How to Set Up a Functional Kitchen Coffee Station (& Save Serious Space!)
One of the smartest things we did in our current rental kitchen was setup a dedicated kitchen coffee station. Not only did it allow us to take advantage of an awkward, otherwise-unusable nook, but it also freed up some much-needed cabinet and countertop space. Today, I’m giving you a tour of this in-kitchen beverage area and sharing why and how we set it up for maximum functionality!
Our Kitchen Coffee Station
Our current rental kitchen isn’t exactly small but it isn’t exactly big either. So when we realized how much area was in this corner nook by the pantry, we immediately saw an opportunity to carve out additional counter and storage space.
After much hemming and hawing (and trying pretty much every piece of furniture we owned in this spot), we ultimately decided to set it up as a kitchen coffee station with a free-standing shelf (although it now holds all sorts of beverage options for us!)
Over the last 6 months, we’ve been adding to it little-by-little as we figured out what we really needed here; and it is now one of the most functional and useful spots in our entire kitchen!
From aaaaall the coffee machines and supplies on the top shelf…
…to our microwave, K-Cup storage, wine rack, and water bottle holder underneath.
By loading up so much useful storage onto these open shelves, we’ve made these often-used items easily accessible while freeing up space throughout the rest of the kitchen.
Why Set Up a Dedicated Kitchen Coffee Station?
As much as I love my morning coffee (and I love my morning coffee), we’ve never really carved out a “decorative” or “styled” coffee station in any of our homes.
In general, I don’t love countertop clutter; and I prefer to keep my kitchen decor fairly minimal and mostly utilitarian. As such, our coffee supplies are usually tucked away into a cabinet with the machine(s) sitting on a nearby counter.
But whether you like having your coffee supplies on display or not from a “decor” perspective, there are three primary reasons why you might want to consider a coffee station setup in your own kitchen:
Because You Have the Space
Does your kitchen have a wet bar, desk nook, built-ins, open corner (like ours’) or set-apart counter area? Are you using it for a particular function or does it just sit empty (or catch clutter)?
Even if you’re not inclined to add more “stuff” to these open areas, by adding function to where there is currently none, you might be able to improve your kitchen’s overall function, flow, or appearance!
Because You Need the Space
Another reason you might want to consider setting up a kitchen coffee station (or beverage area) is because you need more storage space somewhere else in your kitchen. Pulling coffee supplies out and setting them up somewhere special can alleviate clutter problems elsewhere in the kitchen.
This was primarily the case in our kitchen. I’ve never felt the need to put our coffee supplies “on display,” so to speak. But pulling these items out of cabinets, we freed up (concealed) storage for less-frequently used items.
Because You Love Coffee
Finally, maybe you just love coffee so much that it’s convenient or fun to have the supplies easily accessible at all times. Keeping these items out in the open can simply be about creating a joyful spot in your kitchen or more easily enjoying your cup of coffee day in and day out!
Where Should a Coffee Station Be Placed in a Kitchen?
The easy answer here is anywhere you have the room and that makes sense for the flow of your kitchen.
The most obvious place to create a coffee station is on a short section of countertop that sits alone (separated by appliances) or is out of the way. These countertops don’t tend to be useable during meal prep and can often just become clutter catchers. They also tend to have upper/lower cabinets and drawers, which can hold/hide coffee accessories as necessary.
A recessed counter corner is another great option since they tend to be too deep for much else and hard to reach otherwise.
If you don’t have either of these options, look around your kitchen to see where you might have an open spot for a hutch, console table, sideboard, rolling cart, free-standing shelf, baker’s rack, or even open shelving. These items now come in so many sizes, you can be sure to find something that will fit!
No matter where you choose to put your coffee station or on what, it should:
- Have plenty of storage space to hold everything you need
- Be in a logical and/or convenient location within your kitchen
- Have electrical outlets so you can power your coffee machine(s)
TIP! If you are trying to fit something into an open spot or blank wall , measure and search around a lot. It took quite a bit of hunting to find a shelf that fit this spot juuuuuuust right!
