We are BIG coffee, iced coffee and iced expresso drinkers over here. We also love the “good ice“ so we have a nugget ice maker. We make Java drinks all day long!
During the kitchen renovation planning I knew I wanted a designated coffee bar or beverage station. I wanted a dedicated area to be our own barista at home.
We originally planned to remove the fridge and keep the tall cabinets on the left for storage. That would have meant a much smaller version of the coffee bar so we removed the cabinets. The cabinets live on in our garage as extra pantry storage.
We needed to keep that bar area narrow in order to have enough space to walk between the coffee bar and island.
Our contractor cut 6” off the wall depth allowing for a longer and more narrow bar area.
He built 4 custom cabinets below the bar. In those lower cabinets I keep extra coffee, expresso, teas, sodas, plastic cups, mason jars, travel mugs etc We have a keurig and pods for those single serve moments which I store below as well.
I decided to waive off on ordering cabinet doors initially. Here you can see it thumbtacked to the temporary countertop to see if I liked it. I do like the added softness and the freedom to change color or style.
I was going to use marble for the counters but decided to swap to butcher block to tie it in with the back wall. I used a wood conditioner on the wood and reapply as needed.
I sewed curtains and hung them from a cafe bar to hide all the items underneath the counter. I chose a compass tile to represent finding our way home after 11 houses 🖤
Our contractor did the tiling and I couldn’t love it more.
I grouted it using a medium gray grout. The toile curtains were too busy with the tile so I sewed these from sunbrella outdoor fabric on clearance.
On the counter we keep out our D’Longhi expresso maker and coffee pot in one. We also have a tiered tray holding essentials, a canister of coffee, a canister of expresso and our GE Profile 2.0 Nugget Ice Maker.
Links for those are on my “Shop Kitchen” page https://laureldanedesigns.com/home/affiliate-links/affiliate-links-6/
Our contractor created 2 floating shelves for glassware, mugs, stir sticks etc
I used a gel stain to darken the wood on the shelves and felt that blended much better!
I added baskets to the shelves and found the PERFECT light for above the coffee bar! We live in the “Star City” plus the star mirrors the pattern in the tile. The light is dimmable and casts beautiful shadows. My affiliate link for the light is here https://amzn.to/3F2swuY
I decided to remove the curtains and try out baskets instead. My kids hated the texture of the fabric. I ordered the wrong size doors and will try again someday.
This is the most used and loved part of the kitchen by our whole family.
Hope sharing these ideas give you some inspiration- Kristen