to offer throughout our home. It also helps to get into the spirit of the holiday and really enjoy each other and what every season has to offer as it comes.