What Should a Kitchen Coffee Station Have?
When setting up a kitchen coffee station, I challenge you to only include the things you really need and use. Yes, I love a cute, styled display as much as the next home blogger; but I also don’t like to have meaningless, useless items taking up precious counter space that I then have to interact with and/or clean around on a regular basis.
As such, I chose to only included the items we actually use regularly:
- Coffee Makers – We have both the full-pot and single-cup options setup since we have the space and frequently use both.
- Coffee Grinder – We’re currently trying to use up all our ground coffee (we were gifted a lot over the holidays!), but we also tend to keep whole coffee beans on hand in this canister too.
- Coffee Filters & Scoops
- Spoon Rest
- Hand Towel
- Coffee & Tea Storage – See my favorite solutions here: Where & How to Store Coffee K-Cups (In Any Kitchen Layout!)
- Microwave – Not only do we like having our microwave here with the beverage items, but placing it on this shelf also freed up much-needed counter space (that we don’t have a lot of in this kitchen).
But there are other things you might want to include too, such as:
- Espresso Machine
- French Press
- Electric Water Kettle
- Decorative Jars
- Sugar, Sweeteners, Syrups
- Spoons or Stirrers
- Coffee Mugs, Saucers, and Dishes – Read below why I don’t store our mugs here!
- Mug Rack
- Decorative Accents (e.g., trays, baskets, signs, etc)
Coffee Station or Beverage Station?
Once we had this home coffee bar setup, we still had the entire bottom shelf open.
Originally, I was thinking we’d store our mugs here; but truth-be-told, we really love our in-cabinet mug holders (from our last kitchen). They just didn’t work with this shelf, so we keep our mugs in a cabinet across the kitchen by the sink and dishwasher.
Admittedly, this is not the most functional setup, but I didn’t want the added visual clutter of mugs on the wall/shelf when we have a great concealed solution already.
So once we decided not to store mugs here, we evaluated what other storage needs we had and quickly determined that both water bottles and wine could easily fit on the bottom shelf with the help of some well-fitting organizers.
TIP! When shopping around for various organizers for your setup, measure, measure and measure some more. It took some research to find just the right items to fit the height and depth of these shelves (even finding a microwave that would fit!) But the effort was worth it since we are really taking advantage of every usable inch in a really functional way!
So what started as a “kitchen coffee station” has somewhat transitioned to be a kitchen beverage station. Although not entirely intentional, we are LOVING having easy access to these other awkward items (that don’t really fit anywhere else!)
My Kitchen Coffee Station Essentials
Below are the products we have (and love) on our kitchen coffee station. And while every single one works great for us, I want to emphasize that we were very intentional about each choice.
When setting up your own kitchen coffee station or beverage area, avoid creating a cutesy station just for looks. Instead, think through exactly what you need to store/display, what products will do that best, and how much space you have. Then find the most stylish and affordable solutions to meet those needs!
1 – Wood + Iron Kitchen Shelf | 2 – K-Cup and Tea Bag Storage Box | 3 – Marble Spoon Rest | 4 – Round Iron Basket | 5 – Water Bottle Holder | 6 – Wood + Iron Wine Rack | 7 – Turkish Hand Towels | 8 – Coffee Bean Canister (not shown, but we usually use it when we have beans in stock!)
Other Great Kitchen Storage Solutions
Ready to organize the rest of your kitchen? I’ve got you covered with more easy solutions!- How to Organize a Pantry
- How to Organize Baking Pans
- How to Organize Kitchen Drawers
- How to Organize Corner Kitchen Cabinets
- How to Organize Upper Kitchen Cabinets
- How to Organize Cabinets Under the Kitchen Sink
- How to Organize Small Appliances Inside Kitchen Cabinets
- How to Organize Spices
- How to Organize Coffee Mugs
- How to Organize K-Cups
- How to Organize Recipes
- How to Organize Ziplock Bags
- What to Do with Dirty Dish Towels
- How to Make Pantry Labels
This coffee station is positioned directly opposite of where I usually stand at our kitchen island. Which means that I stare at this wall aaaaaall the time as I’m making meals, helping with homework, and visiting with neighbors. So not only am I thrilled that we were able to carve out so much functionality from this open corner, but I also love that it looks clean, simple, and tidy!
Although a dedicated coffee or beverage station might not be right for every person or every kitchen, it’s definitely something to consider if you have an awkward open space, desperately need additional storage, or visit the coffee pot around the clock!
With some savvy storage finds, you’ll be able to create a coffee station that functions well, looks great, and maybe even solves some other kitchen storage problems too!
Megan
5 Comments on “How to Set Up a Functional Kitchen Coffee Station (& Save Serious Space!)”
So very nice!
I love your beverage table and it looks great on that wall! You always have great ideas.
Yay! Another functional coffee station. We have a tiny apartment sized kitchen, and very limited upper cabinets. One on each side of the over range microwave (glasses on left, some frequently used seasonings and oils/vinegars) , one in corner (all our dishes) and one large one for everything that doesn’t fit in the other three, meaning large serving bowls, mixing bowls, measuring cups etc. The coffee maker, a Keurig Slim was between refrigerator and stove along with a Nespresso and frothier, with k cups in drawer below and cups in cabinet above. This was a very narrow space — about 11”. During remodel we moved the stove over to the right to increase that space to 24 inches and it allowed me to store all my wine glasses, and some coffee cups. But the location of the coffee makers created a huge traffic congestion issue. My husband seems to be unable to make coffee without watching it so he stood there, right in the way of me getting to the fridge. So I created a coffee station.
I opted for a taller unit with a drawer. I put all the Nespresso pods in Fido jars for a pretty display on the top shelf. I had intended to hang cups from the grid at the back but they hung too low and then the Keurig died. We replaced it with a big Cuisinart model and then at Christmas we received a Philips super auto machine which displaced the Cuisinart. The drawer holds all the little stuff including tea bags, and more Nespresso stuff. We still use the nespresso so it’s on the shelf with the Philips. Underneath are two shelves similar to yours. They hold my slow cooker, an instant pot, and a counter top ice maker. Those used to either eat up valuable counter space or were stored in the garage and moved in an out frequently. I was totally inspired by yours when I saw glimpses of it, but I needed several other functions. And a drawer. Now, the former coffee / tea drawer holds cooking utensils. The coffee cups cabinet holds glasses now. My coffee bar is in the eat in kitchen nook area and not in a major traffic area. We are just two seniors with no kids so we got rid of the enormous dining room set that didn’t fit and bought a little bistro set instead. It’s like Starbucks without the annoying music!
Hi Megan,
Love this post! I really like the prints you have chosen for the wall over the coffee station.
Have you written any articles about how to frame artwork inexpensively?
Thank you,
Claudia T.
Brookfield, VT
Set mine up similar to yours. We have what’s called a Super auto Philips which grinds and brews and stores the spent grounds in a little hopper until it signals you to empty it. The problem was it is an espresso machine, not a full 8 oz of K Cup. Consequently the coffee went in cold mug and got cold fast. I was going to put my mugs on the shelf but didn’t. The are with the rest of the dinnerware. To solve the cold cup issue I bought some double walled glass mugs on Amazon and they are perfect. We retired our nespresso AND our nearly new Cuisinart K cup maker, since this new espresso maker makes those others taste like Dennys at best. I bought Kauai med roast when we were there and loved it and it’s now my number one bean. I also like Volcanica Antigua. Put them on auto ship at Amazon. So, I said all that to ask you about the vacuum sealing storage container. Lots of bad reviews so I’m asking how yours has fared.
P.S. I just bought a Cricut Joy! Yippee. I’m soooooo excited!
— L